Remembering Hans, 10 years on DownloadOskar Kihlborg\/Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 DownloadIAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race DownloadTeam ABN AMRO Ten years ago today, the Volvo Ocean Race family lost one of its own – Hans Horrevoets (full story below).ALICANTE, Spain, May 18 – Ten years ago today, the Volvo Ocean Race family lost one of its own.It was May 18, 2006, that 32-year-old ABN AMRO TWO, sailor Hans Horrevoets, was swept overboard.The Dutch boat nose-dived into a big wave in 25 knots of wind during the transatlantic leg from New York to Portsmouth. The Dutchman\u2019s loss sent shockwaves across the whole sport \u2013 and beyond.\u201cHe was a really important member of our team. Everyone has such fond memories of him,\u201d said Simon \u2018Sifi\u2019 Fisher, who sailed his first Volvo Ocean Race on the boat, and most recently won the trophy as navigator onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.\u201cMany people say that the last race I did must have been the most amazing \u2013 but in many ways, that first one, alongside Hans, was the most special for me.\u201dHorrevoets was a senior member of the crew, which was largely made up of under-30s.After 40 minutes of extraordinary seamanship, the crew located Horrevoets\u2019 body and hauled him back onboard, but he could not be resuscitated.Fisher continued: \u201cWe all lost a friend out in the Atlantic that day, and there are a lot of difficult memories there.\u201cBut we\u2019re very grateful for the memories we do have. We had a really great team, and Hans was a major part of that. In fact, he was actually the person who did a lot of the crew selection, and was part of the process of putting it all together.\u201dHorrevoets\u2019 fellow Dutchman, Gerd-Jan Poortman, who raced the last edition as bowman on Team Brunel, was also a part of ABN AAMRO TWO in 2005-06.\u201cHans is still hugely missed, especially here in Holland,\u201d he said. \u201cHis energy and ambition were totally addictive.\u201cIn particular, his passion to open up offshore racing to the next generation is very much missed, and still a great example to me.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s that passion which led to the \u2018Hans Horrevoets Rookie Award\u2019 being established. \u201cIt\u2019s a great trophy,\u201d continued Poortman.\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the accident, but it is something that he really stood for. Hans was always busy with new talent, and trying to develop new sailors in Holland.\u201dThe award is given to the outstanding young sailor of each Volvo Ocean Race and was most recently was won by Team SCA\u2019s Sophie Ciszek, one of the stars of the all-female campaign of 2014-15.\u201cWinning the award was really special to me,\u201d she said. \u201cHans was one of those guys who, when I was growing up, inspired me to become a Volvo Ocean Race sailor in the first place.”<\/p>\n
via Remembering Hans, 10 years on| Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remembering Hans, 10 years on DownloadOskar Kihlborg\/Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 DownloadIAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race DownloadTeam ABN AMRO Ten years ago today, the Volvo Ocean Race family lost one of its own – Hans Horrevoets (full story below).ALICANTE, Spain, May 18 … Continue reading