Ericsson Racing Team completes 2000 mile qualifying sail

The Ericsson Racing Team has successfully completed its 2000 nautical mile qualifying sail arriving into Gothenburg, Sweden on 15 August, after seven days at sea. It is compulsory for all teams entered for the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 to complete a non-stop ocean qualification passage of approximately 2000 nm, to prove themselves seaworthy before the race starts in November. Ericsson, the third VO 70 yacht to complete the voyage, did so with eight of her ten crewmembers onboard.

The team left its training base in Vigo, Spain on August 8, joined by Ericsson Team Technical Director and five times Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race veteran, Magnus Olsson of Sweden. Experiencing 25 knots of winds in reaching conditions, off the Bay of Biscay, Ericsson clocked top speeds of 25 knots. They sailed up the west coast of Ireland and north of Scotland, into lighter winds, arriving into Gothenburg, Sweden at 11.00am Monday.

Skipper Neal McDonald gave his overview of the team's second long distance sail onboard the VO 70: "I am very happy with how the boat performed. It was great to have the majority of the racing crew onboard, and a good opportunity to use Magnus Olsson's invaluable past experience and knowledge of the race. We set out from Vigo with two goals in mind; one, to complete the 2000 nm qualifyer and the second, to test as many different sails in as many different conditions as possible, and that's exactly what we did."

Jason Carrington, Construction Manager for the boat, sees completion of the test sail as a key milestone for the Ericsson Racing Team and the project as a whole: "To have launched the boat on June 30 and completed the qualifying sail five weeks later with no breakages, is a great achievement. She's a very exciting boat to sail with outstanding performance. She certainly requires a lot of respect and there are times when you have to throttle back. The key will be to find her limit - we still have some work to do but we are almost there."

Ericsson, the world's leading telecommunications supplier is supported by Semcon as design and development partner. For updates and pictures on the Ericsson Racing Team's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race, please visit www.ericssonracingteam.com

Ericsson Racing Team joined by German sailor Tony Kolb

The Ericsson Racing Team has today announced Tony Kolb as crewmember onboard Ericsson's entry into the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. It has also confirmed Britain's Jason Carrington, Construction Manager for the team, as part of the racing crew.

Tony Kolb, 29 years of age and born in Munich, is joining the Ericsson Racing Team, on a leave of absence from BMW ORACLE Racing. A bowman with the America's Cup Challenger, he brings many attributes to the Ericsson team. A skilled sailmaker and boatbuilder, Kolb's international sailing reputation rocketed being a member of the winning illbruck team, alongside John Kostecki, in the last Volvo Ocean Race 2001-02.

Kolb commented: "The last race was a great experience and I hope this time will be even better. Ericsson is a very professional team with a great skipper and great people. The Volvo Ocean 70's are pretty high-tech racing machines, much faster than the VO 60's, so I think we will have a lot of fun with some pretty crazy moments on the limits. For sure I hope to be able to win this race again and I will do everything possible to make that happen."

Jason Carrington will join Kolb as part of the core racing crew. Carrington, a highly respected boat builder, was appointed Construction Manager for the Ericsson team last year and is looking forward to participating in the race, having spent many months preparing for and building the boat. In line with Ericsson's business, the new VO 70 is extremely high-tech, employing cutting edge technology to make this ninth edition of the race more exciting than ever.

Carrington has sailed three round the world yacht races and is one of two people to have held both the mono and multi-hull 24 hour world records at the same time - the other is Ericsson team skipper Neal McDonald (GBR). Carrington's invaluable combination of experience as a professional boat builder and professional sailor, make him a true asset to the team.

Supported by Semcon as design and development partner, the Ericsson racing team is currently out sailing, clocking up invaluable miles on the water. They departed from their training base in Vigo on August 8, headed for Gothenburg, Sweden, where the yacht will be christened later this week.