Ericsson Racing Team presents Boats and Crews

by Victoria Low on 20 Sep 2008
Ericsson Racing Team formally announces today that Brazilian Torben Grael will skipper the International crew aboard Ericsson 4 and Sweden's Anders Lewander will skipper the Nordic crew aboard Ericsson 3 for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race. This announcement coincides with the official opening of the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Alicante, Spain.

The two Volvo Open 70 designs are the latest creations from Argentinean Juan Kouyoumdjian. He and is team based their work around the new route, running more than 6,000 virtual races around the world on several models.

Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 were built under the supervision of Killian Bushe at a bespoke facility next to Ericsson's World headquarters in Kista, Sweden, about 10 kilometers north of Stockholm.

The close proximity allowed the company's customers and employees an opportunity to follow the different phases of construction with unprecedented access. With a chance to integrate the racing team with the employees, more than 17,000 staff and guests visited the build site.

Fifteen days remain until the Volvo Ocean Race begins with the first inshore race in Alicante, Spain, host port for the start, scheduled Oct. 4. The first offshore leg, to Cape Town, South Africa, is scheduled to begin one week later, Oct. 11.

This is Ericsson's second foray in the Volvo Ocean Race, which it sees as a valuable platform to meet clients and customers around the world while also showcasing its technology.