HRH to launch Ecover

Princess Royal to break open the bubbly during Southampton Boat Show

Mike Golding' s latest Open 60 Ecover will be officially named by HRH The Princess Royal at the Southampton Boat Show on Monday, 17 September.  The new Owen Clarke designed Open 60 has been under construction at Hakes Marine in Wellington, New Zealand for the last nine months and will return to the UK via cargo ship in early September.
 
The Princess Royal will officially name the boat and become Godmother to the new Open 60. After the naming ceremony, Ecover will undergo sea trials as she is prepared for her first competitive outing in the Transat Jacques Vabre Race.

Ecover is the second boat designed by Owen Clarke for Mike Golding to compete in the IMOCA Open 60 circuit. Mike and the new Ecover will race in the IMOCA 2007/8 World Championship that culminates in the Vendée Globe.

"I am really excited and honoured that HRH The Princess Royal is to name the new Ecover Open 60 at the Southampton Boat Show," comments Golding. "This new generation IMOCA 60 is the product of a huge team effort over the past 12 months and The Princess Royal participation at our naming is a fabulous way to celebrate this milestone and mark the beginning of the next, competitive, phase leading up to the Vendee Globe in 2008/9."