Photos: L Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team R Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team

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Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:00:00 UTC

Ericsson Racing Team have unveiled their second Volvo Open 70 at their state-of-the-art boatyard in Kista, Sweden.

The second boat, penned by Argentinian designer Juan Kouyoumdjian and built under the direction of Ireland’s Killian Bushe, took shape in a purpose-built facility adjoining Ericsson’s Swedish headquarters.

Ericsson have entered two boats in the 2008-09 race. One features an international crew while the sister boat will fly under an all-Nordic banner. The first boat from the Kouyoumdjian-Bushe stable, Ericsson 3, was launched in February and is currently being tuned at the team’s summer training camp in Lanzarote. The latest boat goes by the name of Ericsson 4.

According to Bushe, 80,000 man hours have been invested in the 15-month build programme for the two boats. More than 17,000 visitors – Ericsson employers and customers – have passed through the construction site during the course of the build.

"Most of the other teams this time around have built their boats at an existing boat yard, so in that respect we are different in that we have created our own bespoke build facility from a blank canvas,” Bushe said.

“At times there has been a team of up to 32 guys working on the boats and when we had the overlap period of some two months, we were able to fit in three Volvo Open 70 elements in the yard – Ericsson 3 in the oven, the plug for Ericsson 4 and then the deck mould.”

Speaking at the unveiling, Kouyoumdjian added: "It is incredible that you can find a boatyard right here, in the middle of a capital city and next door to Ericsson's global head office.

“This is a state-of-the-art facility and the boats are amongst the most technologically advanced that I have been involved with, which was, of course, one of the initial objectives of the campaign."

As for how he expects Ericsson 4 to perform, Kouyoumdjian said: “Some boats, every now and again, come with a soul of their own and I believe this boat has a soul of its own. Hopefully it will perform.

“The quality of the crew is so high and we are the providers of their equipment. Of course, with the equipment alone they can’t win the race – they need to win by sailing better than the rest. But nonetheless, the equipment is an important part, and we are under a lot of pressure to make sure the equipment is up to the level of the crew.”

For the skipper of the international entry, Torben Grael, the completion of Ericsson 4 is a key milestone in the campaign. "This marks the true start of race mode for the international crew,” he said. “We are really excited about getting out and sailing the boat in early July.

“We have got a great crew and good team, and we now have the second boat. Killian [Bushe] and his team here in Kista have done a fantastic job. And for me this will, I hope, be the perfect boat.”

Ericsson 4 is due to leave the boatyard at Kista on 5th July for sea trials off the coast at Nynäshamn. In mid July both Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 will begin two-boat testing out of Lanzarote.

You can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!

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