Collective Spirit afloat

A boat marking the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad has been launched today by Gregg Whelan, Creative Research Fellow at King's, and his project colleague, Gary Winters. The 30-foot sailing boat has been created from hundreds of wooden objects donated by people from across the South East, including a tiny piece of the Mary Rose, a sliver of Jimi Hendrix' guitar, a plank from the new London 2012 velodrome and a Victorian policeman's truncheon. The celebratory launch of Collective Spirit took place at Thornham Marina, Emsworth, near Chichester. The vessel's name was chosen by the public and was only unveiled as part of the launch day. She was winched by a giant crane into the water before a bottle of champagne was smashed across her bow and her name revealed for the first time. For The Boat Project, Gregg and Gary, from Lone Twin, one of Europe's leading performance companies, invited donations of pieces of wood from people throughout the South East. There was just one stipulation: there had to be a yarn behind the offering.