The Green Dragon Racing Team has departed from Dublin and heads to Alicante for the final stages of preparation ahead of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09. A flotilla of over 100 boats saw the Volvo Open 70 as it began its delivery passage to Spain to start the next stage of the campaign. Onboard to see the team off was former Miss World Rosanna Davison. “It was amazing to meet the crew and to see this boat up close and personal. I can’t believe that they’ll be racing around the world in such basic living conditions, I wish them every success for their campaign”.
 
For the last eight weeks the Green Dragon team has been training from Naval Base in Haulbowline, Co. Cork. Green Dragon also completed its mandatory 2000nm qualifying passage. The passage saw the crew sail in some of the harshest conditions the North Atlantic could throw at them. Skipper Ian Walker commented at today’s official farewell. “The decision to set up our training base in Ireland has been very successful for us. It offered us the perfect location for testing the boat in a range of conditions. Our qualifying passage was an opportunity to really test both the boat and the crew, we can’t wait to get to Alicante and start the final preparations for this race. The crew have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have received in Ireland. Today marks the end of our time here, but the start of the next chapter, and we are looking forward to returning in May 2009 as we race across the Atlantic from Boston with the other competitors for the Galway stopover’”.

The full racing crew, with the exception of Ian Moore and Anthony Merrington will sail onboard for the delivery, including Guo Chaun a potential Chinese crew member who is being trailled for a place onboard. The Green Dragon shore team is already en-route to set up their base ahead of the boat’s arrival, which is expected to be at the end of August. Once in Alicante, Green Dragon will undergo a further re-fit and its new livery will be added, before going back in the water for ongoing training. Green Dragon’s official livery and crew list is due to be announced in Alicante in late September. The official Volvo Ocean Race start from Alicante is on October 11th 2008, where the seven entries will race the 37,000 miles around the globe, stopping at ten ports along the way.

Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09– Official Route
Alicante - Leg 1 START; 11 October 2008
Cape Town - Leg 2 START; 15 November 2008
Cochin (India) - Leg 3 START;13 December 2008
Singapore - Leg 4 START; 18 January 2009
Qingdao - Leg 5 START; 14 February 2009
Rio De Janeiro - Leg 6 START; 11 April 2009
Boston - Leg 7 START; 16 May 2009
Galway - Leg 8 START; 6 June 2009
Göteborg - Leg 9 START; 14 June 2009
Stockholm - LEG 10 START; 25 June 2009
St Petersburg - RACE FINISH; 27 June 2009

Green Dragon Racing Team crew list: Alicante delivery passage:
1) Ian Walker (GBR)
2) Justin Slattery (IRL)
3) Tom Braidwood (AUS)
4) Freddie Shanks (GBR)
5) Andrew Mclean (NZ)
6) Phil Harmer (AUS)
7) Scott Millar (IRL)
8) Guo Chuan (CHN)
9) Damian Foxall (IRL)
10) Neal McDonald (GBR)

Lucy Harwood
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 August 2008 )