Press Release 7 March 2001

At 03:30 this morning (New Zealand time) djuice.com I and djuice.com II departed the Auckland boatyard that has been their home since construction began in August last year. The Laurie Davidson-designed boats are flying their way to djuice dragons’ winter training base in Miami where the Norwegian team will prepare for the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002.

Early morning traffic in the City of Sails was surprised to see two Volvo Ocean 60s being trucked from Auckland’s North Shore, across the Harbour Bridge and down to the airport in Mangere, South Auckland where a Russian Antonov freight plane was waiting to make the journey.

The boats have been in construction at Cooksons Boatyard (Black Magic, New Zealand, Playstation, Sayonara) for the past six months. At the head of the construction process is Lawrie Smith, technical shore manager for djuice dragons, who says that seeing the boats being loaded onto the trucks and taken away was a significant milestone in the campaign. “We’ve put in such long hours, energy and emotion into these boats that to see it come to this stage in the project is very rewarding.”

Smith has been working with five other members of djuice dragons’ technical shore crew plus five of the sailing crew. Over 30 boatbuilders from Cooksons worked full time and were joined by 30 additional external technicians and contractors. All in all, around 40,000 hours of work have been put into the boats in the effort to make them the fastest boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet. “Six months is a short build time for two VO60s to be at 99.99% completion stage,” says Mick Cookson of Cooksons Boatyard. “The build has been intense but it’s gone really smooth and we’re pleased to say it’s a job well done.”

Designer Laurie Davidson was very happy with the final product and exclaimed, "they look just as I hoped they would!"

Having the boats on the water seven months out from the start line is important in the build up to the race. “We bypassed using an old training boat for the purpose of producing and tuning our race boats early,” says skipper Knut Frostad. “Now that the boats are almost here and the team has assembled, the pace has just picked up another notch and the start line seems even closer.”

The flight is expected to take 22 hours with a pit stop for fuel in Tahiti. ETA in Ft Lauderdale is 18:45, March 7 (local time).

A further press release with additional images will follow when the boats have safely landed and been off loaded.

About the boats:
Length: 60 feet (waterline), 64 feet overall
Beam: 5.25m
Hull: 3 tonnes (+/-)
Total weight: 13.5 tonnes including rig, keel and interior
Keel weight: 7.5 tonnes
Draught: 3.75m
Mast height: 29m
Ballast system for total 5.000 litres (2.500 on each side)
Electronics: Simrad
Wind instruments: B&G
Radar: Simrad
Chart Plotter: Simrad
VHF Radio: Simrad
Satellite communication (Satcom B and Mini M): Nera
Deck Gear: Lewmar
Winch systems: Lewmar
Sails: North Sails New Zealand
Rigs: Southern Spars US
Running Rigging: Roblon
Hydraulics: Navtec
Engines: Volvo Penta.

About djuice dragons
djuice dragons is the Norwegian entry participating in the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002. Skippered by Knut Frostad (Intrum Justitia 93-4, Innovation Kvaerner 97-8), the team is sponsored by djuice.com, a mobile internet portal, owned by Telenor Mobile Communications.

About djuice.com djuice.com is a subsidiary of Telenor, the principal telecommunications operator in Norway. djuice.com is an international horizontal mobile Internet portal with a web interface. The company utilises the Internet as an enabler for the mobile Internet, to inform and educate the customers and provide an interface for easy configuration, personalisation and marketing. The Volvo Ocean Race is the largest sponsorship in Telenor's history and is the primary focus for djuice.com in the coming months and years. The organisation will invest heavily in the project, which will become the foremost showcase for new technology, functionality, services and network capabilities as the race moves around the world.

Sub Sponsors
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines – international shipping
SAS – Scandinavian Airline Systems
NutriPharma – developer of functional and nutritional foods
Nera Telecommunications – satellite communications.

Strategic Partners
TV2 Norway - strategic media partner
DNV - Det Norske Veritas AS Software - strategic risk management partner
Wiersholm Mellbye & Bech - strategic partner legal services
JBR McCann/Scandinavian Design Group - strategic advertising & design partners
Develo AS - strategic human relations partner
Foyen Management Services/Business Navigation - strategic partner financial control.

Official Suppliers
Helly Hansen - official clothing supplier
Simrad - official marine electronics supplier
Volvo Cars Norway AS - official supplier
Ericsson Norway AS - official GSM solution supplier
WM Data - official computer solutions supplier
Finn Solvang AS - official signage supplier
Viking – official footwear supplier.

Suppliers
Nautisk Forlag –navigational equipment supplier
Stormkommunikasjon – publishing supplier
Storm Weather Centre – meteorological information supplier.

ENDS

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