Ericsson Racing Team

November 27, 2009

Brad Jackson and Stu Bannatyne, watch captains on Ericsson 4, the winner of the 2008-09 race, have been jointly named Sailor of the Year at the 2009 Yachting New Zealand Excellence Awards.

Jackson and Bannatyne, two of the world's most successful ocean racers, join an elite group of three, joining another New Zealander Mark Christensen as the only sailors to have won the Whitbread/Volvo three times.

Jackson and Bannatyne sailed on New Zealand Endeavour in the 1993-94 winning the maxi class.  In the 2001-02 race, Bannatyne, collected his second win in three races as a member of the illbruck crew. Jackson made it two as watch captain on the all-conquering ABN AMRO ONE in the 2005-06. This latest win now means both Jackson and Bannatyne have three wins each, from five races.

"We think that Brad and Stuart's longevity in the sport, and the significant input that they have had in the repeated successes of their teams, is highly admirable," said Yachting New Zealand Chief Executive Des Brennan. "There are very few yachtsmen who have stood the test of time as this pair have done."

The pair have joined Sir Peter Blake (1982 and 1989, and in 2001 with the Steinlager 2 crew), Grant Dalton (2001), and Mike Sanderson (2006) in winning the Sir Bernard Fergusson trophy for New Zealand Sailor of the Year.

At the Award Ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, Bannatyne commented " It was a very pleasant surprise to be nominated.   It is humbling for Brad and I to join the list of people already on the Trophy.  There are many factors that go into a winning race campaign but the key is to get the right people and we were fortunate to be able to join fairly early on and help put together a strong team of people."

November 13, 2009

Ericsson 4 skipper Torben Grael has been named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Read the article published after the ceremony in Korea. Warmest congratulations to Torben from the team!

Read more at the International Sailing Federations website!

October 7, 2009

Ericsson 4's navigator Jules Salter on the race in hindsight:

ISLE OF WIGHT, UK (October 7, 2009) -Three months on and the grip the Volvo Ocean Race had over my life is starting to ease. I am now sleeping properly again after the disruption of over 120 nights at sea - there are no sail changes or reefs, nor weather and position reports to assimilate and respond to. I am slowly reclaiming my domestic position as head of the household and working again with other sailing boats from 25 to 150 foot and really enjoying the variety. Outside of the Ericsson Racing Team bubble my shipmates from Ericsson 4 are now adversaries again and you get to hear some of the other boats adventures and horror stories from the race.
 

The global tour passes quickly and it is satisfying to look back on the result we achieved – in reality the only acceptable goal which we strived to achieve for 2 years. Most of what we did with the team worked out and it is obvious now that it was due to the fantastic, professional people we had in all areas of the team. We had a very fast and strong boat thanks to the excellence of Juan Yacht Design and Killian Bushes’ build team and a fast and robust sail program which enabled us to always have good gear available.

It still seems unreal to think of the race as a whole – there was just too much to its scope in terms of weather, sea conditions, new ports and oceans. Plenty of moments do come flashing back and most of them are the happy experiences. The pressure of the race can make you appear reserved on the outside but I was mostly laughing on the inside. There was some awesome fast sailing and some seascapes from the Southern Ocean are etched clearly in the memory. It is also only now that you appreciate how big the race was and how many people followed it as interested friends, supporters of Ericsson or ‘virtual’ adversaries in the virtual race. It is good to now share the real race with these people.

The most common question I am asked is: "Would I do it again?" My answer firstly is you need to be lucky enough to be asked on such an escapade and secondly, as the last race drops away below the horizon, only memories of the good times live on....so ....just say yes!

Jules Salter, navigator on Ericsson 4

October 2, 2009

KISTA, Stockholm (October 2, 2009) - Ericsson 3 left Lidingö as of yesterday, October 1, to sail down to Italy where she will continue to sail under the Italian flag. Giovanni Soldini (43) has been named as the skipper of the Italia 70 team that has bought Ericsson 3 to participate in the coming Volvo Ocean Race.

Ericsson Racing Team's Magnus Olsson, who skippered Ericsson 3 to an honourable fourth place in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, is on board for the delivery, together with Fletcher Kennedy, one of Ericsson Racing Team's shore crew members, new skipper Giovanni Soldini and eight Italian crew members.

As of this morning Magnus Olsson and the crew on board reports that they are on the Swedish South Coast enjoying some nicesailing in the cold (below zero last night) and sunny Swedish Fall weather.