 Newport,
RI, April 22, 2008 – What began at 4am under the
darkness of night and a full moon, ended more than two
hours later in the morning dawn. Following an arduous
20 mile trip, PUMA Ocean Racing’s new boat for
the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 made its way from Goetz
Custom Boats in Bristol, Rhode Island to the Newport
Shipyard in Newport, where it will receive final preparations
before going in the water.
“I am just incredibly pleased with
the boat building process. We started this project last
year and finished within days of our goal,” said
Ken Read, Skipper, PUMA Ocean Racing. “Everyone
at PUMA, Goetz and our designers Botin & Carkeek
have worked so hard to get this boat ready and do what
they do best: build a boat. Now I am looking forward
to the chance to do what we as a team can do best: and
that’s go out and sail.”
PUMA’s new racing boat left Goetz
Custom Boats at 4:07am Eastern time under the power
of a 16-liter VT800 Volvo Truck. What normally takes
25 minutes for passenger cars took more than 2 hours
as the wide load and 70-foot boat had to navigate over
a closed 2-lane bridge, around streets signs, through
narrow turns and over curbs. A dense layer of fog on
the historic Mt. Hope Bridge, made for an especially
tricky but photo-worthy drive. At 6:25 with the sun
slowly rising, PUMA’s new boat arrived at the
Newport Shipyard.
 “We
still have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is certainly
an important milestone for both PUMA Ocean Racing and
our new boat,” said Read. PUMA Ocean Racing will
reveal the name and look of its boat on May 12th when
it will be christened at the Institute for Contemporary
Arts in Boston Harbour.
PUMAOceanRacing.com, the team’s
website, will launch in early May.
PUMA® is the global Sportlifestyle
company that successfully fuses influences from sport,
lifestyle and fashion. PUMA’s unique industry
perspective delivers the unexpected in Sportlifestyle
Footwear, Apparel and Accessories, through technical
innovation and revolutionary design. Established in
Herzogenaurach, Germany in 1948, PUMA distributes products
in over 80 countries. For further information please
visit www.puma.com
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