[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The nights are hotting up at the Green Marine boatyard in chilly southern England as the very first One Design Volvo Ocean 65 is stuck together.
It’s been a week since the arrival of the boat’s main components – the first hull came in from Persico, Italy, on March 14, followed two days later by the first deck built by Multiplast in France – and the team at Green Marine are making dramatic progress.
The boatbuilders have been taping the existing frames into the boat using pre-pregnated carbon fibres and the five remaining bulkheads.
Construction of the first ever VO65 advances rapidly. Lymington, 22 March 2013. Photo copyright Rick Deppe / Volvo Ocean Race
Every third night throughout the process the whole boat is heated up to 75 degrees Celsius for all the glues and resins to be set to the correct specifications.
Launch date for the boat is in June.
“We’ve been keeping a keen eye on the construction specifications of the hull and deck which were unusually built by someone else,” adds Green Marine Construction Project Manager Connell Daino. “I’m very impressed with what I see.”
Construction of the first ever VO65 advances rapidly. Lymington, 22 March 2013. Photo copyright Rick Deppe / Volvo Ocean Race