Victory Challenge's SWE 96 arrives in Valencia

by Bert Willborg on 14 Jan 2007 SWE 96 arrived at Victory Challenge’s base in Valencia today. With this, the new boat that Victory Challenge has built to take part in the world’s most prestigious sailing competition is in place where the 32nd America’s Cup will be decided.

'It’s always a great relief when such an important transport goes well,' says Sam Murch, shore manger.

He was there in Göteborg when SWE 96 left the shipyard on Monday morning. He is also on site in Valencia when it arrives. (In between he has been in Dubai where Victory Challenge currently has its winter training).

'The feeling of relief comes when you receive the goods in the same condition as when you sent it off,' says Sam Murch.

The transport of SWE 96, by lorry from Göteborg to Valencia, has only taken five days.

'It has been a very effective transport, thanks to the efforts of the freight company, Complete Freight,' says Sam Murch.

It is also Complete Freight that organised the air transport of Örn (SWE 63) and Orm (SWE 73), with Antonov planes, from Valencia to Dubai for winter training, and have now managed the delivery of SWE 96.

By choosing a shorter route via ferry, from Trelleborg in Sweden to Travemünde in Germany, a time-consuming road transport through Denmark could be avoided and the driver had a necessary rest, to then continue straight through Germany. This speeded up the transport, so that SWE 96 could arrive at the Spanish border on Thursday night and reach Valencia before 1 pm on Saturday (when weekend restrictions for heavy loads are applied).

In parallel with SWE 96, the new boat’s bulb, weighing more than 20 tons, has been transported from Göteborg to Valencia. That also arrived today. Two of the workshop containers that were at the shipyard at the Lindholmen Science Park will also go to Valencia.

Work to complete SWE 96 will now begin immediately. The boat is to be equipped with winches, hydraulics and electronics. Fin, bulb and mast are to be mounted. The outside of the hull, with the Red Bull symbol on the bow and the energy drink’s logo on the sides, will be finished.

Only after that will she be ready to put in the water.

SWE 96, which has now arrived in Valencia, is the result of more than 25,000 man hours of work.

'Impressive, you have to have respect for the skill that has been put into building this boat. It is both an advanced and an extreme boat, if you compare it to the two boats that we built for the America’s Cup in Auckland. It is unbelievable, so much has happened just in one generation of this boat class,' was Magnus Holmberg’s comment eleven days ago, when the boat was put on display for the first time.

Since then, Magnus Holmberg and his crew have had eight tough days of sailing training in a row on the water in Dubai. The winter training in the United Arab Emirates, with SWE 63 and SWE 73, will continue until SWE 96 is ready to sail in Valencia.

The boatbuilding in Göteborg has been led by Killian Bushe, who built the winning boats in the last two Volvo Ocean Races, for German Illbruk in 2000-2001 and for ABN AMRO in 2005-2006.

Now he has had 25 boatbuilders at his disposal for the building of SWE 96, which will be Victory Challenge’s boat for the decisive stages of the 32nd America’s Cup.

There are less than three months remaining to the final pre-regatta, the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, and just over three months until the Louis Vuitton Cup, in which the eleven challengers will finally decide who gets to be the Challenger that can meet the Defender, Alinghi, in the America’s Cup Match.

SWE 96 has, like SWE 63 and SWE 73, been designed by Mani Frers (now alongside his father, German Frers).