On October 11, seven 66-foot boats set out from Alicante, Spain for Cape Town, South Africa, in the first leg of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race, the world's toughest ocean race. As the yachts fly through the South Atlantic at speeds over 25 knots, two teams—Abu Dhabi Racing and Dongfeng Race Team—are neck and neck in with just a day to go until the fierce Leg 1 finish in Cape Town. The first wave of boats is expected to arrive into Cape Town on Wednesday afternoon.

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All seven teams, however, have been battling the wind, the waves and the relentless conditions of the Southern Ocean for the last few days. Waves as big as houses have been smashing and soaking cockpits, sending sailors slipping and sliding across the carbon fibre surface. And the last 500 miles are usually windy since Cape Town is close to the Southern Ocean. Despite the fact that the history of this leg is very well known, it can always be different, according to race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante.

And this is just the first leg. In total, the fleet will cover 38,739 nautical miles over the nine-month offshore marathon, visiting 11 ports. The race is grueling: each leg features non-stop racing, with crew members on deck for alternating four-hour shifts. Points are awarded at the end of each leg: one for first place, two for second and so on, so the overall race winner will be the team with the lowest number of points.The 12th edition of the event, which was launched in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race and is held every three years, will conclude in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 27, 2015.

Follow the teams on a regularly updating dashboard at the Volvo Ocean Race website, featuring complete race info and fresh stats from the boats, or with the 3D interactive tracker.