Holcim-PRB welcomes Nicolas Lunven for Vendée Globe 2024 & Rosalin Kuiper for The Ocean Race Europe

Holcim-PRB welcomes Nicolas Lunven for Vendée Globe 2024 & Rosalin Kuiper for The Ocean Race Europe 2025 © Holcim-PRB

Following the second-place finish in the last edition of The Ocean Race, Team Holcim-PRB welcomes new skipper and French offshore racing expert Nicolas Lunven and his co-skipper the talented Dutch sailor Rosalin Kuiper.

The duo reunite after their successful Ocean Race campaign wearing the colours of Holcim-PRB for this incredible project showing the commitment of the team to continue spreading the message of Go Circular.

Nicolas Lunven will carry the ambitions of the Holcim-PRB project as head skipper for the Vendée Globe 2024 while Rosalin Kuiper will accompany him as co-skipper, continuing to build her offshore experience, with the ambition of leading the Swiss team in The Ocean Race Europe, in 2025. With this unique and highly innovative project, Holcim-PRB reaffirms its long-term commitment to competitive sailing, while placing teamwork, performance and sustainability at the heart of its success.

Nicolas Lunven for Vendée Globe 2024

Nicolas Lunven holds a long-term ambition to compete in the infamous Vendée Globe. With his exceptional record in offshore sailing, he has all the qualities needed to perform at the highest level in this upcoming round-the-world race. It's a dream come true for the sailor, whose expertise is highly praised by his peers. His victories include two wins in La Solitaire du Figaro (2009, 2017) and three participations in The Ocean Race alongside the greatest international sailors (Iker Martinez, Dee Caffari, Boris Herrmann). Nicolas Lunven is delighted to find himself at the helm of one of the fastest and most reliable IMOCAs.

"It's obviously a huge honor to have been chosen to lead this team. My dream of competing in The Vendée Globe is becoming a reality, and it is even more special to do this with Holcim-PRB, a company and team that match my high ambitions. We're fully in line from a competitive sailing perspective as well as from a values standpoint to preserve our oceans and planet. It's exciting to be part of this new chapter, but we're going to do everything we can to write a beautiful story during this Vendée Globe," explains Nicolas, who also bears in mind that PRB is the only partner to have twice put its name on the top step of the podium (2000 with Michel Desjoyeaux and 2004 with Vincent Riou).

Nicolas Lunven's first race under the colors of Holcim-PRB will be the transatlantic race Retour à la Base which is a qualifying race for The Vendée Globe. In the meantime, the skipper will be involved in the boat refit and will be making the delivery trip to La Martinique in early November alongside co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper.

Rosalin Kuiper: new talent and young powerhouse for 2025

Rosalin Kuiper has sailed multiple iconic races like the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, The Fastnet Race, Middle Sea Race and the Caribbean 600. During The Ocean Race Europe 2021 she sailed aboard the Volvo 65 AkzoNobel as a trimmer. She joined Team Malizia to compete in The Ocean Race 2022-2023, during which she sailed all legs, establishing herself as a new rising talent in the IMOCA sailing world. Building on this experience, she is eager to continue strengthening her skills, learning from Nicolas' breadth of expertise from a weather, training and performance standpoint. A purpose-driven sailor, she also brings her vision for a more sustainable, inclusive and diverse future to the adventure with the aim to build an diverse crew for the upcoming Ocean Race Europe in 2025.

For Rosalin Kuiper, this integration into Team Holcim-PRB is an exciting opportunity:
"All my experiences aboard IMOCA boats have only strengthened my desire to evolve in this environment. It's fabulous that my guide on this adventure is Nicolas. He's very impressive and I can learn a lot from him. We've had some great times aboard Malizia, and it's great to be part of Team Holcim-PRB again. I'll be his first supporter for the Vendée Globe! My arrival in the team is also an opportunity to promote a message in favor of diversity, and for me it will be a chance to continue nurturing my passion for sailing, but also for the oceans in general. Holcim's commitment to the planet is totally aligned with my desire to be an ambassador for the oceans. " enthuses the dutch sailor.

"Rosalin is a great young sailor and incredibly keen to learn and evolve. I've seen her progression during our time with Team Malizia and she's really a sailor who can perform well. We are going to be working closely together on this next adventure and i hope that as part of that i can pass on some of my knowledge around routing and weather that will give her all she needs to be an amazing skipper in 2025. We get on very well and it's exciting to be starting out together on Team Holcim-PRB. " comments Nicolas.

The Holcim Group, a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, is looking ahead with great excitement to continue sharing its GO CIRCULAR call for action, raising awareness globally concerning the importance of building progress for people and the planet.