Ericsson Racing Team is building its new Volvo Ocean Race yacht just 200 meters from Ericsson's corporate headquarters outside Stockholm, confirming the company's desire to share its race campaign with its staff, partners and customers. The construction plan for the Ericsson boat is based on an exclusive design by Juan Kouyoumdjian, one of the world's foremost designers of racing and cruising sailboats. The first step is to build the mould in which the carbon-fiber yacht will take shape. This stage, requiring great precision and attention to detail, will be concluded at the end of May.
The hull and the deck will be built mid-year at the new boatyard. After this, the construction specialists will add the systems, electronics and thousands of other details that will allow the boat to sail around the world. The launch of the boat is planned for late 2007. While the builders start assembling the mould, John Kostecki, the Ericsson Racing Team skipper, has started to put together his crew. "We want the best people," he explains. "We need sailors who have both the experience and the desire to compete in a hard environment and give it their all. But more than anything, we want to be a real team and we want to work with people who have the ability to integrate themselves into a group."
Building in Kista was made possible through the real estate company Klövern who, as official yard host, is supporting the team through providing the build facilities.
