Send this page / Print this page Home / Composites News / Applications

02 Jul 2008  -  United Kingdom

Final boat - Ericsson 4 - unveiled for 2008/9 Volvo Ocean Race

The Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG), part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, is pleased to report that, on the 27th June, Ericsson Racing Team presented the final piece of the puzzle for the 2008/9 Volvo Ocean Race. Their second race boat, ‘Ericsson 4’, which uses a range of ACG’s advanced carbon fibre products, was officially unveiled to an invited audience of Ericsson employees and guests at the team's boatyard in Kista, Stockholm. The day was doubly significant in that it marked 100 days to the opening event in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09, which starts on October 4, 2008. 

Ericsson Racing Team created a bespoke boat yard right next to Ericsson's global head office to build the two new boats, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4, both of which were built using Advanced Composites Group’s (ACG’s) VTM®264, - the Group’s long out life, intermediate viscosity epoxy resin matrix prepreg, and its associated VTA®260 film adhesive. 

The launch event marked the culmination of the build program for Ericsson 4. International crew skipper, Torben Grael and Nordic crew skipper, Anders Lewander, were present to see the final handover of the boat from the build team. 

Grael commented: "This marks the true start of race mode for the international crew's campaign for the 2008/9 Volvo Ocean Race and we are really excited about getting out and sailing the boat in early July. We have got a great crew and good team, and we now have the boat. Killian [Bushe] and his team here in Kista have done a fantastic job . . . and for me this will be, I hope, the perfect boat.” 

The build of the boats, which were designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, has been managed by Killian Bushe, a man who has been at the forefront of composite boat building since the early 1980's, including, most recently, the ABN AMRO boats. Both Kouyoumdjian and Bushe are familiar with ACG’s materials and have had a close association with the Group for many years. ACG’s Technology Centre, and its highly skilled and marine enthusiasts, have shown their dedication to providing the best techniques and materials for past and present builds, something that was apparent in the 2006/7 Volvo Ocean Race. 

Bushe commented: "Most of the other teams this time around have built their boats at an existing boat yard, so in that respect we are different in that we have created our own bespoke build facility from a blank canvas. At times there has been a team of up to 32 guys working on the boats and when we had the overlap period of some two months, we were able to fit in three 70ft elements in the yard - Ericsson 3 in the oven, the plug for Ericsson 4 and then the deck mould.” 

For the technophobes, the two boats have been built in just 15 months in the purpose-built 2600 m2 facility. For each build, 40,000 man hours have been used to apply 3 tonnes of ACG carbon fibre mix and Page 2 of 3 250 kilos of Nomex sandwich. Moreover, each hull took 110 hours to cure. It is early days, but with the proven pedigrees of the designer and manager, it is hoped that this is a recipe for success! 

"It is incredible that you can find a boatyard right here, in the middle of a capital city and next door to Ericsson's global head office," added Juan Kouyoumdjian, the boat's designer. "This is a state-of-the-art facility and the boats are amongst the most technologically advanced that I have been involved with, which was, of course, one of the initial objectives of the campaign." 

Some 17,000 visitors have come to visit the boatyard since the build started, giving both Ericsson colleagues and customers the opportunity to interact with the build team and see, first hand, how a technologically advanced racing yacht is constructed. 

Ericsson 4’s sea trials commence in early July with boat testing commencing off the coast at Nynäshamn in mid-July, after which Ericsson 3 and 4 will set sail for their training base at Lanzarote. 

Image: Copyright Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team 

Source : ACG