Team JAJO ready to rejoin The Ocean Race
by Team JAJO 31 May 2023 16:15 BST
Team JAJO with skipper Jelmer van Beek at the helm © Brend Schuil / Team JAJO
The Team JAJO VO65 arrived in Aarhus, Denmark last weekend to rejoin The Ocean Race for the VO65 Sprint Cup. The Dutch flagged team, led by skipper Jelmer Van Beek, will be preparing for the Aarhus In-Port Race on 4 June.
On Thursday 8 June, the fleet will then set course for The Hague, where the boats are expected to arrive on Sunday 11 June.
Team JAJO skipper Van Beek, is looking forward to rejoin The Ocean Race. Van Beek: "It's good to have the team together again. Compared to the first Leg back in January, in which we finished second, we have two new sailors. With Martin Kirketerp we bring a Danish Olympic champion on board. And Nicholas Heiner his sailing resume also speaks for itself, including a world title in the Laser class."
Crewlist Team JAJO - Leg 6
- Jelmer van Beek - NED - Skipper - 28 years
- Max Deckers - NED - Navigator - 30 years
- Laura van Veen - NED - 28 years
- Jorden van Rooijen - NED - 25 years
- Rutger Vos - NED - 26 years
- Nicholas Heiner - NED - 34 years
- Maja Micinska - POL - 22 years
- Simbad Quiroga - ESP - 26 years
- Joy Fitzgerald - GBR - 34 years
- Martin Kirketerp - DEN - 40 years
- Brend Schuil - NED - Onboard Reporter - 32 years
Jelmer Van Beek is with his 28 years the youngest skipper in the race. Van Beek: "With Team JAJO we have a relatively young team, but with quite a lot of nautical miles and experience in other sailing projects. From the beginning onwards, the goal of our main sponsor JAJO, but also of Batenburg Techniek and Royal Huisman, has been to offer opportunities to a new generation of sailors with this campaign. With an average age on board for Leg 6 of only 29-years-old, I think we have more than succeeded."
For Leg 7, Simbad Quiroga (ESP) and Joy Fitzgerald (GBR) are unable to attend they will be replaced by 28-year-old Mark Spearman (GBR) and 25-year-old Megan Thomson (NZL). Van Beek: "I know both of them quite well, having raced against both Mark and Megan in the Match Race circuit. In my opinion, they are two exponents of this generation of sailors. Mark has an impressive CV on the M32, the World Match Racing Tour and GC32. Megan is an all-round New Zealand sailor, super fit and tactically very strong."
All to play for
The Polish WindWhisper Racing Team of Spanish skipper Pablo Arrarte, winner of Leg 1, will start the last two legs of The Ocean Race as t. However, with two thirds of the points still to be distributed the Race is far from decided.
Van Beek: "It's clear that the Spanish/Polish boat is the favourite. They won both the first Leg and the first In-Port race. Bu we were close in the first Leg and we still have two Legs to go. We are currently second, which is great, but of course we want more. In that sense we are only looking up, we will do everything we can to ensure that it comes down to the last Leg from The Hague to Genoa."