With a matter of days before the start of Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, the Volvo media team took the skippers of the six Volvo boats up to the top of the beautiful Cabezón de Oro mountain (1,210 m/3,970 feet) along Costa Blanca this morning.

Our Racing Editor Matthew Sheahan is in Alicante ready to report on the start, as the boats depart from Alicante on Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race: a 6,000 nautical mile journey to Cape Town.

Visit our gallery of superb onboard images from Ian Roman here as he photographs their practise sessions and training days.

According to Volvo, at the “Everest of the ocean” photo shoot atop the Cabeçó d’Or, some
4000ft above the Mediterranean, the six skippers joked and chatted away
like comrades. But in just days the Leg 1 sprint to Cape Town will begin
and the men will become competitors with the shared ambition to win.
Racing begins in Saturday 5th November at 1400 local time,1300 GMT. You can watch it LIVE as it happens at their live streaming channel here.

For more information visit Volvo Ocean Race