Ericsson arrives

Neal McDonald's Volvo 70 offloaded in Melbourne

It was an early start for the Ericsson boys this morning with the arrival of their yacht by cargo ship. Ericsson was offloaded from the towering Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship Tagus and arrived into the Volvo Ocean Race village at Melbourne Docklands early this afternoon.

Skipper Neal McDonald explained the activity as Ericsson was placed in her cradle beside the race village. “Everything now has to be taken off the boat - the sails, the mast etc. All the boats have to be reweighed during the stopover. On top of this, every component needs to be checked as is necessary during every stopover, from the mast to the keel and every single rope and shackle.

“The Melbourne stopover will be like all the others, but with compressed time. The advantage we have is that the boat has only been sailed two days so she is in good shape, and we know that she is fast as we were second when we had to retire from leg two. Once we have made the necessary repairs we will need to put the kit back together and we hope to get her back in the water early next week."

McDonald continued: “The guys are champing at the bit to get back into it. We really need to make sure we prioritise and do the essential work, so that we can get out there and train for the in-port race.

“It seems a long time since we arrived into Port Elizabeth, where the boat was shipped on 9 January,” remembers Swedish crewmember Magnus Woxén. “We are all itching to go racing again, which is what we love and the reason why we are here. I hope we get some good wind for the in-port race – not too light and not too strong like in Cape Town – so that we can really see how all the boats compare.”