The crew of the ABN AMRO TWO finished first in the 4,500 plus mile Route de l’Equateur race from Marseille, France to Congo-Brazzaville. Competing against four other boats, the team finished the race in 22 days, 16 hours and 28 minutes. The crew sailed a 60-foot V60 boat formerly known as the Tyco.

For most of the team members this was their first race crossing the equator. In the yachting world, this is something of a rite of passage. This trip was no exception. The team of ABN AMRO TWO took the lead from the start, and at times maintained a lead of about 200 miles ahead of their nearest competitor.

The team of ABN AMRO TWO exists of twelve young high potential professional sailors between the ages of 21 and 30 with extensive sailing experience with smaller boats but who’ve never sailed together as a team. In less than six months they will sail together in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The team used the Route de l’Equateur race to get to know and trust each other. The Volvo Ocean Race is a seven month long competition, covering over 31,000 nautical miles. Teams will be at sea for up to 30 days at a time, so trust, communication and teamwork are a key factor for success.

Most of the young sailors were selected during a worldwide competition that was launched in November 2004 on the ABN AMRO website and received more than 1,800 submissions. It’s the first time an open selection process, started on internet, was used to select a young, relatively inexperienced crew for the Volvo Ocean Race.

After four separate qualifying competitions - one for the Netherlands, one for Brazil, one for the United States and one for ‘the rest of the world’ - a total of 20 candidates traveled to Portugal for the final crew selection and eight made the cut this March. An additional four core crew members are more experienced offshore sailors who also never sailed the Volvo Ocean Race before.

Established in 1973 as The Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race is undeniably the world’s premier global race and arguably the most challenging sporting event in the world. The 2005-2006 race will take off from Spain in November 2005 and runs its final leg into Gothenburg, Sweden in the summer of 2006. This is recognised as one of the fastest and most intense races in the world of sailing.

Share or bookmark this story: