Offshore Team Germany: Vendée sailor Benjamin Dutreux strengthens German boat

The Offshore Team Germany (OTG) led by Berlin skipper Robert Stanjek is stepping up for The Ocean Race Europe. The three-stage regatta from Lorient via Cascais and Alicante to Genoa is the first major endurance test for OTG, which wants to sail around the world in stages in The Ocean Race in 2022.

Frenchman Benjamin Dutreux, an experienced Imoca class sailor who finished ninth in the last Vendée Globe with his boat "Omia - Water Family", is now coming on board. The 31-year-old will take on the position of navigator.

"I'm looking forward to sailing in a team. I'm not just a solo sailor. What attracts me is offshore sailing and mastering new challenges. And it will be linguistically in particular. Because it's my first time on a boat, speaking in the language of Shakespeare," says Dutreux in the team's press release.

For OTG skipper Robert Stanjek, the signing of Benjamin Dutreux is an important building block for his team: "Our philosophy was to complement the good training in the Olympic classes of Phillip Kasüske and myself as well as the Olympic and offshore experience of Annie Lush with Imoca-specific knowledge in the navigator position. I am very happy that we have succeeded in doing this with Benjamin."

The Ocean Race Europe is scheduled to start on 29 May.