The Transat Race 2004 Plymouth - Boston - Start 31.05.2004 www.thetransat.com - zur Übersicht 26.04.2004 www.conradhumphreys.com HELLOMOTO PREPARED IN RECORD TIME FOR THE TRANSAT Conrad Humphreys sets off on qualifier today Plymouth, England 26th April, 2004. Motorola Ocean Racing Team Skipper, 31 yr old Conrad Humphreys, today sets off from his home port of Plymouth on his 750 nm qualifying passage for The Transat race. This trip heralds his first solo voyage onboard the newly refitted Open 60 race boat HELLOMOTO. HELLOMOTO arrived last Friday at her new home in Plymouth Yacht Haven Marina after a record refit, managed by the Motorola Ocean Racing Team in Caen, France. After securing the boat in mid February, the challenge for the team, to refit and re-launch HELLOMOTO before this qualifying passage, was immense. The team had just 8 weeks to execute a process that normally takes up to 12 weeks, and the Motorola Ocean Racing Team surpassed expectations by delivering HELLOMOTO to Plymouth one week before the end of April deadline. Conrad Humphreys, Skipper of HELLOMOTO and Managing Director of O6T, said: "There has been a fantastic sense of urgency in the team's attitude in preparing HELLOMOTO for The Transat race. We knew we were up against a tight schedule and to complete such an extensive refit in time was down to careful planning and determination on everyone's part. I am really looking forward to getting out to sea now and putting HELLOMOTO through her paces." Margaret Rice-Jones, corporate vice president, Motorola Inc. and general manager of Motorola's Infrastructure Sector in EMEA said, "Conrad and the Motorola Ocean Racing Team have prepared in record time for the qualifier as a result, in part, to strong teamwork. In addition, innovation in terms of the technology being used both on HELLOMOTO and by the team, has also played a key role in making sure that the boat was ready in time. Execution is key to winning a race and the team has shown that it is well placed to succeed through the work carried out in the preparation of HELLOMOTO." The three index objectives for the Motorola Ocean Racing Team during this refit phase were firstly, to make the necessary modifications to meet the latest class safety regulations, for example fitting a new box in the transom to house the life raft. Secondly, the team modernised the sail-handling systems, which included fitting 8 new Harken winches in the cockpit area: 3 linked to a twisted pedestal or 'coffee grinder' positioned in the middle of the cockpit, plus indexsheet and traveler winches positioned on a new plinth built into the aft cockpit. This reduces the effort and time it takes for Conrad to trim all the sails, and allows the skipper to indextain optimum efficiency and power from the boat. Lastly, HELLOMOTO had to be customized to suit Conrad himself. One improvement is the addition of 350mm of coach roof to create a protected outside area or 'cuddy' in the cockpit with soft seating for the skipper to rest in and shelter from the waves washing down the boat but still keep within arms reach of the helm and grinder. Effective communications were an integral part of the boat preparation, and the Motorola Ocean Racing Team have benefited from the use of some of Motorola's key wireless products, as Project Manager, Joff Brown, explains: "Running a programme and shore-team of this size in three different locations without the use of wireless technology would have slowed us down. The fact that we can log on remotely via wireless LAN either onboard or from our mobile container has meant downtime has been kept to a minimum." As Conrad Humphreys is the only local skipper participating in the upcoming Transat event, HELLOMOTO will be berthed from now on in the Plymouth Yacht Haven Marina, which is hosting the event in the lead up to the 31st May start from Plymouth Sound. Refit & launch images are online now at www.conradhumphreys.com. Sailing images of HELLOMOTO and the Motorola Ocean Racing Team will be available from May 2004. Please request any images from the Communications Manager or view online. ENDS Media enquiries, HELLOMOTO & Motorola Ocean Racing Team images: Mary Ambler Communications Manager Motorola Ocean Racing Team Open 60 HELLOMOTO E: mary@o6t.com T: +44 (0)1752 600111 F: +44 (0)1752 600222 M: +44 (0)7887 643 583 O6T Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1752 600111 - Fax: +44 (0) 1752 600222 Website: www.conradhumphreys.com About Conrad Humphreys and O6T Conrad Humphreys, 31, from Devon, is an inspirational team leader and world-class British yachtsman who in 2001 became the youngest ever skipper to win the BT Global Challenge. His company, O6T, delivers a range of major PR, relationship building and team and leadership development opportunities to business. About HELLOMOTO HELLOMOTO is the 1998 Open 60 Finot design previously raced under British skipper Mike Golding. This 'Formula 1' carbon built race boat, with her trademark giant deck spreaders, swing keel and rotating wing mast, has already completed a circumnavigation and held podium positions in every transatlantic race. Motorola Ocean Racing Programme The 2004-05 FICO-Lacoste World Championship will kick off with The Transat classic, single-handed yacht race (ex-OSTAR), which starts from Plymouth on 31st May 2004, crossing the North Atlantic to arrive in Boston, USA some 14 days later. The index event, the solo, non-stop round-the-world Vendée Globe yacht race starts from Les Sables d'Olonne in the Vendée region of Western France on 7th November 2004. The 2005 programme includes the fully-crewed Calais Round Britain Race, the Rolex Fastnet and two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race. Conrad Humphreys will be representing Britain amongst a field of top international skippers with the overall goal to win the FICO-Lacoste World Championship. For more information: www.conradhumphreys.com Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE