First race for Mean Machine VO70

Peter de Ridder and his crew to be on the North Sea Race start line tomorrow

It’s been five month since Peter de Ridder’s team acquired the VO 70 currently used for training in preparation for the next Volvo Ocean Race.

On 15 May, the Mean Machine Volvo Ocean Race team to take to the water to compete in their first regatta. The 70-footer with the characteristic flames on the bow of her black hull is heading to Holland, where she will race in the North Sea Regatta. Peter de Ridder, Ray Davies, and Dirk de Ridder and their crew will cross the starting line in the Dutch waters of Scheveningen where they will then head for the English coast.

The first offshore leg is between Scheveringen and Harwich, and covers a distance of 110 miles. Arrival on UK shores is forecast for the daybreak of the next day. The Mean Machine crew will then have to wait until 18 May to take part in the second legs, back to Scheveningen on a 180 miles course lengthened with some additional marks.

CEO of the Mean Machine Syndicate, Peter de Ridder, and the Operations Manager, Dirk de Ridder will have some of the familiar faces from their TP52 Medcup Circuit team on board and the Mumm 30/Farr40, as well as experienced ocean sailors such as Jules Salter and Jono Swain. Youngsters like Gert V.d Heijden and former ABN AMRO Two crew Simeon Tienport and will also join them, part of the team's commitment to nurturing young talent by bringing in sailors from other projects in the Mean Machine family for this regatta.

Dirk de Ridder is very positive about this fresh challenge for the Mean Machine team: “With Mean Machine, we feel it is important to race the boat as much as we can. Also with the new season starting in Europe we feel that the North Sea Race is a good race to start of with." The boat will be skippered by Peter de Ridder for this race because Volvo skipper Ray Davies is presently tied up with his Emirates Team New Zealand afterguard duties in Valencia.

Winning is not the only objective for Mean Machine in this race, as de Ridder explains: "It will be a good opportunity to sail the boat as a team and see how we get on. We’ve also got to build a few new sails and systems on the boat for the new rule in the next race, and we want to try those out as well".

As well as the official crew, the Mean Machine VO70 will also welcome a special guests aboard, who’ve earned the privilege of joining the crew for this regatta, including the winner of the Volvo Ocean Race Grinding Competition held at the 2007 London Boat Show.