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19 Nov 2008  -  United Kingdom

New record for a monohull: 602 nautical miles in 24 hours

© Image Credit: Dave Kneale/ Volvo Ocean Race

Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG), part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, was recently notified that Ericsson Racing Team’s second race boat ‘Ericsson 4’, built using a range of ACG’s advanced carbon fibre products, succeeded in sailing 602 nautical miles in 24 hours, thereby breaking the previous record of 542 for a monohull. This event, which is subject to ratification from the World Sailing Speed Record Council, beats the previous record set by another boat ’ABN AMRO TWO’, which was also built from ACG’s materials.

Presently, no other boats in the fleet have surpassed the old ABM AMRO TWO record so, subject to ratification, Torben Grael and the Ericsson 4 crew are claiming to have shattered the 24-hour record.

‘Fluid’ as events of this nature often are, on the tranquil morning of 2nd November, on Table Bay – South Africa, skipper Torben Grael and Ericsson Racing Team’s International crew on Ericsson 4 became the overall leaders in the Volvo Ocean Race when they won Leg 1 at 0554 GMT. Ericsson 4 earned 8 points for the leg victory, which the team attained with an elapsed time of 21 days, 17 hours and 54 minutes, and currently leads the overall standings with 14 points. Ericsson 4 ghosted across the finish line under Table Mountain whilst flying full sail on a calm sea.

Then, on 3rd November, Swedish skipper Anders Lewander led Ericsson Racing Team’s Nordic crew on Ericsson 3 to third place. The crew finished on the morning of the 3rd at 0408 GMT with an elapsed time of 22 days, 16 hours and 8 minutes. Ericsson 3’s finish completed a solid start to the circumnavigation race for Ericsson Racing Team.
Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 were built using ACG’s VTM®264 - the Group’s long out life, intermediate viscosity epoxy resin matrix prepreg, and its associated VTA®260 film adhesive.

About Advanced Composites Group (ACG)
ACG, part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, is a manufacturer of advanced composites materials and components. ACG specialises in the manufacture of high performance composite materials for a diverse range of industries such as motorsport, aerospace, marine, automotive, construction, wind energy and leisure sports. The main focus of the Group's business, which operates through four divisions, is the manufacture of prepregs for components and tooling. ACG has manufacturing operations in Heanor and Manchester in the UK, Tulsa in the USA and Cape Town in South Africa. The Group is managed from its head office in Heanor and employs around 560 worldwide. 

About Umeco
Umeco is a leading innovator in distribution and supply chain management to the aerospace and defence industries, harnessing new methods for enhancing its customers' performance and profitability.
Umeco also has significant manufacturing interests in advanced composite materials for a growing range of applications in its core aerospace and defence markets and in other high performance technology industries such as motor sport, automotive and wind energy.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Umeco had turnover of £335.2 million in the year to 31 March 2008.
Umeco is managed through two divisions
Umeco Composites - a provider of a complete range of advanced composite materials principally to the aerospace, motor sport, automotive and wind energy markets.
Customers include Boeing, Airbus, BAE Systems, manufacturers of wind turbines, a number of manufacturers of high performance super cars and Formula 1 teams including Team McLaren Mercedes.
Umeco Supply Chain - a leading international provider of value-added distribution and supply chain outsourcing services to customers in the aerospace & defence market. With its specialisation in the supply of small components and sophisticated IT systems, its growing global customer base can enjoy significant operational, cost and working capital benefits.
Customers include Rolls-Royce plc, BAE Systems, Safran Group, Parker Aerospace, Goodrich, Thales, Aerospace, Turbomeca, Lockheed Martin and the US Department of Defense.

Source : ACG