Brasil 1 have announced that round the world race veteran Marcel van Triest will be the new navigator for the next three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Southern Ocean legs replacing Adrienne Cahalan.

Van Triest will join the crew of the Brazilian team for the next three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race, between South Africa and Brazil, passing by Australia and New Zealand. Veteran of four Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Races, van Triest was the navigator of SEB, second in the South Africa to Australia leg of the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race.

Torben Grael skipper commented: “Marcel is a very experienced navigator, especially in the Southern Ocean, our big challenge in the next leg. Furthermore, he is physically very strong, something that’s important for the crew.”

Van Triest added: “I have known Torben for several years and he is one of the fastest sailors I have competed with. In addition, I also know several of the Brasil 1’s shore crew and building team members, which makes me very confident in the quality of the project.”

At the age of 41 and taking part in his fifth round-the-world race, van Triest will be the most experienced sailor aboard Brasil 1 and one of the most travelled of the Volvo Ocean Race. His first participation in the competition was in 1989 onboard the Equity & Law II.

Since then, he has been on the crew of the Intrum Justitia (Whitbread 1993-94), Innovation Kvaerner (Whitbread 1997-98) and Team SEB (Volvo Ocean Race 2002-03). Outside the Volvo Ocean Race, he was an Admiral’s Cup champion in 1991 onboard Corum and took part in the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup onboard the French boat Le Defi. He is also part of the crew of Bribon, skippered by Juan Carlos, King of Spain.

In less than two weeks, the Brazilian team will be back to train for the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which will start on 2 January in Cape Town. The In Port race will take place a week earlier, on 26 December and will count towards the final race results.