Barcelona 28 July. Wouter Verbraak is announced to join Spanish sailor Guillermo Altadill on his Open 60 Estrella Damm.

Says Wouter: ”It has been a pleasure working with Guillermo in previous projects, and now we are looking forward to working together towards the Round Europe Race in August.”

The Round Europe Race is a five up sailing race from Istanbul in Turkey through the Med and out into the Atlantic to Brest on the West Coast of France. The race is sailed in the well established Open 60 class.

“The general trend in ocean racing is towards smaller teams. The Open 60 class is the pinnacle of short handed racing, so it is key to be in this part of the sport. The Round Europe Race not only provides a great navigational and strategic challenge, but also is a perfect meeting ground for technology from both the fully crewed Volvo Ocean Race sailing and the singlehanded sailing from races like the Vendee. Sailing the boat with five crew will be challenging, exhausting and fun as we have just enough people to push the boat to it’s maximum.”

The Estrella Damm team will have an intense training stage in the Med this week before the delivery to Istanbul in two weeks and the start of the Round Europe Race at the end of August.