First race yacht TEAM ABN AMRO to be unveiled

First race yacht TEAM ABN AMRO to be unveiled

On 28 December 2004, TEAM ABN AMRO’s first of two race yachts for the Volvo Ocean Race will see the light of day – and the eye of the public – as it exits the wharf at Schaap Ship Care and goes on transport. Destination: the harbour of Portimão, Portugal, host to TEAM ABN AMRO’s base camp for the next seven months as the crew and shore team test and fine-tune the new gear and trimmings.

This is the first Volvo 70 class yacht to hit the water in preparation of the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts from Galenxia, Spain, in November 2005. It’s a full ten feet longer than its predecessors in the last Volvo Ocean Race and now also has a hydraulically operated canting keel. Designer Juan Kouyoumdjian and skipper Mike Sanderson think it could reach speeds of up to 40 knots during the race.

Transport starts in Lelystad, where Killian Bushe and his team of craftsmen built the bank’s hi-tech race yacht. Fixed to a pontoon, it will pass through Lelystad, the IJsselmeer, the Amsterdam Rhine Canal and the Waal before it arrives at the port of Rotterdam. On 30 December, it will be transferred to an ocean freighter and carried south to Portugal. The actual christening of the yacht takes place in Portimão on 17 January 2005.

Bron: ABN AMRO, 24-12-2004;