MUMBAI: Independent sports producer Sunset+Vine has signed a deal with UK broadcaster ITV to provide coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Sunset+Vine will produce 32 weekly half hour programmes for ITV4 and eight one-hour long programmes for ITV1. Sunset+Vine MD John Leach said, "Our Volvo Ocean Race coverage for ITV and the rest of the world will present sailing in a new light. State of the art equipment will record the crews' adventures, relationships with each other in the confined space aboard the boats, and their battles to overcome the extreme conditions. We want to make the sport much more accessible to a wider viewing public in the same way that we transformed the way cricket has been covered."

ITV controller of sport Mark Sharman said, "With over eight months of racing in the world's most treacherous seas, the Volvo Ocean Race provides a terrific adventure story for ITV viewers to follow. Using the latest technological innovations, Sunset + Vine's production will ensure viewers get closer to the action than ever before."

The Volvo Ocean Race is said to be one of the harshest sports challenges. Starting in Galicia, Spain in November, the crews will spend a gruelling seven months battling severe weather and each other in demanding conditions, taking in Cape Town, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and New York before finishing next June in Gothenburg. The yachts are scheduled to arrive in Portsmouth in May next year.

With 10 cameras onboard each boat, linked by satellite to a purpose built studio and editing facility at race headquarters just outside Portsmouth in the UK, Sunset+Vine's coverage will show key moments of the battle between the world's top professional sailors and the worst that the oceans can throw at them.