Volvo Ocean Race- Camper arrives to a christening in Palma

by Sail-World on 23 Sep 2011
Emirates Team NZ's entry in the Volvo Ocean Race CAMPER’s unmistakable bright red livery turned more than a few heads as she sailed into her home port of Palma for the first time yesterday.

'It's been a long time in the making, but everyone is really happy to be here.'

A large flotilla of boats joined the eye-catching Volvo Open 70 on the water to welcome her into the Mallorcan port.

Crowds waving CAMPER flags lined the dockside as she sailed past Santa Maria cathedral before berthing at the Royal Club Nautico de Palma.

Since leaving New Zealand in July, the CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand crew have been on a busy European tour that took them to London, Lorient and briefly Alicante.

'It was the first time we have sailed CAMPER into our home in Palma so it was a big day for us,' said CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson.

'It's been a long time in the making, but everyone is really happy to be here.

'The boat is in good shape, we had a really nice trip down.

'For the team, it was a very special day, the amount of people who came out to welcome us was quite overwhelming and we have a pretty cool group of supporters. It's going to be a good trip around the world.'

The team will now enjoy a few days of downtime before making the short trip from Mallorca to Alicante next week ahead of the first In-Port Race on October 29.