Team Dongfeng’s Volvo Ocean 65 hit the water for the first time on Monday afternoon in southern England. It was a key moment for the Chinese entry in the next edition of the race – and another step towards the red boat’s first sail.
Pull down load test in perfect conditions pic.twitter.com/qs3a8TE4mR
— Team Dongfeng (@TeamDongfeng) December 3, 2013
More pics here
After a short barge trip from the Green Marine boatyard where it had been assembled, the Chinese team’s brand new one-design arrived at Williams Shipping in Southampton. The 12,500kg boat was then craned into the water.
Team Dongfeng will be based there for the next two weeks for commissioning and sea trials.
“This is new territory for us,” said Charles Darbyshire from OC Sport, the management company running the team.
“We are used to doing our boats ourselves and this is more like buying a car. We bought it and picked it up a few weeks later.”
Backed by Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle, Team Dongfeng announced their participation in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 on October 30.
They are now recruiting both international and Chinese sailors while getting their new boat ready for the round the world challenge – starting with structural and pull-down tests on Tuesday and sailing sessions in the following days.
"We've been with this boat since the beginning; we were with it when it was still resin and rolls of cloth,” said Volvo Ocean Race reporter Rick Deppe, who followed the Volvo Ocean 65’s building process for our Building the Future video series.
“We chased it across Europe and we've run timelapses over every stage of the build. To see it here today in the water makes us really proud to have been involved.
"We've met some amazing people and learnt a great deal. I cannot wait to go for a sail."
From Volvo Ocean Race
