In the picture:
From left to right, top: Arianne van de Loosdrecht, Thijs van Tol, Rosalie Paardekooper and Laura Parre. From left to right, bottom: Wes van Herpen, Rosalin Kuiper, Julia Aartsen and Rutger Vos. Not in this picture: Catja Roggema and Joost van Gemert

Team Heiner Pups expands with new team

Team Heiner has selected an entirely new group of young sailors for the ‘Team Heiner Pups’. The new team will follow the same course as the present team which was formed in 2014/2015. So from now on the Team Heiner Pups exist of two teams.

Team Heiner Pups ‘16
The newly selected sailors are (in alphabetical order): Julia Aartsen, Joost van Gemert, Wes van Herpen, Rosalin Kuiper, Arianne van de Loosdrecht, Rosalie Paardekooper, Laura Parre, Catja Roggema, Thijs van Tol and Rutger Vos. This group will be named Team Heiner Pups ’16. From now on the first team will be called Team Heiner Pups ’14.

Selection Procedure
To be eligible for the Team Heiner Pups course the sailors had to be 18 to 23 years old, already know how to sail and have the ambition to improve themselves. The selection included not only a practical selection, but also a selection on paper, in which the applicant’s motivation and sailing experience were monitored. The practical selection weekend took place in Lelystad. Aspects like learning skills, team spirit, availability and attitude during the training and the races, and of course sound ambition were decisive in the judgement to become a member of the Team Heiner Pups.

Keelboat course
Depending on their skills the keelboat course takes three to five years maximum and includes all ins and outs of keelboat sailing, like boat handling, sailing theoretics, co-operation and group processes, boat maintenance and safety. The course is rather intensive; it takes the sailors three weekends a month on average. Team Heiner is the provider of the course. During the training a Team Heiner instructor sails along, but in the races the Pups compete as independently as possible.

The Pups sail on several boats: the first year they start sailing on a J109 and as they gain more experience they also sail on the Max Fun 35, a Dehler 44 and the Volvo 60. Roy Heiner: ”Together with our sponsors our desire is to create a high level course for the top of the young sailors, from which the champions of tomorrow will derive. It’s a huge honour to be able to provide this knowledge to the youth.”

Investment in the young
This special course couldn’t exist without the support of our dedicated sponsors: Moving Intelligence, Kuiper Insurances, Flevo Marina, Reco and Management Drives.

“We would like to support the young sailors from an early age on and therefore Moving Intelligence has chosen to sponsor the Team Heiner Pups in succession to the sponsorship of the ZOP (Zoute Optimist club Scheveningen), to offer a solid sailing course to people from eight years old to their mid twenties. This way young talent will find their way to the top of sailing sports, in which to some sailors the ultimate goal is to attend to the Volvo Ocean Race and to others to become club champion of the local sailing club. Each individual can improve on his or her own way in this very special course”, according to Patrick Horst, CEO of Moving Intelligence.