With the Volvo Ocean Race that has started off this weekend, there was a last minute addition of a Dutch sailor who joined team AkzoNobel. Simeon Tienpont was confirmed as skipper for the team only hours before the race commenced. There were certain crew changes that led to the last minute approval. For Simeon this was definitely a life changing moment.

The team is being sponsored by a Dutch paint brand that announced that there would be a replacement sought for the skipper position as there had arisen a dispute between the management and sponsors of the team. Tienpont was reinstated after the arbitration process that followed led to the final result that he would be skipper of the team. Tienpont stated that the week had been a turbulent one, but he was happy for the support he received from the crowd. That gave the team strength to carry on. However, there were three members who held out and elected to be out of the sailing crew of the boat when Tienpont was resurrected as captain of the boat.  Due to the disputes that arose Tienpont was not given enough time and hence he put together a mixed crew that comprised of six men along with two women sailors as per the qualification norms for Leg 1. This would lead to the team sailing a distance of about 2700 km to reach the first stop on the race course in Lisbon in Portugal.

The crew has been found to comply with the necessary medical and safety qualifications as well as seamanship required for the race which was part of the statement issued by the race director. AkzoNobel is one of the seven teams that have embarked on the race that started from the Alicante harbor of Spain and would continue till June 2018.