AMSTERDAM – Royal Huisman will perform major maintenance on the 20m (65ft) NEXTGEN, a Dutch entry in The Ocean Race that starts Jan. 15, 2023, in Alicante, Spain.
Sailing Team NEXTGEN is a Dutch-owned project sailing on behalf of two sailing clubs, one in Rotterdam, and the other in Muiden, outside Amsterdam. NEXTGEN, the former Team Brunel, has already been around the world twice in the Volvo Ocean Race.
“It is a 60,000-kilometer race and major maintenance is necessary to bring the Ocean racer into top condition,” says Royal Huisman, the venerable builder of fast, high-end performance sailing yachts. Adds NEXTGEN Sailing Team Director Gideon Messink, “This will be the third ocean race for the boat. To ensure the boat is in top condition … a refit is necessary.”
The Ocean Race is a round-the-world contest, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World after its initiating sponsor, the British brewing company Whitbread, it became, in 2001, the Volvo Ocean Race after Swedish car maker Volvo took up the sponsorship. In 2019, it was renamed The Ocean Race. The race typically departs Europe in October and can have as many as 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities.
The last race (2017-18) started in Alicante, Spain, and finished in The Hague. It made stopovers in Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Auckland, Itajai, Cardiff and Gothenburg.
The refit of the NEXTGEN will be done at Huisfit, the Amsterdam refit unit of Royal Huisman. In the previous Ocean Race, Royal Huisman did maintenance of Team Brunel at stopovers. Royal Huisman built both Flyer boats in 1977 and 1981, the yachts with which Dutchman Conny van Rietschoten won the Whitbread Round the World, the forerunner of The Ocean Race, twice in a row.
“That we are now, 45 years later, once again going to use our knowledge and expertise is fabulous,” says Royal Huisman Marketing Manager Jeroen Sirag. Royal Huisman was founded over 135 years ago and specializes in building custom sailing and motor yachts. Sister company Rondal is a specialized maker of high-end boats, and Huisfit maintains, repairs and restores superyachts.
The Netherlands is the only country that has won the round-the-world even three times.
www.royalhuisman.com / www.huisfit.com
