PUMA Ocean Racing Will Build New Volvo 70 Close to Home.
Puma Ocean Racing will sail the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race in a new boat. The team has announced that the new Volvo Open 70 will be built by New England Boatworks Inc. The build is ‘local’ to the team’s headquarters.
The design for the new generation round the world race yacht will be provided by Valencia-based naval architects, Juan Yacht Design. Juan Kouyoumdjian’s designs have a perfect record in the Volvo Ocean Race since the inception of the Volvo Open 70 Rule, having designed the 2006 winner ABN AMRO and the 2009 winner Ericsson 4.
Team Skipper, Ken Read, is keen to utilise all the hard-earned experience gained during the last race to give the team a great starting point. He said:
“We feel that Puma Ocean Racing has an advantage by keeping the construction of all the major components for this project close to our home base in Newport. Fortunately, NEB provides our team the perfect facility and team to build what we hope is the finest boat ever constructed for this type of race.”
New England Boats has proven offshore boat building experience, with projects that include the Whitbread 60 Toshiba for the 1997 Whitbread Round-the-World Race. NEB partners Tom Rich, Steven Casella and David MacBain said via a statement:
“These boats are designed to withstand the harshest conditions, and we’re proud to have this opportunity to showcase NEB on a global level.”
The new Puma Volvo 70 will launch in the spring of 2011. Sea trials will be run out of the team’s training base at the Newport Shipyard.
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Walker and Boag Announced as Abu Dhabi Volvo Ocean Race Principals.
August 12, 2010 by admin
Filed under Appointments, Middle East, Volvo 70
While we were down in Cowes, there were some big sailing business stories announced. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has announced ‘officially’ that two-time British Olympic medallist and past Volvo Ocean Race skipper, Ian Walker, will take the helm for the emirate’s debut in the next edition of the race. Walker’s business partner Jamie Boag will also be involved in the project which has a reported budget of $25 Million.
The Abu Dhabi project is part of a growing interest in the top level of yacht racing from the region, with Oman, Dubai and Bahrain all investing in the sport.
Walker will also be design consultant on the specially-designed Volvo Open 70 which may be designed by top US-based designer Bruce Farr. Australian yacht builders McConaghy, who established a facility in China when building Green Dragon would do the same in Abu Dhabi.
ADTA, which was behind the emirate’s successful bid to become a 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race home port, considers Walker’s appointment to be a major coup for Abu Dhabi’s first foray into the race.
Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General, ADTA said
“Ian is the lynchpin in the dream team we are determined to secure. His high profile sends a signal of the seriousness of our ambitions in a sport which will help us build international awareness of our long maritime pedigree and exceptional coastline and surrounding waters.”
Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race is very pleased to have Ian Walker back in the race.
“We believe he will be an excellent skipper and leader for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing,” he said. “The host city is an excellent venue for sailing and hopefully this project will encourage and ignite passion for sailing within the region.”
Walker believes that Abu Dhabi’s participation in the Volvo Ocean Race is a huge step forward for sailing, with the entire emirate eager to embrace the race and support its team.
“This will certainly encourage other sailing events and championships to come to this part of the world,” he said, “and is already inspiring the local population to get fully behind sailing. This is going to be a fantastic journey.”
Like many of the other tourism backed programs in the region, the project is about legacy and local development of talent. ADTA and UK-based Walker are also in the final stages of appointing the team’s other crew members, with plans to include a UAE national in the Sporting Team and another two on the Shore Team. Walker thinks it is crucial to have the right mix of youth and experience and, following his experience with the Green Dragon campaign and the inclusion of Chinese crewman Guo Chuan, he supports the idea of an internationally-represented crew.
“Obviously you need the right mix of skills such as helming, trimming, bowmen, sailmaking, rigging and engineering, yet it is just as important to select people who will work well as a team. We have a unique opportunity to do something special with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. The Volvo Ocean Race is mentally and physically exhausting. The whole project is quite daunting but it is easier to comprehend having done the race before. I have huge respect for the yachts and the race and we will be as prepared as we possibly can be.”
More Middle East Yacht Racing News…
Nordic Mast and Southern Spars Merge.
July 21, 2010 by admin
Filed under Business, Europe, New Zealand
Nordic Mast and Southern Spars will merge, following an announcement by shareholders and directors.
The new entity will employ over 350 staff, and will be better equipped to compete on the world stage, supplying a comprehensive range of high quality carbon fibre masts, booms and carbon rigging to meet the demands of all market sectors. Taking effect from 19 July 2010, the merger is a timely combination of two highly regarded mast companies that have operated in different geographic and market sectors.
David Glen, Group General Manager, comments:
“At Southern Spars we have been looking for some time to both increase our presence and commitment to the European market, and expand our product offering in carbon masts and carbon rigging. Southern Spars is a market leader with innovative mast and carbon rigging concepts for the grand prix race, ocean racing, and performance superyacht markets. We now will have the opportunity to collaborate with the team at Nordic Mast who have considerable experience and presence in the European smaller race boat, performance cruiser, and production cruiser markets.”
Southern Spars has strong design technology and tools developed through its involvement in America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and other international race boat programmes. Glen continues:
“Southern’s design software, Rig Calc, has the added advantage of integrating into the North Sails design software to produce an optimum rig /sail package, and this technology will now be available and of benefit to all customers of yachts from the foiling Moth and Olympic classes through to production cruising yachts, race boats, grand prix race boats and superyachts.”
Nordic Mast also has extensive experience in manufacturing quality carbon masts for comparatively smaller race boats, performance cruisers, and cruising yachts in Europe. The existing Nordic Mast premises and all staff will be retained, and the operation will continue to be managed by Lars Netterstrøm, who will also assume a wider Group role.
Nordic Mast’s Lars Netterstrøm comments
“We are proud to have the opportunity to join with Southern Spars and to expand our business, ultimately bringing even better carbon masts and booms to our clients in Europe. The expansion into carbon rigging products will also be new for Nordic. It is very exciting for our team at Nordic Mast to become part of a truly global sparmaking and rigging group, and benefit from all the design and technological resources available within Southern Spars.”
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Sharon Tuff Joins the Volvo Ocean Race Commercial Team.
July 16, 2010 by admin
Filed under Appointments, United Kingdom, Volvo 70
Despite the UK having lost the HQ of the Volvo Ocean Race to Alicante, the event is keen to try and raise sponsorship revenue from the market.
Organisers have continued the pattern of recruiting a commercial team from outside of sailing, announcing that Sharon Tuff has joined the Volvo Ocean Race as Head of Commercial Partnerships for the UK. She is a former Senior Sponsorship Manager at Channel 4 and left in 2009 to work as an independent sponsorship and partnership marketing consultant, working with rights holders and media companies. Her most recent assignment was working with venture capital backed Horse & Country TV as Head of Brand Partnerships.
Sharon has over 10 years’ experience of creating selling, negotiating and implementing high value, high impact sponsorships.
With a background spanning media and events, she has extensive experience of creating commercial partnerships and delivering successful activation campaigns. She will be responsible for raising the profile of opportunities to partner with the Volvo Ocean Race amongst UK agencies and clients and delivering sponsorship revenue from the UK.
“I am delighted to be joining a world class, global event with such untapped and underexploited commercial potential,” said Tuff. “We are looking forward to engaging clients and agencies based in the UK. Our aim is to deliver award-winning partnerships that create lasting legacies for those brands involved.”
Greg Miall, Commercial Director for the Volvo Ocean Race added,
“Setting up a UK commercial office is an important step for the Volvo Ocean Race. We have looked across many different industries for the right commercial partnerships person and are delighted to appoint someone with such excellent experience and credentials”.”
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Volvo Ocean Race Adds Legends Regatta to 2011 Programme.
The Volvo Ocean Race has become one of the most professionally organised and successful yacht racing events in the world, but the commercialisation of the race has not pleased everyone. There will always be some who like to get nostalgic about the past and reminisce about how it was better when it was ‘The Whitbread’.
When the Volvo Ocean Race moved from the UK to Alicante this year, there was a sense that the Spanish city had a more visionary idea about how the Race could fit into the fabric of a community. Recognising the importance of the event’s past, organisers and the city that will host the start of the next race, have announced a Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta.
The event will bring together competitors and yachts from the 37-year history of the race in the first ever official reunion. The Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta will slot between the Alicante In-Port Race and the Pro-Am Race the previous weekend and the start of leg one on Saturday 5 November with a full Legends racing schedule.
The announcement was made at the official inauguration of the Volvo Ocean Race Headquarters by the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, President Francisco Camps. He said:
“This is another example of how the Volvo Ocean Race will provide entertainment for the local people of Alicante and the Valencian region and will help attract even more Spanish and international tourists.”
Many well-known competitors from the 10 previous races are looking forward to the event next year.
“Count me in,” – Skip Novak, whose history includes skippering rock star Simon Le Bon’s entry Drum in the 1985-86 race, and putting together the first Russian entry, Fazisi in 1989-90.
“It sounds great. Count on me.” – Magnus Olsson, a six-race veteran will certainly be there.
“It sounds exciting. Lovely idea and looking forward to it,” – Kiwi race winner Mike Sanderson.
“Great, I’ll be there,” – former winner Grant Dalton, who will also have his Volvo Open 70 Camper on the start line for the 11th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.
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