Delta Lloyd announce crew

Stu Wilson watch leader while Sebastien Col comes on board for In Port race

Team Delta Lloyd have unveiled their international crew for the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

Irish skipper Ger O’Rourke and his team have brought their campaign together over the last three months, making this the eighth entry in the Volvo Ocean Race and the only campaign to be fielding a 2005-6 generation boat in the former ABN AMRO One. The boat is ready to sail and takes on the round the world race course.

The final sprint to meet tomorrow's first deadline for the In Port race have been intense. Within the last three weeks since arriving in Alicante, Delta Lloyd has had to be branded, the hydraulics were revised, the new sails tried out, while the crew has had to fly to Newcastle in the UK for the required two day Safety Training Course plus the measurement of the boat has had to be done.

Although there was not much time left for practicing on the water, coach Maurice Paardenkooper (NED) and his panel have finally picked the crew for the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. As he explains: “According to the rule, the offshore crew has to include 50% of the sailors who did the qualifier. With that in mind, I already made a short-list based on certain criteria. We also looked at technical skills that are necessary onboard, since you need to be self-supporting out on the ocean. And today, I pushed the guys hard to decide on the last question marks.”

The line up for the first leg to Cape Town will be:
Ger O’Rourke (IRL), skipper
Stu Wilson (NZL), watch captain
Stuart Molloy (NZL)
Gerd-Jan Poortman (NED)
Ed van Lierde (NED)
Bert Schandevyl (BEL)
Matthew Gregory (USA)
Edwin O’Connor (IRL)
Martin Watts (GBR)
Ryan Houston (NZL)
Sander Pluijm (NED), Media Crew Member

For tomorrow's In-Port Race, boat captain Mark Tighe (IRL) will be added to the list but earlier O'Rourke a special helmsman will be brought on board in the form of Sebastian Col (FRA). Helmsman of Areva Challenge in the last America's Cup, Col has just won the Troia Portugal Match Cup 2008 as skipper of the French Match Racing Team / K-Challenge. Ed Hill (GBR) and Sander Speet (NED) won’t be competing on board Delta Lloyd until Cape Town, but they remain part of the campaign. Paardenkooper: “We will offer them another position within the team and meanwhile we will continue the training with. There are always drop outs later on in the race, so you need to have a well prepared back up. And it is a growing campaign.”

Sander Pluijm (NED) is going to be Team Delta Lloyd’s Media Crew Member. “This job brings my two passions together and as a sailor I would have never made it to the Volvo Ocean Race”, said Pluijm. As senior editor at Endemol in the Netherlands, Pluijm is responsible for ‘infotainment’. That means television entertainment with content. His programs tell a story. In the next ten months, he is going to tell the story about one of the toughest ocean races in the world.

In addition to title sponsor Delta Lloyd, the Dutch/Irish syndicate is also supported by Chieftain Group, Tommy Hilfiger, OHRA Verzekeringen, Port of Rotterdam, Weather News and Hemels van der Hart.