Sea, Sail & Surf newsVOLVO OCEAN RACE
Jon Gunderson joins Team SEB
lundi 4 mars 2002 –
Gunderson, known more usually as ’Gundy’, was formerly a crewmember onboard the Australian entry, Team News Corp, with whom he sailed the first three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. ’Gundy’ has a vast offshore racing experience, and amongst other wins, he has been a crewmember onboard the winning boat in two Sydney to Hobart Races, in 1999 and in 2000.
"It’s great being back in the race again, especially with Team SEB since I know most of SEB’s crew " says Jon Gunderson who made it clear that he didn’t intend to miss out on racing in the Volvo Ocean Race. "It has always been my goal to do the race and to be back is fantastic." Gundy has been spotted for the past couple of days sporting his new Team SEB gear and wearing an ear-to-ear smile.
Gunderson, who arrived in Rio de Janeiro last week, explained, "I’m very thankful to Gurra for giving me a chance to come and join SEB, I’m very happy to be a member of the team." Gundy’s desire to compete in the race was strong. "Obviously I’ve enjoyed every second of the race so far, so when it became clear I wasn’t sailing with News Corp I started looking elsewhere. I wanted to finish the Volvo. I wasn’t considering doing anything else unless there was no opportunity left."
This brings SEB’s tally of New Zealanders onboard to six, as ’Gundy’ is stepping onboard to replace the French sailor Pascal Bidegorry, who was hired for leg four.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew, together with the shore team, have been working round the clock to repair the damage done to SEB after her dismasting in the Southern Ocean, during leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race from Auckland to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
After a lengthy journey, the new carbon fibre mast arrived in Rio on Saturday 23rd February, having been sent from Gothenburg in Sweden. The boat arrived the boat arrived by freighter from Chile the day after.
Since then, the boat builders, shore team and crew have worked tirelessly, repairing the damage, which occurred to the boat and hull when the mast was lost overboard. The new mast has now been stepped and tuned and the crew will now spend a few days out on the water fine-tuning the new rig and sails before they set off on the 4,450 nautical mile leg to Miami, where they will be certainly looking for a podium finish.
"It feels good having a whole boat and mast again and we are longing for the start now" says skipper Gurra Krantz, adding, "it has been a major operation getting the boat and the new mast to Rio. The whole Team SEB has done a tremendous job to make the boat of schedule."
The fifth leg of this nine-stage event will start from Rio de Janeiro on Saturday March 9th, at 16:30 GMT (13.30 local time). The fleet is estimated to arrive in Miami on March 27th.
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Volvo Ocean Race / Leg 4 : French Navigator Finishes Second
Jean Yves Bernot, Arve Roass and Grant Wharington sporting the unshaven look. It’s possible to see that we have been out sailing for a while. Onboard photo / djuice team.
