Baraka GP

The de Graff family have been racing the Rolex Fastnet Race for many generations; their Ker 43 Baraka GP is co-skippered by Dirk and Olivier de Graff. Wouter Verbraak, part of the winning Dutch team for the Admiral’s Cup in 1999, is a veteran navigator for three Volvo Ocean Races. Young Dutch talent includes 49er sailors Thomas Snoek and Merle Louwinger. Graduates of the Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team, run by the Royal Maas YC, are also on Baraka GP having sailed in the past on ROST Van Uden, their teammate for the Admiral’s Cup.

ROST Van Uden 

Ker 46 ROST Van Uden is skippered by Volvo Ocean Race veteran Gerd-Jan Poortman, but none of the rest of the crew had been born when Poortman was part of the winning Dutch Admiral’s Cup team in 1999. The Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team, run by the Royal Maas YC in Rotterdam, are all in their teens and early 20s. The Ker 46 has the lowest IRC rating in AC1 but is high on passion and grit among the young team.