Cheese back on the bus

Dirk de Ridder returns to professional sailing

Laurent Pagès is standing down from Team Brunel for the fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race because of an injury. The French sailor broke two ribs during the stopover in Auckland. He will be replaced by the Dutch sailor Dirk de Ridder. De Ridder’s long experience in ocean sailing and his excellent trimming and steering capabilities make him the perfect candidate to join the crew on what should be the toughest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

In the late nineties Dirk de Ridder a.k.a. ‘Cheese’ was part of a Soling crew with Roy Heiner and Peter van Niekerk. In 1999 they won gold at the Soling Europeans and subsequently represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney where they finished fourth.

In the 1997/98 Whitbread Round the World Race de Ridder finished second with Merit Cup. In the next edition, when the race was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race, he won with John Kostecki aboard Illbruck Challenge. In 2002 de Ridder was awarded the Conny van Rietschoten Trophy, the award is given to the best sailor from the Netherlands. In 2005/06 he finished the Volvo Ocean Race in second position, with Paul Cayard's crew on Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2010 de Ridder won the America's Cup as wing trimmer on Oracle Team USA. However prior to the 34th America's Cup he was banned from sailing due to his involvement with the US team cheating in the Ameirca's Cup World Series. He was initially banned from sailing for three years but in December last year the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the term of de Ridder's ban to 18 months. The Volvo Ocean Race will mark de Ridder's return to professional sailing.  

"It's very sad for Laurent that he will miss this leg," according to Dirk de Ridder after being appointed by Team Brunel. "I wish him all the best with his recovery. I will give it all that I’ve got in order to replace him and I would also like to achieve a good result with the team."

"Dirk is one of the best trimmers in the world," says skipper Bouwe Bekking. "I know him well, we have sailed many times together, so I know exactly what to expect of Dirk. During the 1997/98 Whitbread Round the World Race we rounded Cape Horn together aboard Merit Cup. "