Country: Sweden
Skipper: Neal McDonald
Navigator: Steve Hayles
Designer: Bruce Farr
Builder: Green Marine
Launch Date: July 2005

When Neal McDonald (below) finally gave up the hunt for his own sponsorship to finance an entry in the Volvo Ocean Race early this year, there was only one way the British skipper was heading: McDonald took the reins of the Atlant Ocean Racing-managed ASSA Abloy in the 2001/02 Volvo Ocean Race after the first leg but ran out of race on a march up the leaderboard to challenge the eventual winner Illbruck. But McDonald came out of that race with his stock extremely high both as a popular leader and a gifted natural sailor and a technical campaigner. It was no surprise when Neal McDonald was named as skipper of Ericsson over the summer and soon after Briton Steve Hayles, navigator of Tyco in the last race and formerly Silk Cut, joined the team fresh from the BMW Oracle Racing America's Cup programme.

Ericsson was the first of two boats out of the Green Marine yard in Lymington, England, and McDonald and his crew - which included boat building project manager Jason Carrington - set to work ironing out teething problems as they headed south for their training camp in Vigo, Spain. McDonald made key crew signings over the summer including helmsman Tim Powell (Tyco, Silk Cut), Richard Mason (ASSA Abloy) and Guillermo Altadill (ASSA Abloy, Club Med [Winner of The Race]). But the coup came recently when the team announced that John Kostecki, skipper of the 2001/02 Volvo Ocean Race winning boat Illbruck, would be joining the team as inshore tactician; Kostecki had been expected to line up with Paul Cayard.

The skill and experience of McDonald and his team, together with the powerful inshore combination that includes Kostecki and the high standard of build managed by Jason Carrington will be the strength of this team. Neal McDonald will be hoping that his background in naval architecture and his experience of getting boats around the world in one piece will make up for a lack of thousands of miles of pre-race sailing.