As we go to print, Mike Golding is undergoing initial sea trials in preparation for the launch of his newly refitted IMOCA 60 Gamesa (ex Ecover 3).

The boat has undergone an extensive refit which includes a highly optimised mast and rigging package from Future Fibres. The official launch is being attended by HRH Princess Anne, on 20 September 2011.

The clear objective of this new partnership with wind farm specialists, Gamesa, is the 2012 Vendée Globe, which according to Mike, "remains the event I would most love to win".

Technical Project Manager, Joff Brown, runs through the main elements of the refit:

"Mike wants the boat to be super light and super reliable whilst retaining all the power. The biggest change to the yacht is a new, non-rotating mast with a classical configuration and as a consequence there have to be several significant changes on the deck and cockpit of the yacht to accommodate this."

"The new mast, boom and a state-of-the-art carbon fibre rigging package is being completed by Future Fibres in Valencia, Spain, with whom Mike has had strong technical links since the company was first founded. The mast has been constructed to the very highest specification and with new revolutionary moulding technology. It will, we hope, set a new benchmark for quality for yacht masts of this type."

From Future Fibres' perspective this has been a great project to demonstrate their design and construction accuracy. Mast designer David Barnaby explains:

"The brief was to build a lightweight and reliable mast but maintain a reasonable level of sophistication, for example, adjustable internal tangs. The precision aluminium tooling really came into its own when it came to the finish. The profile was perfect straight out of the mould and we only used 1kg of clear coat over the whole rig to seal the surface and create a super low drag finish."

The first real challenge for Gamesa will be the Transat Jaque Vabre in November 2011, followed by the Europa Race - a fully crewed race around Europe - which starts in May 2012, before final preparations for the start of the Vendée Globe in November 2012.