Ericsson Racing Team adds three Swedish crewmen

by Ericsson Racing Team on 31 Jan 2008 Three Swedish sailors, Martin Krite, Martin Strömberg and Anders Dahlsjö, will join Ericsson Racing Team's Nordic crew in the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts in autumn 2008.

This will be the first round-the-world race for the three sailors, who all have roots on Sweden's west coast. Ericsson Racing Team will compete with two boats, one with an international crew and one with an entirely Nordic crew, giving young Nordic sailors a chance to break into the small world of international yachting.

Dahlsjö and his colleagues well appreciate this opportunity to take part in such a prestigious race. 'Last spring, I read that Ericsson was going to have a Nordic crew and that was when I saw my chance,' Dahlsjö says. 'It's extremely difficult to gain a foothold among the international crews, but I realized that this could give me the opportunity to get involved.'

Krite says: 'Experience is all well and good, but you don't sail on past merits alone. I can promise that none of us in the Nordic boat will be satisfied with just being involved in sailing around the world. I think that with good team spirit and the right attitude, we could surprise a few people.'

The youngest member of Ericsson's Nordic crew is 25-year-old Martin Strömberg.

'I think they've been looking for people with personalities that suit the others onboard,' he says. 'I think we are strong team players and I'm happy to be a part of the team'.

The Ericsson Racing Team's training base is on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, where, in addition to training, the team tests its boats and equipment. The Volvo Ocean Race will start in Alicante, Spain, in October 2008 and finish in St Petersburg, Russia, in July 2009.

Ericsson's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race is a platform for driving sales. The race gives the company an unrivalled opportunity to reach customers around the world, spend quality time discussing joint opportunities and challenges, as well as showcasing how Ericsson's solutions can help them develop relationships with enterprises and consumers.

With the new race course taking the fleet to stops in the Middle East, India and China, Ericsson will be able to reach further into these important growth regions.

www.ericssonracingteam.com