Team Childhood I ready for The Ocean Race Europe
On Saturday, May 29 at 13.45 CEST Team Childhood I, will start in The Ocean Race Europe. The Swedish-Dutch team consisting of eight young professionals, five pro-sailors and, an OBR will sail for the benefit of the World Childhood Foundation. In the VO65 fleet, Team Childhood I will compete against six other teams over three legs for the overall victory.
Picture: Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
The aim of this Dutch Swedish campaign is to offer the sailors under the age of 30, the opportunity to learn and improve from professional sailors like two-time Americas Cup winners Simeon Tienpont (NED) and Peter van Niekerk (NED). Besides Tienpont and Van Niekerk, Ocean Race veterans Wouter Verbraak (NED) and Gerd Jan Poortman (NED) are also onboard Team Childhood I to pass on their knowledge.
Poortman sees young professionals
For Gerd Jan Poortman, who sailed three Volvo Ocean Races: ABN AMRO 2; Team Delta Lloyd; and Team Brunel, it’s been a while since he was onboard the VO65’s. However, that does not mean that Poortman has been idle. Aside from sailing onboard various racing yachts, Poortman is the skipper of the Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team (ROST).
With three of the under 30 sailors coming from ROST, it's one of the main training programs for this campaign alongside the "Team Heiner talents” program. Poortman: "It’s fantastic to see the level and motivation of this young crew. When you call them talents, I don't think that's good enough. They are young professionals, their level is quite high and they are amazingly good. We will facilitate our knowledge to them and become a better team."
“The team just won the Prologue leading up to this Ocean Race Europe, an outstanding performance. The atmosphere onboard and in the team is great. I’m looking forward to the race start on Saturday from Lorient to Cascais.”
Van Beek can’t wait to get started
Jelmer van Beek (NED) co-skipper of the Prologue is just as excited to start as Poortman. The 26-year-old Dutchmen, living in The Hague, is well prepared and has no nerves.
Van Beek: “It’s great to be able to race in The Ocean Race Europe with this Dutch-Swedish team. For us young sailors it’s awesome to get this opportunity. With Team AkzoNobel, the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, and Viva Mexico, there are now three new boats in the fleet compared to the Prologue. After the first leg, we can assess where we stand and refine our objectives.”
Crewlist Team Childhood I – leg 1
Simeon Tienpont – NED – skipper
Gerd Jan Poortman – NED – watch leader
Wouter Verbraak – NED – navigator
Peter van Niekerk – NED – watch leader
Jelmer van Beek – NED – under 30
Rutger Vos – NED – under 30
Laura van Veen – NED – under 30
Arianne van de Loosdrecht – NED – under 30
Matt Whitehead – RSA – under 30
Max Deckers – NED – under 30
Lars van Stekelenborg – NED – under 30
Julius Hallström – SWE – under 30
Filip Wojcikiewicz – POL
Brend Schuil – NED – On Board Reporter
From Lorient to Cascais
The first Leg will see the fleet sail from France Lorient to Cascais in Portugal – a trip over at least 635 nautical miles. The boats are expected to arrive on Wednesday, June 2 in the afternoon. The start is scheduled for Saturday, May 29 at 13.45 CEST will be broadcast live on both Eurosport and YouTube.
Tracker and live blog
For those all over the world wondering how the boats are doing, the tracker is live again. With a direct link to the scoreboard and the latest news. The Ocean Race will broadcast a Daily Fix at 18.00 CEST during the offshore legs. With a round-up of the day’s racing action with footage from the race boats. For all your latest Team Childhood I news you can also always check our own website.
The Ocean Race Europe
The Ocean Race Europe – a new three-stage offshore sailing race for professional teams racing in two classes of high-performance ocean-going yachts: VO65 and IMOCA 60 – starts from Lorient, France on Saturday May 29 at 13.45 CEST.
This inaugural edition of the race will finish in Genova, Italy on June 19, and includes stopovers in Cascais, Portugal, and Alicante, Spain along the way.
In addition to the equally scored offshore legs, at each of the stopovers in Cascais and Genova the teams will also take part in a shorter coastal day race, with bonus points being awarded to the first three finishers.