Benjamin Dutreux and Offshore Team Germany continue successful partnership
One year after the surprise victory at The Ocean Race Europe, the successful crew with Robert Stanjek, Phillip Kasüske, Annie Lush and Benjamin Dutreux gave the starting signal for the next chapter of their collaboration. In Brest, Benjamin Dutreux\’s team, GUYOT environnement, and Offshore Team Germany with Robert Stanjek and team manager Jens Kuphal, decided to join forces. They founded GUYOT Environnement – Team Europe to take part in The Ocean Race, which will start in January 2023.
Both campaigns show that the success at The Ocean Race Europe was not only important to them as a unique memory, but that they believe in the abilities of this team combination with the experience from the different areas of sailing and the different cultural backgrounds as an idea for success.
“We found a perfect team composition at The Ocean Race Europe last year. This great experience made us decide to tackle the adventure \”The Ocean Race\” together,\” says Jens Kuphal. \”I am proud and happy that after all the work and time we have put into the project, we will be at the startline next year.\”
Although The Ocean Race was not initially part of GUYOT environnement\’s sponsorship strategy, the French company was won over by this project, which will provide it with good international visibility, particularly in Spain, where its Spanish entity, Hirumet, is based. \”Benjamin offered us this intelligent project which will allow him to sail on a long course, relying on a high-performance German team. It\’s a very good experience for him before the Vendée Globe! And then, the start will be given from Alicante, which is an opportunity for us to involve our employees from our Hirumet agency, located in Bilbao, and our Spanish clients in this adventure\”, comments Erwan Guyot, President of GUYOT environnement.
Benjamin Dutreux, who wants to take part in the Vendée Globe for the second time in 2024 and is bringing his team to the project with his yacht, emphasizes the special experience of the previous cooperation: \”Participating in The Ocean Race Europe together with Offshore Team Germany was a great experience. With the success and with the new boat we can dream of the ocean race as a team. I think it\’s a great idea to mix the different experiences from offshore and Olympic sailing and to sail together with different nations, from France, England and Germany. These different cultures on board – that\’s part of the story. We French have a great history in offshore sailing, but the input from the Olympic field, this very structured approach, is a big plus for the ocean race program.”
For Robert Stanjek, participating in The Ocean Race makes his dream of a world race come true: “The Ocean Race Europe may have been a year ago, but it is still very present. We came as newcomers, it was an amazing race and very surprising that we did so well. I\’m super motivated to do it again – this time in the big race, The Ocean Race. Our advantage this time is certainly that we already know each other well. We follow the philosophy of bringing different sailors with different backgrounds together, mixing their experiences and bringing them together to form a unit.” Robert Stanjek is not only motivated by the memory of 2002: “The victory of the \’Illbruck\’ 20 years ago is one of the greatest German sailing moments – with several hundred thousand fans at the finish line in Kiel. Having a flyby in Kiel is great for us and we hope to spread the enthusiasm and bring international offshore sailing back to Germany.”
