Dutch campaign, Team AkzoNobel, has been announced as the first entry of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 – over 15 months before the start of the next edition.
Backed by AkzoNobel – a leading global paints and coatings company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, employing around 45,000 people worldwide, and whose portfolio includes well-known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International, Interpon and Eka. The boat will be led by first time skipper Simeon Tienpont (NED), who will be racing in his third Volvo Ocean Race.
Having made his debut as a rookie onboard ABN AMRO TWO in 2005-06, he returned to the world’s toughest offshore race to join Team Vestas Wind for the final two legs of the 2014-15 edition
Team AkzoNobel represents a nation with not only a rich maritime heritage, but a special connection to the Volvo Ocean Race, with Dutch teams having lifted the trophy three times, in 1977-78, 1981-82 and 2005-06.
Dutch sailing legend Conny van Rietschoten remains the only skipper in the history of the race to have won two editions in a row, and Tienpont, who won the prestigious Conny van Rietschoten trophy – the highest honour in Dutch sailing – in 2013, is proud to be following in the ‘Flying’ Dutchman’s footsteps.
