Peter van Niekerk

Date of Birth: 1973

In: The Netherlands

Nationality: Dutch

Legs sailed in this edition: 2, 4
In-Port Races: Hong Kong

Something about him that you don’t know: Peter set new monohull transatlantic record time abroad Roy and Kirsty Clarke’s 100-foot Comanche in 2016. In 2003 and 2007 he became the winner of the 32st America's Cup with Alinghi.

Who he is: Dutchman van Niekerk won the 31st and 32nd America’s Cups with Swiss syndicate Alinghi and has competed twice before in the Volvo Ocean Race: first in 1997-98 – when the race was known as the Whitbread Race – with Brunel Sunergy (8th place); and 10 years later in 2008-09 with Delta Lloyd (7th). He finished fourth in the Soling class at the Sydney 2000 Olympics with helmsman Roy Heiner and fellow crewman Dirk de Ridder, and 14th in the Star class at the Athens 2004 Games, crewing for Mark Neeleman. In the summer of 2016 van Niekerk was part of the crew of the American 100-foot ocean-racer Comanche that smashed the monohull transatlantic record time for a passage from the US to England.

Previous Volvo Ocean Races:
1997-98 BrunelSunergy
2008-09 Delta Lloyd