VOR Brunel Did Only the Aussies on board, together with Bindy Lockhart and Grant Wharington, knew this and after the incident they played the innocent. This was the only time that Grant was not waiting for the boat at the arrival of a leg. The ex-Brunel was spotted, after its hasty departure from Gothenburg, by the KRNM [dutch rescue service] close to Texel and, according to a rescue man, was only identifiable by the numbers on the sail. Afterwards, the yacht was seen in another European port, taking on provisions with no Brunel lettering anymore, and was bound for Australia. Brunel was enraged and has now leased the open 60 of Hans Bouscholte, in order to perform the PR sailing part of the job. Charters will still run until end of July, Brunel is claiming breach of contract as they had already paid for all of this. This looks like an act of revenge because Brunel did not want Grant Wharrington to do the offshore legs. Jan
Arie van Barneveld (CEO Brunel) is quoted as saying that
they will still support sailing sport, but never again
with people from the Australian Premier Challenge syndicate. BYM
News. Having read the article translated from Club Racing website regarding the Brunel VO70, variants of which have been published around the sailing website fraternity, I feel that I must reply and put the record straight. Many of us have worked extremely hard to make this project work, and as such cannot treat such blatant inaccuracies flippantly. On arrival in Gothenburg at the end of the leg "Brunel" (VO70) was met by all members of the syndicate - me, Grant Wharington and Matt Allen. Grant was the first to board the boat and congratulate the guys in what was a great result. Matt Allen had been present in Rotterdam too, and his presence was no secret whatsoever. As with all other leg arrivals, after about 20 minutes of celebration the boat was moved from the arrivals dock, around the corner, to moor up alongside all the other VO70's for the public to gaze upon. The yacht remained in that position until the morning of Tuesday 20 June, fully branded, when she was motored around to be dismantled ready for her RORO journey back to Australia. By the time she left the Race Village, only Brasil 1 and Pirates of the Caribbean were still there. I sincerely hope that no reader need ever rely on the identification skills of the "KRNM [Dutch rescue service]" since the yacht seen in Europe can only be the Brunel Open 60, which I understand was on her way to Kiel, as planned. Lastly but perhaps most importantly I have no intention of indulging anyone with the ins and outs of our contract with Brunel. Premier Challenge fulfilled their obligations to Brunel, and our contract has been now been concluded to mutual satisfaction. Bindy Lockhart, Premier Challenge 06/24/06 |
