The CAMPER VO70. Image copyright Chris Cameron/CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand.
by Vicky Low and Lucy Harwood
This morning, almost a year to the day that Camper and Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed their entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12, CAMPER, the team’s Volvo Open 70, was towed out of the shed at Cookson Boats where she has been in build for the past nine months.
Designed by the Emirates Team New Zealand design team led by Principal Designer Marcelino Botin, CAMPER has been under construction since August at the world leading boat builder in Auckland, owned by Mick Cookson.
Video: Moving the CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand VO70 from Cookson's to the team base:
For the past 12 months a core group of people from Emirates Team New Zealand has been working hard to ensure that the build has been kept on time, and on budget.
“This is a great day for us as a team. Everyone has given 100% to ensure that we have met all our deadlines and have been able to deliver CAMPER on time, just nine months after we first started the build project,” commented Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton.
“To be able to stand back and see the amazing job that they guys have done and now see her in her full livery, is quite humbling. I am very excited about going out sailing towards the end of this week,” he concluded.
The CAMPER VO70 is moved from Cookson's to the team base at the Viaduct Harbour. Image copyright Chris Cameron/CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand.
For Camper, this is their first foray into ocean racing, and the company’s Founder and Chairman, Lorenzo Fluxá is equally excited about today’s event:
“This is quite an historical moment for everyone at Camper and the start of a new adventure for our brand. The boat build has been a great experience for all of us, so precise in its execution that all we can do is congratulate all those involved in bringing ‘ the CAMPER’ to life.”
It was a short drive over Auckland’s Harbour Bridge to the shore base in the Viaduct, where the team is now entering the final phase of the build. The shore crew will bring the final components together from the team’s base in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour. The remaining systems and keel will be fitted before CAMPER is lowered in the water by travel lift, where the mast will be stepped and the sails loaded. The team look forward to the boat’s first sail, when the full extent of her new livery will be revealed.
CAMPER in the Volvo Ocean Race
