America's Cup: Holland's Cup chasers get going: Tienpont brings Brouwer on board

Things are happening in Holland, a country with a population of around 17 million and so fond of sailing: the Dutch sailing celebrities are gearing up for the first challenge in the 168-year history of the America's Cup. The campaign has already been accepted as an official challenger by the New Zealand defenders and has emphasised its plans by transferring one million US dollars in entry fees. YACHT online had already reported on this on 21 December 2018 reported.

The ambitious project is now taking shape step by step. Following some intensive team and sponsor discussions in The Hague this week, the first signings have been announced. The name Carolijn Brouwer in particular has caused a positive stir. Last year, the 45-year-old Dutchwoman was the first woman to win the Volvo Ocean Race in spectacular fashion with the Dongfeng Race Team and has subsequently been honoured with numerous awards. In October 2018, she was crowned World Sailor of the Year for the second time since 1998. Last week, the wife and mother was honoured with the Seamaster Award by boot Düsseldorf and Delius Klasing Verlag. She then took the train from the Rhine metropolis to Amsterdam, where her latest challenge was announced.

In an exclusive interview with YACHT, Carolijn Brouwer had already reported on the upcoming events in Holland in Düsseldorf. He also talked about the fact that Holland's best sailors are forming up side by side to seize the opportunity to enter the America's Cup. Following Holland's success in the Volvo Ocean Race and its victory in the Nations Cup at the World Championship of all Olympic disciplines in Aarhus in the summer of 2018, the country is as interested in its successful sailing athletes as it was in the heyday of two-time Whitbread Round the World Race winner and national hero Cornelius van Rietschoten in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That's why Brouwer also explained in Düsseldorf: "We all have to work together now. The chance to form a Dutch team for the America's Cup is now! If we don't make it this time, then maybe never."

On the Dutch website of the campaign, four names are already officially listed under "Team", including a short portrait. They are well-known personalities in the sailing world: Skipper Simeon Tienpont, Carolijn Brouwer as the first woman for the 36th America's Cup, Cup designer Dirk Kramers with his wealth of experience from seven co-designed campaigns and two-time Cup winner Peter van Niekerk. Word quickly spread in the sailing world that Carolijn Brouwer was now officially on the list. Volvo Ocean Race skipper Dee Caffari was the first to tweet her congratulations: "She has changed the face of our sport on so many levels. Bravo!"

The Dutch have not yet got their budget together. But they are working with all their might, all their available resources and a lot of enthusiasm for their dream. This project will not fail due to the great passion for sailing in their home country and the necessary experience of the team members. The initial campaign is to succeed in broad-based cooperation with Holland's marine industry, scientific centres, ministries, regional and local authorities and the sport of sailing itself. The team wants to be up and running with a CEO at the helm as early as February. The go-ahead for the construction of a test boat is planned for March. A one-boat campaign is to be the prelude to the series of Cup participations targeted. An America's Cup regatta in the planned world series in Scheveningen would be possible in 2020. However, this would require some changes to the protocol for the 36th America's Cup, as would further steps by the Dutch, which would need the approval of the defender and "Challenger of Record". The opportunity for the Dutch to enter the Cup is therefore there - no more, but also no less.