May 3, 2006: ABN AMRO TWO crew member and Brazilian sailor Lucas Brun will retain his place on the boat for the next two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race which will see the boats race into New York and then on to Portsmouth, UK. For Dutch sailor Gerd Jan Poortman this selection means he will not be on board for the next two legs.

The decision over the crew selection was made by ABN AMRO TWO skipper Sebastien Josse today. Despite the result of the last leg the team’s performance was rated as the best in the race so far, with this in mind Josse felt that the crew should remain the same for the next leg. The decision also reflects the improvements Brun has made in the last two legs from Wellington to Rio and from Rio to Baltimore.

Speaking about his decision, Seb Josse said, “Lucas is a good trimmer and has worked extremely well on the last two legs of this race. It is important for us to have good trimmers on board especially in the transatlantic leg. Lucas proved to me that he has gained valuable experience on the difficult Southern Ocean leg to Rio and will be an important member of the crew as we cross the Atlantic.”

“We also felt that after the last legs and sailing through the Southern Ocean together we wanted to stay with the same team. I said when we first got to Baltimore that even though we did not finish well in the fleet, we sailed the best we have ever sailed and so I decided we should stay with this crew till Portsmouth. It was not an easy decision but with 11 people who have all played a big part in this team it is always going to be hard to leave someone on shore. ”

Nick Bice will return to the crew, fully recovered after his broken hand sidelined him for the last leg from Rio – Baltimore.

Meanwhile the ABN AMRO ONE crew remains unchanged and at full strength. Rob Greenhalgh returns after sitting out the Baltimore inport race and Mark Christensen has declared himself 100% fit after key-hole surgery on his injured knee.

Share or bookmark this story: