Volvo Ocean Race - Tyco Announces Entry

Tyco, a diversified manufacturing and service company headquartered in Bermuda, will use the this truly global event as a platform to stage an extensive in-house marketing campaign for it's employees and customers, as well as strengthening brand recognition. Michael Castania from Tyco will head the syndicate, while New Zealander Kevin Shoebridge, will be the skipper of the boat.

Shoebridge has competed in the last four Whitbread Round the World races with both Sir Peter Blake (Lion New Zealand and Steinlager 2) and Grant Dalton (New Zealand Endeavour and Merit Cup). He has also been a member of Team New Zealand and competed in the last four America's Cups.

The sailing and shore teams are almost complete with 18 appointments made to date. Shoebridge has drawn heavily on past Whitbread experience with a mix of young talent to make up the sailing team, whilst the shore team will be led by Mick Harvey, who brings a wealth of experience to this side of the operation. Team Tyco exemplifies the "team" concept and each member of the team is encouraged to contribute and share lessons learnt from past campaigns, capitalising on the vast experience and knowledge within the team.

"We believe that this approach has given us the opportunity to channel this pool of experience to enhance and influence important design and construction decisions. Attention to detail and having time to consider all options could become crucial later in the race," says Shoebridge

The V.O. 60, Merit Cup, was purchased in April this year, and the team has spent the last four and a half months sailing out of Newport, Rhode Island. This time has been used to build and assemble the team as well as test sails and evaluate the new carbon fibre mast.

" Team Tyco has made some very impressive gains, Kevin Shoebridge has done a great job recruiting and our training sessions this year have produced a very keen and talented group of professionals," commented Castania. " With North Sails we have a strong sail programme and have benefited greatly from sailing early with our the first of our three carbon masts which have been supplied by Southern Spars, Nevada. Given the intense competition, and the seriousness of the other teams, our gains are extremely important to us."

Farr Yacht Design Ltd from Annapolis has designed Tyco's new V.O.60 race boat for the Volvo Ocean Race and construction has been under way for the past two months at Goetz Custom Yachts in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA. Ian Stewart and Mick Harvey are overseeing the construction.

Tyco's training boat is currently in transit heading towards Sydney where the team will compete in this year's Telstra Sydney to Hobart classic. Tyco and at least three other Volvo Ocean Race competitors will then race on to Auckland and recreate Leg 3 of next year's Volvo race.

Team Tyco will launch their race boat in early March 2001 and embark on a five-month, two boat testing and racing programme on the East Coast of the USA before heading to the UK for the start of the race on September 23rd 2001.

Team Tyco's line up:

Kevin Shoebridge Skipper
Steve Hayles     Navigator
Brad Jackson
Ian Stewart
Tim Powell
Jonathan Swain
Gerry Mitchell
Jan Dekker
Simon Fry
David Endean
Guy Salter

Mike Castania    Team Manager
Mick Harvey      Shore Support Manager
Grant Spanhake   Sail Programme
Tim Hackett      Boat Builder
Richard Searle   Rigs
Simon Paul       Sail maker
Cole Sheehan     Food/Entertainment

About Tyco Tyco is a diversified manufacturing and service company headquartered in Bermuda. It is the world's largest manufacturer and installer of fire and safety systems, the largest provider of electronic security services in North America and the United Kingdom, and has strong leadership positions in disposable medical products, packaging materials, flow control products, electrical and electronic components and underwater telecommunications systems. The Company operates in more than 80 countries around the world and has over 225,000 employees.

• YachtsandYachting.com Volvo Ocean Race Information Page
• www.VolvoOceanRace.org