“Some guys said they would never do it again. Silly me – I said I was sold on it right there and then,” commented Chris Nicholson, the newly appointed skipper for Team Vestas Wind, the first-ever Danish Volvo Ocean Race team.
With support from Shore Manager Neil Cox, the four-time race veteran will lead the 7th and final boat in the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race which kicks off on 4 October with the first in-port race in Alicante, Spain.
Vestas CEO Anders Runevad is confident the Volvo Ocean Race will be a success for his company.
“In terms of wind energy and where we have our market focus, the Volvo Ocean Race is a perfect match for us to engage with our customers, showcase our technology and strengthen our brand in some of our most important markets. This supports our new corporate strategy ‘Profitable Growth for Vestas,” says Runevad in a statement on his company’s website.
For Nicholson however, his team is pretty far behind the power curve already. “We’ll get two weeks of sailing before the start,” says Chris bluntly. “It’s unheard of. Most teams will have done at least six times the amount of miles we’ve done at the start.”
As soon as the boat hits the water, Team Vestas will prep for an immediate 2,000 nautical mile voyage to qualify for the Volvo Ocean Race in mid-August.
“If we said “we want to win Leg 1”, that would probably be the surest way to have a shocker,” says Nicholson. “We need to have a consistent result in the first leg. If we can manage a mid-fleet position in the first leg, that would be good.”
Two Danes, Nicolai Sehested and Peter Wibroe, will feature in the eight-man crew. The rest of the crew remains to be announced. Sehested, 24, is among the youngest from his country to have competed in the race.
“We are going to have good guys who know the story, who know how hard it is,” adds the skipper, who has twice represented Australia in the Olympics. “We will get there – it will just take us a little bit longer.”
“He is one of those guys who does this race because he really loves being out there, fighting in the ocean, going long, and fast, and hard,” adds Knut Frostad, the race CEO.
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. At least...
March 19 (Reuters) – Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium’s blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime...
MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) – The new head of Russia’s Navy was formally presented in his new role for the first time on Tuesday at a pomp-filled ceremony, the state RIA news agency reported,...
March 19, 2024
Total Views: 2487
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.