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10 March 2005, 11:11 am

Spanish Boat Prepares For Testing

Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006

Newcastle, Australia

Built by Boatspeed in Newcastle, Australia and designed by Bruce Farr the Telefónica Movistar boat for the Volvo Ocean Race is ready for launch. After thirty-four thousand hours and the work of twenty construction specialists the new VO 70 MoviStar is ready to begin her first training sessions.

'This is just another step in our preparation for the 50,000 miles the MoviStar will cover during the Volvo Ocean Race's competition and training,' says Pedro CAMPOS (ESP), general manager of the project. 'Today marks the start of a new phase of activity optimizing all technical aspects before launching into training on the open sea en route from Australia to Spain.'

The countdown has now begun with numerous tests designed to observe the sail configurations as well as the team members. 'At this second stage of the project our objective is to make sure everything works smoothly and properly,' notes skipper Bouwe BEKKING (NED). 'We'll also start to engage the human side of the operation, putting each person at their post on the boat'.

Using the Farr blueprints and the structural calculations of SP Systems, the Boatspeed shipyard has employed 2,500 kilos of carbon, using a technology similar to that used in the new Airbus 380 passenger airplane.

Australian born Andrew CAPE, winner of the last America's Cup, manages the electronic components of the boat and fully knows the responsibility involved in his area of activity: 'We cannot accept a single electronic error in the boat's monitoring or in reception of information. The entire electronic system has undergone rigorous controls to ensure quality and safety'. Nearly 1,000 metres of cabling have been carefully set throughout the boat to handle essential information gathering and data transmission (including weather conditions, video, audio and photography).

Another of the race's newcomers, Athens 2004 Olympic gold medallist, Xabi FERNÁNDEZ (ESP), has started his involvement in the second phase of the project. FERNÁNDEZ will be joined by Olympic teammate Iker MARTÍNEZ: 'We're just starting to test the maneuverability of the boat and as of yet have used 1,200 metres between the halyards, sheets and ropes.'

The last phase of the preparation, to be followed by another of six months after arriving in Galicia, will begin with the boat's sail to Brazil, broken by a short 24 hour stop in New Zealand's capital Wellington. This segment will reproduce the exact route of the fourth, and perhaps most difficult leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, travelling through Cape Horn,up the Eastern coast of South America and over to Río de Janeiro.