Christmas
Comes Early For Team Ellen
IN
BRIEF:
*
NEW 75-FOOT B&Q TRIMARAN CRANED INTO WATER
& MAST FITTED...Christmas came early for the
shore team as the trimaran was wheeled out of
the assembly shed and craned into the water, an
operation that took a tense 12 hours...
* TEAM WILL STOP FOR CHRISTMAS DAY BUT WORK WILL
CONTINUE APACE in preparation for the official
launch day on 8th January 2004...
*
HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND ENJOY THE FESTIVE SEASON...a
huge thank you to everyone who has supported Team
Ellen in the last year. Your interest, enthusiasm
and support of the project makes all the hard
work worthwhile!
*
TUNE IN TO THE `BRITISH SAILING REVIEW OF 2003`
over the Christmas period... Produced by APP Broadcast
the 1 hour special sailing review includes the
Jules Verne record attempt by Ellen MacArthur
and the 13 crew on board the giant maxi-catamaran.
First transmission will be broadcast tonight on
Sky Sports at 8.00pm and repeated a further six
times over the Christmas
break. Visit http://www.teamellen.com to see all
transmission times...
IN DETAIL:
The
new 75-foot B&Q trimaran was wheeled out of
the assembly shed at the Sydney Port Authority
and P&O base at Glebe and gently lifted by
a giant crane before being lowered into the water.
Once afloat the 100ft mast was then fitted to
the main hull. "The entire operation took
12 hours and it was quite an emotional day to
see her finally in the water where she belongs,"
said MacArthur.
There
is now an extensive amount of work to do on the
interior of the boat - fitting the daggerboard
and engine, installing all the electronics and
weather systems as well hauling on board the North
3DL sails before the official launch of the 3-hulled
giant.
There
will be little respite for the shore team who
have their work cut out for them between now and
the official launch day on the 8th January, 2004.
"We will all have Christmas Day off - Aussie-style,"
said Ellen. "A BBQ and visit to the beach
which will be very different to what all our families
back home are doing! But we can only afford one
day off as we are pulling out the
stops to get the boat ready for the launch. It
is the nature of this sport that the winter period
is often the busiest time, so the team are pretty
used to having little downtime at this time of
year. Last year we had finished the solo Route
du Rhum before jumping straight into the training
programme for the Jules Verne record attempt.
But, hopefully, it will all be worth the effort
and everyone is pretty excited about the launch
on the 8th and the prospect of sailing her soon."
The
official launch of the B&Q trimaran to be
staged outside the National Maritime Museum in
Darling Harbour, Sydney, will coincide with the
opening day of the Schroders London Boat Show
and Ellen, following the naming of the new trimaran,
will officially co-open the 50th anniversary of
the show via satellite link hosted by communications
partner, BT. http://www.teamellen.com/bt
http://www.schroderslondonboatshow.com
