Photos: L ©Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing R ©Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing

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Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:30:00 UTC

Ericsson 4 has made the short journey by road from the Ericsson Racing Team’s boat yard in Kista, Stockholm to nearby Frihamnen, where she was put into the water for the first time.

The boat, the second of Argentinian designer Juan Kouyoumdjian’s two new Volvo Open 70s, was then towed through the narrow waterways of Baggensstäket.

“It was pretty close to the rocks but we arrived here safely,” said a relieved skipper Torben Grael.

Ericsson 4 will be joined by sister boat Ericsson 3 in a couple of days and both boats are due to leave for two-boat testing and their qualifying sail later this month.

Ericsson 3, the all-Nordic crew skippered by Anders Lewander, left the team’s training base in Lanzarote a week ago for the rendezvous with their international crew counterparts.

It was the first offshore sail for the Nordics. Both boats will return to Lanzarote after the qualifier.

As for Ericsson 4’s road trip through the busy streets of Stockholm, the task fell to Volvo Trucks’ new flagship FH16.

According to Christina Ohlsson-Jones, responsible for the Volvo Ocean Race at Volvo Trucks, the transportation of the precious 70-foot cargo turned a few heads.

“We chose a Volvo FH16 for this job as it is our strongest and toughest truck model, Ohlsson-Jones said. “The driver was also carefully selected for this important task.”

You can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!

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