"The icebergs in the Southern Ocean," Lloyd begins. "Fishing boats in the Strait of Malacca [near Singapore]; storms as we sail in and out of China; robbery in the Caribbean; the exclusive customs zone off Morocco where they may stop boats; and the whale exclusion zone that we have to sail around off Boston."
But top of the list is the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean. According to the American One Earth Foundation, in 2005 the average ransom per ship was US$150,000 ($191,000).
Five years later, the armed pirates could count on US$5.4 million per ship ($6.9 million) and in 2010, more than 1100 seafarers were kidnapped.
"Piracy changes on a daily basis," Lloyd told the Herald on Sunday, "and we can't expect any help. We have to get in and out of an extremely dangerous area."
Ships from various navies patrol the area but it is a token effort in such a vast area - Lloyd compares it to the continent of Europe being patrolled by eight police cars.
Race management came to the difficult decision last month to change the race route in an attempt to alleviate possible threats.
The original route called for the boats to sail through an east African corridor from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi on the second leg, then again heading out through that dangerous body of water from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China, on the third leg.
Now the boats will race from South Africa to a 'secret' safe port - further in to the Arabian sea - then be moved closer to Abu Dhabi and then sail into the middle eastern port from there.
The opposite process will occur on the next leg, where the boats will deposited into the safe area before racing on to the Chinese port.
"[The change] is a bump in the road that has to be negotiated, albeit a very expensive bump," says Lloyd. "From 50 miles off the coast, we can cover with helicopters, but from 400 miles, we can't cover. Issues could escalate fast and out there, the boats are completely alone."
From humble beginnings in Whangarei, Lloyd has carved out a distinguished career in sailing administration.
The 54-year-old was chairman of the international jury for the 2005-06 Volvo after serving as a jury member for the two previous races.
Lloyd has also completed two America's Cups as an umpire and jury member and was rules adviser to the OneWorld syndicate in 2003 and Team New Zealand in 2007.
His frequent flyer card is about to take a hammering - Lloyd will fly out to each of the 10 ports for the start and finish of each leg but will mostly be based in the race operations bunker in Alicante, Spain.
The control room has 16 screens on a vast video wall and is manned continually by two to four duty officers.
From previous experience, Lloyd expects to be woken from his slumber at least once every night with phone calls.
From a local perspective, one of the highlights of the upcoming race will be its return to Auckland for the first time in a decade.
"Everybody is pleased that it is back," says Lloyd, "New Zealanders embrace the racing - we don't need to sell it and we see it as a model for everyone else."
The leading boats are expected to arrive on March 3, 2012. The race is expected to finish in Galway, Ireland on July 3 next year.
