Friday, December 14, 2007

Brand new Ericsson VO70 leaves boatyard

[Source: Ericsson Racing Team] The second generation Volvo Open 70, designed by Argentina’s Juan Kouyoumdjian, was wheeled out of Irish boat builder Killian Bushe’s state-of-the-art facility next to the Ericsson corporate headquarters.

With less than 300 days remaining to the race start in Alicante, Spain, “Ericsson 3” left the shipyard on December 13 to be transported to the team's training base in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

“It’s almost six months since we began building the boat and we’re all proud of what we’ve achieved now that she’s leaving Kista,” says Bushe. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but also very rewarding and stimulating, not least because we’ve had more than 9,000 visitors to the shipyard.”

The brand new VO70 "Ericsson 3" leaves the boatyard. Stockholm, 13 December 2007. Photo copyright Oskar Kihlborg / Ericsson Racing Team

The boat left Kista by truck bound for Frihamnen in Stockholm, and then loaded onto a cargo ship to Lanzarote, where she is expected to arrive late December. The transportation of the boat, with her 21.5 meters of length, almost six meters of width and the weight of some 6 tons, through central Stockholm required a lot of planning.

Ericsson already has two VO70 boats in the water. That includes the boat that Ericsson sailed with in the last Volvo Ocean Race, now used for corporate sailing, and the boat that won the last race under the name of ABN AMRO ONE, now used for tests and training. These two are named Ericsson 1 and Ericsson 2. The team has its training base in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, which offers excellent training conditions and facilities.

“It’s very important for the team to start two-boat testing. And it’s going to be very exciting,” says Brazilian skipper Torben Grael.

The brand new VO70 "Ericsson 3" leaves the boatyard. Stockholm, 13 December 2007. Photo copyright Oskar Kihlborg / Ericsson Racing Team

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