Martin Kirketerp
13-07-1982
Aarhus, Denmark
- 2008 Olympic gold 49-er
- 2011-12 Team Sanya in The Ocean Race
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Kirketerp (DK) en Heiner (NL) added to Team JAJO for The Ocean Race
26 april 2023
Olympic gold medalist Martin Kirketerp and former Laser World Champion Nicholas Heiner join Team JAJO for The Ocean Race. The Dane Kirketerp will be sailing on Team JAJO during both Leg 6 and 7, Dutchman Heiner will only sail Leg 7. Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek is glad that he can add both former Olympians to his team. The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup will restart on June 4th with an In-Port Race in Aarhus, Denmark. On June 8th the fleet will set sail for the Hague, the Netherlands. The fleet will finish in Genoa, Italy at the end of June.
Van Beek and Heiner
| Picture: Team JAJO
Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek on his choice for Kirketerp and Heiner: “Personally I haven’t sailed with Martin. But he is widely known as an all-round professional. An insanely good sailor who can add a lot to the team as a sail trimmer. In addition, he is also known a as a real workhorse. His CV speaks for itself with Olympic gold, an Ocean Race, SailGP and a lot of experience in the TP52 class. I am happy that he is part of Team JAJO for the second part of the race.”
“I know Nicholas well. We have sailed together in the past and we do speak regularly. Nicholas is a technical sailor, a good helmsman and hopefully he will also add something tactical. He is a strong sailor, just like Martin, and he will bring a lot of energy to the team. Something we will certainly need in the last all-decisive leg from The Hague to Genoa."
Martin Kirketerp
| Picture: Bob Martin / SailGP
For the Danish Kirketerp, winner of Olympic gold in the 49-er class back in 2008, his participation with Team JAJO means a return to The Ocean Race. In the 2011-12 edition Kirketerp participated with Team Sanya.
Kirketerp: “Off-shore racing and The Ocean Race has always been a big dream for me. Over the last 15 years I’ve done a descend amount of offshore racing and for some reason I just absolute love it. It can be painful and brutal. Sometimes you don’t really know why you’re doing it. But it provides you with some of the best sailing experiences you can have. I love it, you go through a lot of stuff together when you’re offshore sailing and therefor I’m excited to be back in The Ocean Race.”
“Team JAJO did a good first Leg. On the scoreboard we’re now second overall so there is all to play for. Personally, I hopefully can bring a little bit more speed and experience to the team.”
Nicholas Heiner
20-04-1989
Enkhuizen, Netherlands
- 2014 World Champion Laser
- 2021 Olympic Games Tokyo - 4th Finn class.
Nicholas Heiner | Picture: Team JAJO
Heiner: "It’s no secret that The Ocean Race has always been a dream of mine. In the last couple of years I have sailed on several VO65’s. When Jelmer called me and asked if I was available for Leg 7 to join Team JAJO, I didn’t have to think twice. It is great to be part of The Ocean Race with a Dutch team. Leg 7 from The Hague to Genoa will be a stage of about twelve days. Twelve days in which I will keep pushing and hopefully we can achieve a very good result.”
For Heiner, who was mainly active in the Olympic circuit up to and including the 2021 Olympic Games, the Dutch sailors of Team JAJO are no strangers. “I certainly know Jelmer, Jorden and Rutger well. They were in the Team Heiner Talent program back in the days. It’s nice to see how those men have developed themselves and where they stand today. I will be joining a team that is new to me, but it somehow feels familiar. That makes me really looking forward to it.”
Nicholas Heiner
Foto: Team JAJO
Aarhus and The Hague home port for sailors
Both sailors will make their debut for Team JAJO in their hometown. A special and unique experience to which both are already looking forward to.
Kirketerp: “It’s an amazing privilege to start The Ocean Race in Aarhus, it’s my hometown. I’ve been living here my whole life and it’s going to be amazing to have The Ocean Race here. I’m so much looking forward to both, the In-Port Race, and the Leg start. I’m sure that Aarhus will provide a good show, good hospitality and hopefully there will be a lot of spectators. I hope they cheer us away and enjoy a few good days of yachting in Aarhus. Aarhus is a City of Sails. I have very big expectations of the whole event and I’m sure Aarhus will deliver. For me it’s an amazing privilege to be onboard of Team JAJO and start a Leg in my hometown. That’s a dream coming true.”
Heiner: “It is very cool that Leg 7 will start in The Hague. For me it’s now home waters. I have always dreamed of sailing the entire Ocean Race and then there are three special places on the route. Cape Town, where I have a lot of family living. New Zealand, where I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, who is from there. And The Hague where I’m living for the last few years. During the previous edition, back in 2018, you saw what an amazing crowd came down to the harbour and how enthusiastic all those Dutch supporters were. It must be an amazing feeling to be part of it as a sailor. I am really looking forward to racing the In-Port race here and then also starting the Leg n The Hague. That must be something very special."
Start etappe 1 The Ocean Race Sprint Cup
Foto: Pedro Martinez - Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
Leg 7, what a ride it was! Let’s look back at this challenging Leg. Difficult wind conditions, Orca’s hugging our boat and much more. Take an in-depth look into our final race!
Team JAJO wins the final In-Port Race of the Ocean Race on Saturday afternoon. In Genova, the Dutch team of skipper Jelmer van Beek wins for the second time this edition an In-Port Race. In light weather conditions, Team JAJO dominates from start to finish, just like they did in The Hague.
Team JAJO weet zaterdagmiddag de afsluitende In-Port Race van de Ocean Race te winnen. In Genua wint het Nederlandse team van schipper Jelmer van Beek voor de tweede keer deze editie een havenrace. In licht weersomstandigheden domineert Team JAJO, net als in Den Haag, van start tot finish.
Some soundbites from the sailors after Stage 3 of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint. Team JAJO crossed the finishing line in second place and secured the second place on the overall leaderboard.
Team JAJO finished second in in the final stage of The Ocean Race on Tuesday afternoon. With this second place, the Dutch-flagged team of skipper Jelmer van Beek secures the second place in the overall ranking of The Ocean Race Sprint Cup. Skipper Jelmer van Beek: happy, relieved and proud Van Beek: “We are very happy with the second place. As team we have always said: in Genoa it will come down to the last day. And that turned out to be the case. Fortunately, our decisions tonight were spot-on as was the boat handling. At the same time I am also relieved because you know that there is little wind here and it could have turned out differently this morning. Look at Trifork/Mirpuri, who have been battling with us for second for most of the race and could now easily finish fourth or fifth. As Team JAJO we can be proud of ourselves with this second place, we did very well. Not only in this last stage, but also in the previous two stages with a second and third place and a win at the In-Port Race at home in The Hague. Congratulations, of course, to the WindWhisper Racing Team who have shown to be of exceptional class in this race.”
Team JAJO finishte dinsdagmiddag in de laatste etappe van The Ocean Race als tweede in de VO65 klasse. Met deze tweede plek verzekert het Nederlandse team van schipper Jelmer van Beek zich van de tweede plaats in het eindklassement van The Ocean Race Sprint Cup achter het Poolse Team WindWhisper, dat alle drie de etappes won. De laatste etappe bracht de vloot van Den Haag in twaalf dagen naar het Italiaanse Genua.
SATURDAY JUNE 24 - 2000 UTC Hello, The last 48 hours have been pretty eventful. To start with our Orca encounter, just before the street of Gibraltar. I think most of you have seen the video's from our OBR Brend Schuil. Impressive to see those wonderful animals so close to the boat. A lot of (media) people asked me; have you been scared when they were hitting the rudders? Well the VO65 is a pretty safe boat, I have a good crew and we were close by land. Also, the other teams offered assistance straight away when we informed them on the radio to watch out for the orcas. So I never felt not safe. I actually realized how much I love this race and sailing with this team. However, when the orcas came back for the third time I knew we all have seen footage from boats that lost their rudders and in that case, we would maybe have retired from the race. Not finishing in the final leg would have been a real disappointment. Luckily the orcas left again. The damage is minor (as far as we know now) and we are racing again. I hope we can find a way how these beautiful animals and we sailors can live happily together out at sea like before this all started three years ago. And that this incident will become a nice story to tell to my future children :) Back to sailing: first of all, we enjoyed the conditions in the MED. We had some powerful upwinds and at the moment we are planning downwind with the big kite up. The boat got a nice saltwater shower. Today our navigator, Max Deckers, and I decided to go for a little split. We saw an opportunity close to Alicante and we made a 40nm split. Unfortunately, it did not work out and we are for now in 4th place. So we are on the hunt! 500 nm left to the finish in Genova. Cheers, Jelmer
Team JAJO had direct encounters with orcas - killer whales - in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Gibraltar on Thursday afternoon. At that moment, the Dutch participant in The Ocean Race was second in the stage from The Hague to Genoa. After 15 minutes the incident was over, the orcas, the crew and the boat remained unharmed.
Donderdag aan het einde van de middag heeft de VO65 van Team JAJO vlak voor de Straat van Gibraltar bezoek gehad van een drietal orka’s. De Nederlandse deelnemer aan The Ocean Race lag op dat moment tweede in de etappe van Den Haag naar Genua. Na 15 minuten was het incident voorbij, zowel de orka's, de bemanning als de boot zijn ongedeerd gebleven.
Wednesday June 21st - 1815 UTC For 2 days we are in a battle with Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team. Every time a new watch comes on deck the first thing they do is ask where our nearest rivals are. What's the distance? For the last 2 days, we always have had them in sight. For example last night we tried a little different route. A full night of hard work got us from a few miles behind to a few miles in front. However with Lisbon in sight in the early morning, we sailed into a little hole of no wind at 'Cabo Raso' and they overtook us again. This game never stops. It also is what Ocean Racing on the V65 makes interesting. We both have the same boat, the same sails. Everything is about what we do; the human race. The race to Genova is still a long race. I spoke with the other skippers before the race and nobody will be surprised if the race will be decided on the last night in front of the Italian coast. However WindWhisper Racing Team sailed really well till now and they have a decent lead. We have a little bit of separation on Viva Mexico and the Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Genova. Where are they know? At 1800 UTC we are 4 miles in front of Mirpuri / Trifork Racing Team and in 2nd place. But a lot of racing to go! Regards, Jelmer