With the win, Bekking’s Brunel is just three points off the lead, meaning the final two European legs will be more important than ever. Although Brunel sits in third place this morning, the Dutch entry is riding a wave of momentum.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 7 on board Brunel. Peter Burling at the helm. 25 May, 2018.

Since the team hit a low point at the conclusion of Leg 6 after arriving in Auckland with a sixth-place finish, Bekking and crew have posted a 1-2-1 scoreline, including important wins on the final two double-point scoring legs, to move from also-ran status on the leaderboard to holding down a firm grip on a podium position with an eye on the top spot.

“We’re very happy with the result – to beat the two red boats (Dongfeng and Mapfre) was the objective,” Bekking said after crossing the finish line. “Winning of course is nice, as well as to get the bonus point and then a nice fight to beat AkzoNobel in the end as well, so we’re a happy team.

“But the aim is to keep looking forward. We’ve closed the gap to Mapfre and Dongfeng and victory remains our main objective.”

To earn the leg win, Bekking had to fend off fellow Dutch skipper Simeon Tienpont’s team AkzoNobel, who had held a nominal lead of a few hundred meters just hours before the finish.

But in the strong currents and light winds of the Bristol Channel, Bekking and his crew found a way to claw back in front and then protected over the final miles to take the win by just 4 minutes and 05 seconds over team AkzoNobel.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, arrivals. 29 May, 2018.

For Tienpont’s AkzoNobel, Leg 9 will be long remembered for the amazing record-breaking effort the team made in setting a new standard for 24-hour distance run in the Volvo Ocean Race.

On Friday, in ideal conditions, the team AkzoNobel crew obliterated the previous race record set in a Volvo Ocean 70 by Ericsson 4 in 2008. The new mark is a 602.51 nautical mile, 24-hour run.

“This was an incredible race,” Tienpont said from on board at the finish line. “I’m unbelievably proud of the crew. We kept pushing all the way to the finish line and we’re happy with second place.

“We enjoyed setting a record that hopefully will be hard to beat. It’s been a leg full of emotions and we’re looking forward to the last two legs. We’ve done unbelievably well since Melbourne. From there onwards we’ve scored more points than Mapfre and Dongfeng. So the confidence is there and as a crew we’re enjoying it so much. We’ll just keep fighting and do what we did on this leg.”

Dongfeng Race Team skipper Charles Caudrelier has elevated his team to the top of the race leaderboard for the second time since the start of the race. With a sixth podium finish the most consistent team in the race controls its own destiny at the head of the fleet.

“It’s nice, but it’s a very small lead to Mapfre and now Brunel as well who are making a fantastic comeback,” Caudrelier said dockside after the finish. “It’s going to be interesting for fans to follow as the race is far from finished. The level is very even and it’s a big fight for every place… we would have preferred an easier finish.”

While Brunel has been ascendant on the last three legs and Dongfeng consistently among the leaders, MAPFRE roared out to a fast start in the opening legs but has struggled of late.

Even on the recent leg into Newport, which was scored a win, the Spanish team trailed for nearly all of the leg, making a miraculous comeback from fifth to first in the final 24 hours. The team will need to regain its early form if it is to make one more comeback and win the race.

“It hasn’t been an easy leg for us. It’s been painful from day one and we never could catch up,” said skipper Xabi Fernández. “But looking forward we feel confident. Hopefully we can start well and fight boat to boat over the next two legs.”

Scoring a fourth-place finish on the leg was Charlie Enright’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing. The team has prided itself on its podium finishes, but this leg marks its worst result across the finish line in the race.

However, having missed three crucial legs in the middle of the race, the team’s position on the overall leaderboard is all but locked in at fifth place.

“It was a disappointing leg from a results standpoint, but that doesn’t take away from what was a good crossing for the team,” Enright said. “We’ve overcome a lot more than just a bad result in this race and now we have two legs left to put our best foot forward and end on a good note.”

Volvo Ocean Race Projected Leaderboard after Leg 9

1. Dongfeng Race Team – 60 points
2. MAPFRE – 59 points
3. Team Brunel – 57 points
4. Team AkzoNobel – 48 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 36 points
6. SHK / Scallywag – 29 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 26 points

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AkzoNobel

Hailing From: The Netherlands | Skipper: Simeon Tienpont | Navigator: Jules Salter

Simeon Tienpont is towering, strong and square, with a chiseled face that has yet to reveal the wear and tear of thousands of hard miles at sea. But give it a year. With the stress of leading the Volvo Ocean Race’s most high-profile campaign, the AkzoNobel skipper from the Netherlands, now only 35 years old, will surely be sporting a few new gray hairs.

This isn’t Tienpont’s first Volvo, however. At the outset of his professional sailing career, he prevailed through a cutthroat selection designed to man ABN AMRO’s under-30 team in 2005. With ABN AMRO Two, he and wide-eyed peers benefited from training alongside the pro-laden ABN AMRO One, and even set the race’s 24-hour monohull record on the opening leg to Cape Town.

Tienpont’s first lap of the planet, which included the devastating death of one his teammates, parlayed into a pro-sailing career that led him to Oracle Team USA, where, as the AC72’s foil trimmer, he tucked an America’s Cup feather in his cap. Afterward, he transitioned to a career of grand-prix crewing in the Med, but the itch to lead a team was nagging.

Nearly 200 boardroom pitches later, he found himself at the headquarters of AkzoNobel, an international paint and coatings company spread across the world. The company was looking for a platform to rally its employees for a cause, and as luck would have it, Tienpont came knocking at the right time.

“I gave myself a date of May 2016,” says Tienpont about his search for a sponsor and the six months of negotiations that followed. “I said I wouldn’t do the race if I didn’t have a contract signed by then.”

By June, he had his team, the race’s first official entry, but a massive to-do list. One of his first orders of business? Get a new boat. It was a strategic move to buy more time and build a sailing team. He trialed a younger sailing team before eventually seeking out “adult supervision” from Brad Jackson, a six-time race veteran, and one of his mentors from the winning ABN AMRO One campaign.

Waiting for a new boat came with a trade-off, however. While a few other teams were putting miles on their refurbished hulls and refining crew selections, Tienpont left Jackson in charge and stepped away for a short stint as an America’s Cup grinder with Softbank Team Japan.

“We are at the stage now where we are really starting to move forward with the campaign, with the new boat, the team, and some proper testing and sailing,” said Jackson in June, only four months before the start. “We have a bit of catching up to do because we don’t have a lot of guys with previous experience.”

To balance what can be considered to be an otherwise inexperienced team, Tienpont and Jackson secured an ace with 47-year-old Spaniard Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, a six-time veteran, and one of the best helmsman off Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, the previous race’s winning team. Jackson also brought on board two of his mates from the 2008-09 race-winning program Ericsson Racing — navigator Jules Salter and helmsman Joca Signorini — so there’s enough collective experience to put them among the competitive set.

“Hopefully we have a campaign that works to get faster and faster in every area right up to the finish in the Hague,” says Tienpont. “That’s the cool thing about this race … Joca and Brad remind me that’s how they won on Ericsson.”

So while the challenge ahead for Tienpont is that of the many miles and many stops between Alicante, Spain and the Hague, he’s embracing the skipper’s burden of sharing the successes and potential failures with the AkzoNobel’s 47,000 employees. “That’s what fascinates me in this,” he says. “Winning campaigns get straight A’s in all areas, from preparation to creating the right environment and getting the right people with the right attitude.”

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17_007477 © Thierry Martinez / team AkzoNobel / AkzoNobel SCHEVENINGEN – THE NETHERLANDS .3 May 2017. Nicolai Sehested, Ed van Lierde, Jules Salter, Annemieke Bes, Brad Farrand, Simeon Tienpont, Bryce Rautenberg, Brad Jackson, Joca Signori & Chunny Be

Tienpont named a total of eight sailors from seven nations to the team on Monday – just under five months before the race starts from Alicante on 22 October.

New Zealand’s Brad Jackson, Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bermúdez de Castro from Spain, the Brazilian Joca Signorini and Britain’s Jules Salter are the past winners.

They are joined by Dutch Olympic silver medallist Annemieke Bes, Australia’s Luke Molloy, Danish match racing skipper Nicolai Sehested and New Zealander Brad Farrand.

“The crew I have chosen blends maturity and experience with youth and vigour,” said Tienpont, a two-time America’s Cup winner who competed in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2005-06 with ABN AMRO TWO and 2014-15 on Team Vestas Wind.

“We have an incredible depth of experience in this team, with 24 Volvo Ocean Races and five Olympic campaigns between us. In addition, we have the instinctive high performance skills of our two under-30 sailors, Brad Farrand and Nicolai Sehested, to call on.”

Annemieke Bes is the latest female sailor to be named to a Volvo Ocean Race team following a rule change last year that incentivises mixed crews.

Helmsman/Trimmer Bes has represented the Netherlands at three Olympics and won silver in the Yngling at the 2008 Beijing Games.

While Bes is one of two debutants – the other being Bowman Brad Farrand – Brad Jackson will be taking on his seventh campaign in the latest chapter of a glittering Volvo Ocean Race career.

The 49-year-old Watch Leader has three victories under his belt already – with New Zealand Endeavour back in 1993-94, ABN AMRO ONE in 2005-06 and Ericsson 4 in 2008-09 – and he has never finished lower than fourth.

Watch Leader Joca Signorini and Navigator Jules Salter are also veterans of that winning Ericsson campaign in 2008-09, while Helmsman/Trimmer Chuny Bermúdez comes direct from his success on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the last edition.

Signorini also sailed with Brasil 1 in 2005-06 and Telefónica in 2011-12, while Salter made his debut with Pirates of the Caribbean in 2005-06. Chuny has competed in six previous editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, dating back to Galicia ’93 Pescanova in 1993-94.

Luke Molloy and Nicolai Sehested have taken part in one Volvo Ocean Race apiece and both have experience with skipper Simeon Tienpont. Molloy sailed on the ABN AMRO TWO campaign in 2005-06 while Sehested was on Team Vestas Wind. Both will have the role of Helmsman/Trimmer in 2017-18, with Sehested also named as Boat Captain.

While the team has an international flavour, Tienpont spoke of his huge pride at leading a campaign carrying the Dutch flag of his homeland.

“To lead a Dutch team in the Volvo Ocean Race is a real privilege because this race has such a huge legacy in the Netherlands,” said Tienpont. “The Volvo Ocean Race is incomparable with any other sporting event and we are all proud to be flying the flag for the Netherlands.”

Shore team members Bryce Ruthenberg from Australia and Dutchman Eduard van Lierde have been nominated as reserve sailors. Ruthenberg has been part of two America’s Cup victories with Oracle Team USA, while Van Lierde has represented the Netherlands twice in the Volvo Ocean Race – in 2005-06 with Brunel and in 2008-09 with Delta Lloyd.

Team AkzoNobel’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race is backed by leading global paint and coatings company AkzoNobel.

“The Volvo Ocean Race is a wonderful showcase for the unrivalled quality and high performance of our products, so it’s important this is reflected in the team itself,” said AkzoNobel CEO Ton Büchner. “Simeon has assembled an outstanding crew of real pedigree which is fully committed to winning together and we are proud to have them on board.”

AkzoNobel’s brand new Volvo Ocean 65 is scheduled to sail for the first time in early June, with an official christening ceremony planned to take place soon after at the team’s base in The Hague, the Netherlands. The team AkzoNobel crew will then begin four months of intense on-the-water training, including a number of transatlantic crossings.

A total of four teams have so far been confirmed for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, with more to come in the next few weeks.

Among AkzoNobel’s rivals will be Dongfeng Race Team (skippered by Charles Caudrelier, France), MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández, Spain) and Vestas 11th Hour Racing (Charlie Enright, USA).

The race starts from Alicante on 22 October and will cover 46,000 nautical miles, taking in a total of 12 Host Cities around the world. The finish is in The Hague at the end of June.

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Dutch campaign, Team AkzoNobel, has today been announced as the first entry of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 – over 15 months before the start of the next edition.

Backed by AkzoNobel – a leading global paints and coatings company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, employing around 45,000 people worldwide, and whose portfolio includes well-known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International, Interpon and Eka. The boat will be led by first time skipper Simeon Tienpont (NED), who will be racing in his third Volvo Ocean Race.

Having made his debut as a rookie onboard ABN AMRO TWO in 2005-06, he returned to the world’s toughest offshore race to join Team Vestas Wind for the final two legs of the 2014-15 edition – and is delighted to be leading the Dutch campaign.

“I’m honoured and incredibly excited to be skipper of Team AkzoNobel,” said Tienpont, 34, who has also been part of two winning America’s Cup teams – BMW Oracle Racing in the 33rd edition, and Oracle Team USA in the 34th edition, in an illustrious sailing career.

“We’re both focused on high performance and share the same passion for success,” he continued. “I can’t wait to start racing.”

Conrad Keijzer, ExCo member, AkzoNobel, said: “The Volvo Ocean Race offers an unparalleled storytelling and brand-building platform over a prolonged period of time.

“The company can raise awareness for its capabilities; excite and captivate both new and existing audiences and customers; develop business opportunities; attract talent and create a sense of pride and excitement among employees.”

He continued: “Partnering with Simeon to form Team AkzoNobel is a winning combination – he’s a true leader who puts safety and teamwork first and is both determined and inspirational.”

Mark Turner, Volvo Ocean Race CEO, is delighted with the Dutch entry: “It’s exciting that our first team announcement comes early in the cycle, is backed by a global brand, and features a first-time skipper. Those are three great positives for the Volvo Ocean Race.”

He continued: “The route for the next edition will feature more action, more speed, more tough miles and more host venues, but a shorter race – a move that takes the Race closer to its original roots and heritage, while improving its strong commercial value and excellent business case for sponsors.”

Team AkzoNobel represents a nation with not only a rich maritime heritage, but a special connection to the Volvo Ocean Race, with Dutch teams having lifted the trophy three times, in 1977-78, 1981-82 and 2005-06.

Indeed, Dutch sailing legend Conny van Rietschoten remains the only skipper in the history of the race to have won two editions in a row, and Tienpont, who won the prestigious Conny van Rietschoten trophy – the highest honour in Dutch sailing – in 2013, is proud to be following in the ‘Flying’ Dutchman’s footsteps.

“The Netherlands are very fond of this race and that’s all because of Conny van Rietschoten,” he explained. “He brought the event, then called The Whitbread, to an entirely new level. He built his boat in an excellent Dutch boatyard and recruited professional sailors from all around the world.”

The team announcement comes less than a week after the Volvo Ocean Race unveiled an exciting new route for the next edition of the 43-year-old event.

The racetrack, which is seen as a return to the race’s roots, will require teams to sail over three times more distance in the Southern Ocean than in the previous edition – and the fleet, which departs Alicante, Spain in autumn 2017, will race around 45,000 nautical miles (nm) around the planet.

Visiting 11 cities across five continents, the Volvo Ocean Race represents a unique opportunity for AkzoNobel, which has a presence in over 80 countries, to showcase its products before a huge global audience.

“Add in Simeon’s impressive track record and it’s this irresistible combination of experience, tradition, expertise and human endeavour which will prove so vital once the world’s premier offshore race is underway,” concluded Keijzer.

To celebrate the announcement of the Dutch team in The Hague, the Scheveningen pier underwent a colourful makeover, which will remain a remarkable eye-catcher until the Race finishes with a grand finale in The Hague in summer 2018.

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