Team ABN AMRO : Dutchman Hans Horrevoets joins the team as crew member onboard second V70

29 September : ABN AMRO Group announces the addition of Dutchman Hans Horrevoets, who joins TEAM ABN AMRO as a crew member on board ABN AMRO TWO. Hans will join fellow Dutchmen Gerd Jan Poortman and Simeon Tienpont on ABN AMRO TWO, one of two boats that ABN AMRO will be entering in the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race.

Hans, 31, from Terheijden, the Netherlands, is not new to the campaign - he was part of the judging panel who selected the ’high potential’ sailors he will now be joining as part of crew TWO. He also brings with him a wealth of experience including participating in the 1997-1998 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) onboard Brunel Sunergy and he has also competed in a number of other high profile races and regattas.

The Volvo Ocean Race, which starts in Vigo, Northern Spain on Saturday 12 November 2005 and finishes in Gothenburg in July 2006, is one of the world’s toughest sporting events. It is a gruelling nine-legged circumnavigation of the world and is the ultimate test of human spirit and endurance. Each of the sailors will push themselves mentally and physically to the limit as they race 32,000 nautical miles around the globe. The fleet will cover all five continents stopping in the following ports : Cape Town, Melbourne, Wellington, Rio, Baltimore, New York, Portsmouth and Rotterdam.

Horrevoets will be the fifth professional crew member on board ABN AMRO TWO and will join the other six ’high potential’ sailors who each won their place through a unique international competition. All under 32, the crew of ABN AMRO TWO will be lead by the French solo sailor, Sebastien Josse, who recently completed the single-handed round the world yacht race, the Vendee Globe. Horrevoets joins the TEAM after two other crew members were forced to withdraw for personal reasons.

 Horrevoets commented : « Having been involved with this project in the early stages I am absolutely delighted to now be joining TEAM ABN AMRO as a sailor on board ABN AMRO TWO. I have watched as the team has developed and I cannot believe how quickly they have formed such a tight-knit and professional crew. I feel privileged to be joining them and I am greatly looking forward to getting involved as we work towards the start of this great race. »

 Sebastien Josse, skipper of ABN AMRO TWO commented : « Having met Hans some time ago and seeing what he could bring to the TEAM I am very pleased that he is now joining us on ABN AMRO TWO. Obviously we were all disappointed to lose crew members but we have to look to the start of the race and make sure we are ready for anything. I know that Hans will fit in very quickly to the programme and I look forward to sailing with him. »

 Jan Berent Heukensfeldt Jansen, CEO for TEAM ABN AMRO commented : « I am very pleased that Hans will be joining crew TWO for this race and I have no doubt that he will be a great asset to the TEAM. At ABN AMRO we believe an essential element to success is teamwork and professionalism and I know that Hans will work hard to embody these values as well as share his vast experience to make the TEAM even stronger. »

27 August 2005 : The second boat christened in Rotterdam

With much fanfare and drumming , the second ABN AMRO boat was christened tonight in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. After 16 months of preparation and over two years of planning, the boat was ready to be presented to the public for the first time.

Skipper Mike Sanderson was more than excited to finally be able to be on board the boat he will be sailing during the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. “This boat is the highest quality boat of any I know. I’ve never seen anything like it. It really has been taken to a whole new level !”

This boat just emerged from the boatyard in Lelystad, the Netherlands and was officially christened in the Royal Yacht and Rowing Club de Maas right next to the city’s crowning landmark, the Erasmus Bridge.

The evening started with a concert by a well-known Dutch band, then a speech by a member of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO, Dolf Collee.

Collee said “ABN AMRO’s global tagline is ‘Making more possible’. Nowhere does the bank demonstrate its commitment to this more than in our participation with two boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. We are taking our global brand and communicating it proudly around the world.”

After his speech, ABN AMRO employees helped to kick-start the event by releasing confetti. To the steady and throbbing beat of a drum band, Slagerij van Kampen, the black boat docked with all the flags of the sailors of TEAM ABN AMRO.

After a speech commemorating the rich maritime history of the Dutch, the boat was wished well on its journey and a bottle crashed against its bow. The boat was officially christened.

Two boats, one TEAM

This second TEAM ABN AMRO boat is an historic first, and represents the only second-generation V70 boat to participate in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. A two-boat campaign has many advantages for the TEAM. This has allowed the crew ONE sailors time to sail the very first V70 boat on the water and to work out even better ways to design the second generation boat : the ABN AMRO ONE.

Sanderson said “the new boat is very much crew ONE’s baby. We were involved in the decision-making all the way through. We really made sure we used the advantage to be able to build a second boat.”

He is clear the boat is the lightest, and strongest, it could possibly be. “There is absolutely no filler on this boat ! What is black is carbon and what is painted is painted right over the carbon.”

Henrik Ottersen, a boat builder who worked to build the ABN AMRO ONE, said “this boat was built very close to perfection ! At one time I was working on a fitting to spare some weight. After three fifteen-hour days, we measured it again and I had saved 23 grams of weight.”

Collee said : “These two boats need to take our sailors over 30,000 nautical miles around the world, and bring them home safely. That is a huge task, but we feel we could have done no better.”

For crew TWO, who are now aboard the boat they will be sailing during the Volvo Ocean Race, the night also held special meaning. Crew TWO will be sailing aboard the boat christened in February, the ABN AMRO TWO.

Navigator Simon Fisher of crew TWO said, “having my own boat is obviously a pretty good thing. We are all very happy about that, very happy to be sailing in the boat we are going to be racing on. As a crew, we feel more complete.”

Luke Molloy had one remark about the V70, compared to the V60 training boat the crew had been using previously. “This boat gets very wet ! A lot of water comes on deck.” And that, he said, is because these boats go so fast. This high potential crew is getting used to the speeds and power of the V70.

George Peet agreed. “It is good to be training aboard this boat, but the first boat guys have more miles than us !” He is looking forward to catching up to crew ONE.

Sebastien Josse, skipper of crew TWO, said “tonight the black boat is the focus.” But soon, as the two boats head out together for the first time on the open seas, they will get to see what the other can do.

Both boats will be heading out on their Volvo Ocean Race 2,000 mile offshore qualifier trip next week.