Three crew changes in the Global Ocean Race

With ten days remaining until the start of Leg 2 from Cape Town to Wellington, New Zealand, on Sunday 27 November, three of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR) teams are taking the ‘Team Option’ of changing co-skippers in Cape Town. Marco Nannini with Financial Crisis; Conrad Colman with Cessna Citation and Nico Budel with Sec. Hayai are all swapping co-skippers for the 7,000-mile Leg 2 through the Indian Ocean.

Dutch competitor, Nico Budel has always planned to sail on Leg 2 with his 41 year-old son, Frans, providing the second father-and-son team in the GOR joining the New Zealand team and Leg 1 winners, Ross and Campbell Field with their Class40, BSL. While 72 year-old Budel Senior was ecstatic at finishing Leg 1 with his close friend, Ruud van Rijsewijk, sailing with his son brings a new dimension to the race. “It’s great to be sailing with my Dad,” confirms Frans, who arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday. “He and Ruud sailed an amazing Leg 1 and we’re planning push it even further for Leg 2,” he confirms. For Budel Junior, arriving in Wellington after around 30 days in the high latitudes has an additional appeal: “My elder sister has been living in Auckland for 23 years and I last saw her two years ago,” he explains. “There is something very special about sailing across a huge ocean to meet my sister.”

For New Zealand competitor, Conrad Colman, changing co-skipper is a financial necessity: “While the generous and invaluable support of Cessna Citation is making this round-the-world campaign possible, the reality is that I need to take paying co-skippers,” explains the 27 year-old Kiwi. “My business partners in Mallorca dropping out at the last minute nearly killed the project and this is the only way I can continue,” he adds. “It brings new challenges and – I suppose – it’s a bit like an extreme version of the Clipper Race!” For Leg 2, Colman will be joined by 51 year-old British sailor, Chris Mincham. “It’s clearly a very quick boat,” says Mincham of Colman’s Akilaria RC2, Cessna Citation.