The first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race sailing competition is underway after more than 70,000 fans - including King Juan Carlos - watched the fleet leave Vigo, Spain.
King Juan Carlos fired the ceremonial starting gun from the Swedish tall ship Gotheborg, a replica of an East India merchant ship. It was the first time in the event's 22-year history that the race has not started in England.
The first leg takes the yachts 11,850 kilometers to Cape Town, South Africa. From there the fleet moves to Melbourne, Australia, and Wellington, New Zealand before crossing the Pacific to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The journey will include stops in Baltimore and New York, Portsmouth, England, Rotterdam, the Netherlands and will end in Goteborg, Sweden in June after covering nearly 58,000 kilometers of sailing.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
