AT SEA - NOVEMBER 4: Onboard Team Alvimedica. Day 24. With just 650 miles to Cape Town, the sailing slows considerably as a high-pressure system moves in from the west. The first sunrise onboard Alvimedica in a week. Leg 1 between Alicante, Spain and Cape Town, South Africa. The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 is the 12th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain on October 11, 2014, the route, spanning some 39,379 nautical miles, visits 11 ports in 11 countries (Spain, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, China, New Zealand, Brazil, United States, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Sweden) over nine months. The Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier ocean race for professional racing crews. (Photo by Amory Ross/Team Alvimedica/Volvo Ocean Race via Getty Images) (2014 Volvo Ocean Race)
ALICANTE, Spain (AP) – Volvo Ocean Race officials say Ramon Carlin, the "weekend sailor" who overcame long odds to win the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74, has died in Mexico City. He was 92.
Carlin was unknown in the sport when he entered the race, which later became the Volvo Ocean Race, after making a fortune manufacturing washing machines and other goods.
He assembled a crew of unheralded sailors before upsetting some of the era's leading names in offshore sailing, such as Britain's Chay Blyth, by winning with his Swan 65, Sayula II.
After the race, in which three rival sailors died in the 19-boat fleet, Carlin returned home to a presidential reception in Acapulco and became Mexico's most famous yachtsman.
His triumph was commemorated in the movie "The Weekend Sailor" last year.
Fun stories about food, relationships, the great outdoors and more.