Team Childhood I starts Leg 2 of the Ocean Race Europe towards Alicante, Spain
by Team Childhood I 6 Jun 2021 19:12 BST
6 June 2021
The Ocean Race Europe resumed on Sunday afternoon, June 6th. The second leg takes the fleet from Cascais, Portugal, to Alicante, Spain.
The forecast for the first half of the 600 nm Leg 2 predicts strong winds and a difficult sea state in the Strait of Gibraltar. A quick look at the leaderboard shows us that the differences are minimal. With three boats sharing third place, all with five points.
After the first leg (third) and Saturday's coastal race (fifth), Team Childhood I is in joint third place, with Team AkzoNobel and Sailing Poland. With two more Legs and the final coastal race in Genoa left, anything is still possible.
Jacobs and Postma on board
For this second leg, new onboard are three-time Olympian Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) and bowmen Robin Jacobs (NED). Jacobs replaces Swede Julius Hallström, who has other commitments. Both Postma and Jacobs were part of the crew that won the Prologue last month.
Postma: "This will be a race with a lot of changeable weather. It's important to continuously position ourselves optimally for the next move. What sometimes might look like a bad choice to the people at home, looking at the live tracker, will in reality often be a well-considered choice.
Crewlist Team Childhood I - leg 2
Simeon Tienpont - NED - skipper
Gerd Jan Poortman - NED - watch leader
Wouter Verbraak - NED - navigator
Peter van Niekerk - NED - watch leader
Jelmer van Beek - NED - under 30
Rutger Vos - NED - under 30
Laura van Veen - NED - under 30
Arianne van de Loosdrecht - NED - under 30
Matt Whitehead - RSA - under 30
Max Deckers - NED - under 30
Lars van Stekelenborg - NED - under 30
Robin Jacobs - NED - under 30
Pieter-Jan Postma - NED
Brend Schuil - NED - On Board Reporter
Many challenges ahead
Young tactician from Rotterdam Max Deckers (NED): "This leg will bring many challenges as the conditions will change a lot throughout the race. We will have to position ourselves in the right spot every time."
Fight for the podium
Jelmer van Beek (NED): "The atmosphere in the team is good. At the same time, everyone also realizes that this race will be over before we know it. It doesn't last nine months, like the big The Ocean Race. It are only three legs, so we will have to push hard and give everything for a podium place in this leg. At the same time, we will certainly try to enjoy it! This is a unique team, with so many young professionals and professionals. For me, that's also really a childhood dream coming true."
Matt Whitehead (RSA): "It's going to be another tough battle during leg 2, but I believe we have the skills to be fighting for that top step on the podium."
The Ocean Race Europe
June 6 - Leg 2: Cascais, POR => Alicante, ESP.
June 13 - Leg 3: Alicante, ESP => Genua, ITA
Standings before Leg 2
1. The Austrian Ocean Race Project - 7 points
2. AmberSail-2 - 6 points
3. AkzoNobel Ocean Racing - 5 points
4. Sailing Poland - 5 points
5. Team Childhood I - 5 points
6. Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team - 4 points
7. Viva Mexico - 2 points.