Movistar’s crew are waiting in Cape Town for the Volvo Open 70, which is arriving tomorrow. The carrier ship where “movistar” was loaded the second of December in Puerto Real (Cádiz) will arrive at 16.00, local time -15.00 Spanish time- to unload the Spanish boat again in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 at Cape Town.
In the build up to the arrival of the boat, members of the shore team have been working non-stop to put the final details to what will be the next “movistar” base. This will be operative until the second of January, date when they will depart to Melbourne -Australia-, the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006.
“The boat will arrive to Cape Town before we had planned it, so that is an excellent news for all the team- said the “movistar” CEO, Pedro Campos-. This means we have more time to have the boat ready and train”.
Shosholoza’s neighbours
During her stay in Cape Town, “movistar” will share room with the South African Challenge for the America’s Cup at the Victoria & Albert Waterfront Marina. The facilities of the Shosholoza receive “movistar” team since they came to South Africa, a great place to work for the Spanish team. “We want to thank to the South African Challenge for the America’s Cup its hospitality; Woringk at the Shosholoza’s base makes a lot of things easy for us - tells Pedro Campos- As well as we have more space than in a typical Volvo Ocean Race base, we also enjoy greater privacy and it is easier for us to be concentrated in our job. Besides, when the boat will be here, we have it in front of our office and really near from our sailloft, so it is really useful for all of us”.
Another important factor of being with Shosholoza is its good local knowledge, as Pepe Ribes, the movistar’s bowman, points out: “Everything we need! They facilitate us contacts with the local people and with this we save so much time and effort. Imagine you come to an unknown place and you have to look for a store to buy a specific material; if you are with somebody who knows the area and, moreover, works with the same kind of materials than you, you know the place they propose will be the best. That is the advantage we have when we work together with the Shosholoza”.
The “movistar” base camp has been set up in Cape Town since the 28th of November, and the shore crew is already working there to prepare the arrival of the boat, tomorrow Wednesday.