Taufe der neuen BT Open60 in London

Oceanracing - Aktuell 2008
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London, 29th April 2008
A SWEET LAUNCH FOR THE BT OPEN 60 London

The BT Open 60, skippered by Seb Josse, was officially launched on the River Thames today after an extensive race refit with the support of BT Team Ellen teammates Ellen MacArthur and Nick Moloney.

The all-girl band, the Sugababes, were onboard singing one of their hit records as the boat sailed under Tower Bridge – find out why below! Seb Josse into final preparations for The Artemis Transat – an important stepping-stone to the ultimate goal of the solo Vendée Globe.
http://btteamellen.com [http://btteamellen.com?&]

IN DETAIL:
Today on the River Thames (London, UK), Seb Josse's BT IMOCA 60 was officially launched after an extensive race refit. And it proved to be a sweet moment of success for Seb and his teammate Ellen MacArthur as the all-girl band, the Sugababes, joined the duo onboard the BT IMOCA 60 to sing one of their latest hit records as she sailed under Tower Bridge.

The Sugababe trio of Amelle, Heidi and Keisha supported the launch of the BT-branded boat in her new colours to promote BT's sponsorship of this year's Isle of Wight Festival. BT Team Ellen are also based in East Cowes at Venture Quays on the Isle of Wight so it proved a perfect opportunity to publicise one of the island's biggest music festivals which takes place over 13th -15th June. Ellen launched the BT Team Ellen project in Paris in September last year – a three-year partnership with BT through to 2010. The project includes the BT IMOCA 60 skippered by Sébastien Josse and Australian Nick Moloney, skipper of the BT Extreme 40.

After sailing back under Tower Bridge, the BT IMOCA 60 then berthed alongside the Royal Navy's HMS President where she was officially christened by CEO of BT Global Services, Francois Barrault: "I am delighted to launch the BT Open 60, a unique collaboration that captures the powerful potential of the BT Team Ellen partnership. Working together, we aim not only to win races, but also to demonstrate how innovative approaches to communications and technology can help to create a better world. Developing a sustainable future is an important part of this partnership as businesses and consumers increasingly need to act responsibly towards the environment in which we operate." A decade-long association with BT as communications partner to the sailing team has now matured into a well-matched title partner relationship.

A perfect 'Mumm moment' for the BT IMOCA 60 team as they toasted her christening and future success with G.H. Mumm Champagne, the official champagne supplier to the team.

Seb Josse from Concarneau in France will now race the BT IMOCA 60 in the forthcoming solo transatlantic race, The Artemis Transat, which starts from Plymouth on 11th May. Not only is this race the oldest solo race in history but one of the toughest challenges for any solo skipper to cross the North Atlantic alone and is a major stepping stone towards Seb's ultimate goal of competing in his second solo, non-stop round the world, Vendée Globe race that starts in November: "I have raced around the globe three times so far – with a crew non-stop, with a crew with stops, solo non-stop – every element of racing and being at sea is a pleasure for me. Every race is a new challenge, a new battle, a new discovery.

Fotos: © Thierry Martinez/Sea&Co/BT Team Ellen

Ellen MacArthur, Nick Moloney and Seb Josse onboard the BT Open 60, sailing under Tower Bridge

the Sugababes with Ellen

The all-girl band, the Sugababes

Die neue BT OPen 60 vor Lorient

No ones knows what will happen in the next Vendée Globe – all we know is that never before have so many pro teams lined up on the start line together. Today is a culmination of three months of hard work by the shore team to get our BT IMOCA 60 into the highest possible race spec with the objective of being very competitive but also able to complete a long distance race around the world."

Whilst Seb is campaigning the BT IMOCA 60 and Nick skippers the BT Extreme 40 in this year's iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series across Europe, Ellen's sailing projects for 2008 include the Archipelago Raid on the BT F18 plus helming the BT Extreme 40 in the Round the Island Race before racing on the BT IMOCA 60 in some of the crewed events in 2009. Ellen is also supporting BT's CSR worldwide programme and continuing with her commitment to pursuing and communicating how to lead a more sustainable life on land.

"It has been a great moment to see the launch of Seb's BT IMOCA 60. He is a fantastic skipper with a huge amount of experience and as a team we are as excited for him as he is to get the boat launched and ready for her first season of racing. Both myself, Seb and Nick have all raced in the solo Vendée Globe and know what a huge and demanding undertaking it is. He will have our 100% support in the build up to and during both The Artemis Transat and the Vendée Globe and we have absolute confidence in his ability to succeed."

"Our relationship with BT is not only long but we share many common objectives. We both share a combined passion for both the sport and the world around us, and I am convinced that the projects we will be working on together, both on and off the water, will help us to achieve our mutual objectives of not only being able to win races, but to promote the power of communications and technology to help create a better, more sustainable, world. When you sail around the world you have no choice but to be completely tuned into what is around you. How to harness the power of nature and manage the limited resources you are carrying on board. You sail around our planet and realise it's not so big after all, and that it has it's own fragility," concluded Ellen.

The Race Refit:
Four months of major refit work has been carried out on the BT Open 60 by the 10-strong shore team. Charles Darbyshire, Project Manager of BT Team Ellen explains:

Can you outline the major refit work and highlight some of the new innovations to the BT Open 60?

We have a new mast and a new boom, optimised for solo sailing and , importantly, the Vendée Globe. A new battery and charging system has been installed which we hope will make more efficient use of the diesel we use to charge the batteries that power all the systems on board. This means Seb can take less fuel onboard when he is racing so the boat is lighter and, therefore, more competitive. The team also added a wind turbine to charge the batteries - a good and reliable back up system to the onboard generator – and meets the team's desire to use nature's elements to provide power to the boat.

We have some new sail shapes and a simplified sail plan with bigger crossovers between sails. This is important for solo sailing as it demands fewer sail changes for Seb and the sail configurations being in optimum conditions for longer periods.

The team have made adjustments to the balance of the boat meaning it's easier for the autopilot to function at optimum performance . We've chosen to permanently fix the rudders down in a more traditional system for now whilst the 'kick-up' rudder solution is further developed to be totally reliable.

An important design innovation has been to add powerboat style 'strakes' to the bow of the boat. This should provide extra lift to the bows of the boat in difficult conditions or big seas. Downwind there is a lot of energy pushing the bow down which puts the boat at risk of sustaining serious damage, these strakes are designed to provide lift to counter this.

Outline the media communications system the boat has?
With BT as our title partner we want to ensure we can do the best job for Seb to be able to communicate back to shore what he is experiencing at sea. The Fleet 77 housed in a large dome that sits at the front of the mast, provides the hi-speed satellite connection and the Iridium phone also connected via satellite provides all the boats communications solutions allowing a voice and data connections anywhere on the racecourse. Seb will be able to do live 2-way video conferences, send photos or video clips back as well as receiving the all-important weather data onboard. Video conferencing has moved on a lot in the past four years, and we will be using dedicated hardware to make the very best quality connections as possible. Closer to shore BT (Group Chief Technology Office) are working together with CISCO on 'Shore-Link', a prototype device that gives the BT 60 seamless 3G and WiFi connectivity enabling live content distribution from the boat's on-board media system and other devices.

The boat has a fine new livery – can you explain the design process?
The team worked closely with BT and their design agency, Howell Wong Costello, to come up with the eye-catching design of the BT Team Ellen boats. The index focus was on ensuring that the BT IMOCA 60 would stand out at the 2008 Vendée Globe where a record fleet of 27 IMOCA Open 60s will be on the start line at the beginning of the world's toughest single handed race. The design comprising of a composite mix of the BT Globe colours and shapes and distinctive Indigo Blue is used across the BT Team Ellen fleet.

What happens after The Artemis Transat and in the build-up to the Vendée Globe?
After The Artemis Transat the boat will be sailed back to France by Seb and members of the shore team, who will do some significant testing on the delivery. In particular, on the sails and electrical systems, and we will also be testing new B&G autopilot software. It will be critical for the team to use this time to decide the final direction of our development for the last few months leading up the Vendee Globe that starts in November. New sails will be designed at this time and a full service and check of all the onboard systems will be carried out before heading to Cowes for Skandia Cowes Week, and the high point of the week The Artemis Challenge - a race for Open 60s around the Isle of Wight. indexly British based teams compete but it will be great to line up against the best of the British campaigns to see how we do and for the team to have some fun at the same time. After Skandia Cowes Week Seb and the boat return to France for more training in Port La Forêt and making the final preparations for the Vendée Globe.

Tell us about the BT Open 60 shore team?
During the refit we have had up to 10 full-time people working hard on the boat and her systems, and a number of sub-contract companies making components. This work has been coordinated day to day by Pierre Emanuel Herisse with support from Technical Director Neil Graham. Full-time team members Charlie Carter, Paul-Ed Henry and Rhys Mellor have also been based in Lorient for four months, and seeing the boat sailing again is a great reward for the winter months hard work

Seb Josse Profile
Sébastien Josse already has a very impressive track record and a real international stature. A product of the famous Figaro single-handed class, he quickly moved into the world of IMOCA 60s and threatened the "rock stars" in the 2004 Vendée Globe before hitting a growler (part of a broken iceberg), an incident that compromised his chances of stepping on the podium. Nevertheless, it is a determined and happy sailor who crossed the finish line in 5th position of what was his first solo non -stop round-the-world race. In 2002, Sébastien had been part of Bruno Peyron's crew, capturing the Jules Verne Trophy in 64 days . The young man's third round-the-world journey was to be a major step in his career, since he had been appointed skipper of ABN AMRO 2 for the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race. Being in charge of the Dutch team's "young" crew as all members were 30 years of age or less, Sébastien went on to challenge the race's favorites , among which one could find legendary names such as Paul Cayard or Bouwe Bekking, and broke the 24-hour monohull record with an impressive 562.96 mile run that still holds today. In November 2007 he set out on the double-handed, non-stop round the world race called the Barcelona World Race with previous Vendée Globe winner, Vincent Riou, and were leading the race off South Africa when the boat lost the top of the mast forcing a retirement.
Born: 31 March 1975
Nationality: French
Lives: Concarneau, France
[http://www.sebjosse.com]

BT IMOCA 60 Technical Specification
Length: 18,28m (60 feet)
width: 5.85m, Weight: 8400k (8.4 tonnes), Keel: 2800k
Mast height: 28.5m, Draft: 4.5m
indexsail area upwind: 310sqm, indexsail area downwind: 590sqm
Build material: carbon firbre nomex foam sandwich
Designer: Farr Yacht Design, Annapolis, USA
Builder: Offshore Challenges Sailing Team, Cowes, UK
Number of build hours: 22,000 hours over 8 months
Number in build team: 14, reaching 26 in final phase
Boat components: assembled around the word – mast and boom from Marstrom in Sweden; keel fin from North America; winches from Harken in Italy; sails from North Sails in France and the UK.
2008/09 programme of IMOCA events
29 April 2008 : Launch of the BT IMOCA 60
11 May 2008 : The Artemis Transat
28 June 2008 : JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race
6 August 2008 : Artemis Round the Island Race / Skandia Cowes Week
9 November 2008 to February 2009 : Vendée Globe
February 2009 : Finish of the Vendée Globe Race
May 2009 : Calais Round Britain & Ireland Race
June 2009 – JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race
August 2009 – Skandia Cowes Week
August 2009 – The Fastnet Race
September-November 2009 – Transat Jacques Vabre Race or other European event tbc by the IMOCA class

What is BT Team Ellen?
In September 2007, Ellen launched the BT Team Ellen project in Paris – a 3-year partnership with BT through to 2010. The project includes the BT IMOCA 60 skippered by French skipper, Sébastien Josse, and Nick Moloney, skipper of the BT Extreme 40. Ellen's sailing projects include the Archipelago Raid on the BT F18 plus helming the BT Extreme 40 in the Round the Island Race as well as supporting BT's CSR worldwide programme and continuing with her commitment to pursuing and communicating how to lead a more sustainable life on land.
A decade-long association with BT as communications partner to the sailing team has now matured into a well-matched title partner relationship.
Official partners to BT Team Ellen
BT CISCO Renault Eco EON Bollé B&G Dean & Redyhoff Marinas G.H. Mumm Champagne Gurnard Pines Marlow Ropes Musto Nautix Omega Red Funnel Royal Navy UKSA