Sunday 15 January has been on my agenda for a long time: the start of The Ocean Race. I am very proud to appear here with Team JAJO at the start. The boat is ready for the race a few days before the start. The last days the boat is dived for the last time…

Selecting the team, training maneuvers, fine-tuning the boat and the first harbor race. The last few weeks were all about the perfect preparation for the upcoming Ocean Race. And we had the first harbor race on January 8th. A great start to our adventure, which unfortunately ended in silence. Calm.

Jelmer is at home in many markets in the sailing field, where he now finds his permanent base on board VO65 Janssen de Jong, he now also steps on board an SL47 in the Star Sailors League with a star team. This column also appeared on Zeilwereld.nl Even though I did not experience the 1974…

Last month I sailed through the Suez Canal with the VO65, a special trip. Our last port before arriving in Egypt was Valletta, the capital of Malta. A nice place with many facilities where we could prepare well. Our plan was to sail on to Port Said in Egypt in one go. We prefer not…