Carl Philip onboard Ericsson 3

Carl Philip with President Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland (godmother of Ericsson 4), & Carl-Henric Svanberg, President & CEO of Ericsson. PHOTO: Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team

Prince Carl Philip is spending the weekend in Alicante, Spain, were preparations are in full swing for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 - the famous around the world yacht race which he is also patron of. Just as during previous editions since he became patron a few years ago, Carl Philip is taking the chance to have some fun sailing experiences as he takes an active role to show his support, involving several visits to the race and its crews.

Today he met with sailors in the athletes village and mingled with several VIP’s both before and after he got onboard the Nordic team’s boat Ericsson 3 during the first in-port race. This evening there was a big inauguration dinner and entertainment in the harbour, featuring amongst others Bryan Adams and the Finnish born Swedish resident violin superstar Linda Lampenius. The competitions has not kicked off on a good note for the Nordic sailors though. In a last-minute decision before today, Ericsson 3 was judged to receive penalties at every race (until they reconstruct) due to a part of the keel not living up to the solidity standards. But that did not stop them from racing and resulted in a second last place.

On 11 October leg one of the race kicks off from Alicante towards Cape Town, South Africa.