Ian Walker's achievements in the last 12 years include two Olympic medals, four World Championships and being skipper and tactician for two America's Cup campaigns (GBR Challenge and +39). His most recent success has been as skipper of the TP52 Patches where he worked alongside owner Eamon Conneely to secure the global championship in 2006.
As skipper of the Green Team entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Walker will oversee both the design and build programme along with crew selection.
Ian will get his first taste of sailing on a Volvo Open 70 in this year's Sydney Hobart Race.
The build of the Green Team Volvo Open 70 is underway at McConaghy Boats in China. The moulds are completed and the hull lamination has begun. Reichel Pugh and the structural engineers at Applied Structural Analysis Ltd (ASTA) are working on all the drawings to a strict timescale. The deck plan is well advanced as is the sail plan. The rig is under design and the team have completed their first sail wind tunnel testing in Auckland New Zealand. The aim is to have the boat commissioned in June 2008.
The team has secured initial funding for the team from a combination of private investment (led by a project board which includes John Kileen, Enda O'Coineen, Eamon Conneely and Jamie Boag as Team CEO), commercial sponsorship and government backing.
