VOLVO ABN AMRO ONE

December 23, 2005 0 comments

Crusty out, Italian and British sailors in.

TEAM ABN AMRO ONE

CHRISTENSEN BOWS OUT THROUGH INJURY

Injured crewmember replaced by British and Italian sailors

CAPE TOWN, 23 December 2005: ABN AMRO ONE Watch Captain Mark Christensen, aka Crusty, has been ruled out of the Cape Town in-port race and the next leg of the Volvo Ocean to Melbourne after failing to recover for a wrist and arm injury which he sustained during training in Sanxenxo, Spain.


Mark will be replaced by two sailors. Italian, Tommaso Chieffi will take over Mark’s duties for the inport race. Chieffi joins ABN AMRO ONE with a wealth of match racing experience including being part of the 2005/6 Italian America’s Cup syndicate +39. British sailor Brian Thompson will join the crew for the 2nd Leg of the race from Cape Town to Melbourne. Brian comes from an ocean sailing background and has competed in a number of Open 60 races including this year’s Transat Jaques Vabre and last year Brian was part of the crew that won the Oxyx Quest with the maxi-catamaran Doha 2006.



Skipper of ABN AMRO ONE Mike Sanderson said, “It’s always a blow to lose a crew member and someone like Mark is a good guy to have around. However I am really pleased with Crusty’s replacements. In Tommaso we have a first class match racer who can give us that little bit extra for the inport race and in Brian we have a very experienced sailor who knows the Southern Ocean well and can bring that experience with him for the next leg into Melbourne”.



Looking forward to his first experience of the Volvo Ocean Race Brian Thompson said, “I’m very happy and honored to be invited to be part of TEAM ABN AMRO, to sail again with Mike Sanderson and I will be making my best to step into Crusty’s shoes. I’m really looking forward to getting out in ABN AMRO ONE and seeing if they are fast as everyone is saying they are.”

Bangthecorner.com interviewed Brian Thompson some time back.

Here’s the link….
http://www.bangthecorner.com/da/14627