New crew for the fourth The Ocean Race Leg on board Holcim-PRB
by Team HOLCIM - PRB 17 Apr 2023 15:10 PDT
Team Holcim-PRB © Julien Champolion | PolaRYSE | Team Holcim-PRB
The Holcim-PRB crew will be renewed for the fourth leg of the iconic crewed round-the-world race, which will go from Itajaí, Brazil on April 23rd, to Newport, USA in early May.
Kevin Escoffier, the skipper of the blue and green sailboat, has chosen to renew the crew for this ascent to the United States. After a very intense third leg, it was important to keep a performant team. "I chose this crew for several reasons. First, I wanted to have an international crew, with different cultures. Secondly, I selected Fabien's profile because he already knows the boat, he sailed her at the end of 2022 from Pointe-à-Pitre on the way back from the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe; and followed her performances until then. I then looked for a versatile crew member, and Annemieke's profile matched exactly what I was expecting. She has already done a Volvo Ocean Race with a crew, who has been an Olympian and who is very strong physically. To complete the team, the profile of Benjamin Schwartz was ideal, as he has a lot of skills, has also done multihulls, and is very experienced in terms of electronics and pilot" explains the skipper.
After two victories in Cape Verde and Cape Town, and a second place on the longest leg of this round-the-world race, Team Holcim-PRB is now at the top of the overall ranking. Since the beginning of this 32,000-mile race, Kevin Escoffier knows that he has to hold on over time. The crew changes were therefore planned from the start of the race. And some of the crew members present during the first three legs will find their place on board the Swiss monohull very soon after having recharged the batteries.
Between Itajai and Newport, Fabien Delahaye, until now in charge of analyzing the performance, Benjamin Schwartz and Annemieke Bes, and Georgia Schofield (OBR) will be joining Kevin Escoffier on board the IMOCA boat. For each of them, this leg aboard the green and blue monohull has a lot at stake.
Fabien Delahaye has seen the team evolve since the start and has analyzed all the data on the IMOCA since the start in Alicante. He will undoubtedly have a sharp eye for every setting. "If until now I was in charge of the performance, I remain above all a sailor, so it is a priority for me to go sailing. Embarking will allow me to move on to the practical part after working on the theoretical part" explains Fabien Delahaye, before adding "I'm delighted to be embarking on this leg. For the moment, Holcim-PRB has done a remarkable job, even beyond our expectations. For now, and I speak for myself, this project is a real success, as long as it lasts!"
For Benjamin Schwartz, it will be a discovery. While he has already participated in the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly The Ocean Race) in 2017/18 as a member of the Dongfeng Race Team technical team, this is his first time on board the race and his first time on board Holcim-PRB as well. "I am very happy to be on board for this new leg. I did the last edition of the Volvo Ocean Race in Charles Caudrelier's team with Kevin, but I was on land, I was in charge of the electronics for the Chinese team Dongfeng Race Team. Obviously, when Kevin offered me to come back to this race and to sail alongside him, it was something I couldn't refuse! It has always been a goal in my sporting career to participate in The Ocean Race as a sailor. And here, I have been given the opportunity to do it and to do it well, because it is with a team that is at the top of its game, both technically and on the water, and all of this with a high performance boat" Benjamin Schwartz enthuses.
Finally, Kevin has chosen the Olympic experience for the female on board. Annemieke Bes sailed at the highest level to prepare for the Athens Olympics in 2004. She took part in the Games in a Yngling, a keelboat on which she finished at the foot of the podium. Two other participations in the Games in 2008 and 2012 will follow with a silver medal in Yngling in Beijing. Since then, the Dutch sailor has come a long way in ocean racing and is back on the round-the-world circuit, which she already participated in 2017/18 with Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag. "I am very happy to be part of the crew for the fourth leg! I was really hoping to join one of the teams because I have already participated in the previous edition of the race, and I had really enjoyed it. When Kevin called me, I couldn't say no! I am also very happy to sail with Kevin as skipper because I know he is a very good sailor, and it will be my first time on an IMOCA boat. I know the race but I don't know this boat yet" says Annemieke Bes who joined the team in Brazil on April 10th.
This fourth leg will take the sailors of Team Holcim-PRB to Newport, Rhode Island for 5,500 miles of racing (approximately 10,279 kilometers). For the skipper of Holcim-PRB, it will be necessary to quickly install new automatisms with crew members who will, for some, discover the Swiss monohull. This short leg will force the team to make the best of very varied weather systems with a return to the northern hemisphere, synonymous with a final passage through the Doldrums. Tactics and strategy will once again be at the forefront of the team's minds as they make their way back to the United States, which promises to be thrilling and which will be immortalized by onboard reporter Georgia Schofield, who was already present during the second leg.