News FORMER 420 SAILOR AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST JOINS VOLVO OCEAN RACE

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FORMER 420 SAILOR AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST JOINS VOLVO OCEAN RACE

26
Jul 2017

Remarkable to reflect that in 2009 Brazil's Martine Grael won the 420 event at the Youth Sailing World Championships, in 2016 she won Olympic Gold in the 49er Class and 2017-2018 will see the talented sailor embark on a Volvo Ocean Race adventure.

In 2008 and 2009, Grael finished 4th at the 420 World Championships, before switching to the 470 Class and ultimately settling on the 49er Class where she won gold on home waters last year.

This week the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Martine Grael was confirmed as a member of Team AkzoNobel (NED) which will compete in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

The Niterói sailor will join skipper Simeon Tienpont (NED), following in the footsteps of her father Torben Grael, a 5-time Olympic medalist who won the offshore contest as skipper in 2008-09 after finishing third in 2005-06.

Martine offered her country a stunning highlight at the Rio Olympics by capturing gold with teammate Kahena Kunze in the 49erFX class, delivering Brazil’s only sailing medal. Notícias Náuticas reports that Martine’s appointment will not end her pursuit toward Tokyo 2020 Olympics as she will continue to prepare with Kunze in parallel.

Also committed to the team is Brazilian Joca Signorini, assigned as Watch Captain and Boat Performance. Joca was a teammate of Torben’s in his two races on Brazil 1 and Ericsson 4.

With seven teams committed, the Volvo Ocean Race hopes to reach its maximum of eight, but given how the start is in October and the first qualifying race is just a month away, the clock is ticking loudly.

 

Related links

Team AkzoNobel website
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Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 website
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