Team JAJO takes second place in In-Port Race Aarhus

by Team JAJO 4 Jun 2023 08:46 PDT 4 June 2023

The Ocean Race 2022-23 - 4 June 2023. The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup In-Port Race in Aarhus. Team JAJO © Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race

Team JAJO with at the helm skipper Jelmer van Beek and Nicholas Heiner at the right © Brend Schuil / Team JAJO

Team JAJO, the Dutch team, skippered by Jelmer van Beek finished second in the In-Port Race in Aarhus. First boat to finish was Polish flagged WindWhisper Racing Team skippered by Pablo Arrarte (ESP). Viva Mexico skippered by Erick Brockmann completed the podium in third.

At the time of the start at 1205 local time, a light 7km/h SE breeze developed across the course.As the seconds counted down to the start, initially it was WindWhisper Racing Team (POL) that appeared to have the early momentum although a round up manoeuvre at the pin end slowed them down. Instead, it was Team JAJO (NED) that got the best start delivering a perfect time on distance run into the middle of the start line. A few minutes later WindWhisper had built their pace once again to pull themselves into the lead. By the first mark, WindWhisper led, followed by Team JAJO. Both teams extended their lead to the rest of the fleet, but the Dutch team could not contest for the first place.

Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek: "With the course of today you don't have many chances. Onboard we were all sharp and focused. With Jorden (van Rooijen ed.) on the bow, Max (Deckers ed.) as navigator and Nicholas (Heiner ed.) as tactician, we made the right choices and got off to a good start. This was important, because the start is crucial here. It was a short course with two long reaching legs and hardly any upwind. There were no real strategic choices possible. That's why we practiced a few starts in the last few days, something that paid off today. After the start we sailed a very solid race and never relinquished our second place. Before the In-Port Race I already indicated that we as Team JAJO, a team full of young sailors, are hungry and very eager to perform. We showed that today but are certainly still hungry for more."

Tactician Nicholas Heiner: "We said to each other beforehand: whoever wins the start wins the race. The Polish team were a bit lower on the starting line but had a very good acceleration, so they passed us and arrived first at the first buoy. After that it was a kind of a camel race, where we had to make no mistakes ourselves. Next to that we could only make sure that we kept the pressure on the Polish team. They made no mistakes, so we could only follow. It was a cool race and it's nice that we were finally able to race. The atmosphere and communication on board were good, so that is promising for the next Leg to The Hague. Hopefully they will put in a slightly more exciting course for the In-Port Race over there.

The Ocean Race resumes on Thursday with the start of Leg 6. The fleet will set sail from Aarhus to The Hague. The boats are expected to arrive in The Hague on Sunday 11 June and the In-Port Race is scheduled for Wednesday 14 June.

Crewlist Team JAJO - Leg 6