Volvo Ocean Race underway

djuice dragons sails with Simrad
The Simrad-sponsored Norwegian sailboat djuice dragons, with Knut Frostad at the helm, got off to a good start when Volvo Ocean Race started on the first leg of its journey from Southampton to Cape Town in South Africa.

The eight vessels participating in the race crossed the start line at about the same time.

Djuice dragons made a strong showing at first, but later dropped back to sixth and then to eighth place as the evening progressed. According to the djuice dragons' website, this was in line with Frostad's strategy.

Otherwise, the start was fairly dramatic for the Swedish boat Amea Sports Too, when its spinnaker got torn to shreds.

"Reliability is essential. We here at Simrad look forward to getting feedback from Frostad and his crew about how our equipment works under these exceptionally trying conditions", states President Jan Berner of Simrad.

Simrad has supplied the radar, chart plotter and communications equipment for the djuice dragons.

"The Volvo Ocean Race is the best test we could ever have for our equipment, and we are guaranteed to pass it", says President Jan Berner of Simrad, one of 80 Simrad representatives who witnessed the start in Southampton on Sunday.

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Around the World Race) is considered the world's most arduous ocean voyage. It will take more than nine months for the vessels to reach their final destination in Kiel, Germany, in June 2002.