Within 13 months of the start of the race, a trio of Galway businessmen - aka the Green Team: Enda O'Coineen, John Killeen and Eamon Conneelly - have advanced plans for a campaign aimed not only at bringing the Volvo fleet to these shores but the overall trophy home as well.

The revelation that a 5 million Euro Irish "Volvo 70" yacht is on the drawing board of Californian designers Reichel Pugh is a prelude to the Green Team's entry to the world's toughest offshore challenge. It is also a further endorsement - if it were needed - that the team means business.

In spite of all this activity, Green Team CEO Jamie Boag remains tight-lipped on plans, except to say that until funding is in place to compete in the race, there will be no entry. So far this process is "advanced, but still ongoing".

Behind the scenes, however, he has put together the necessary hardware for an Irish entry, he maintains, that will be "truly competitive".

Insiders say construction of the 70-footer will need to be a priority project in order to be ready in time. A boatyard is on stand-by in Sydney.

David O'Brien in the Irish Times, his full article (subscription

required) at

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2007/0921/1190319649823.html

Team site: http://www.greenteam.ie