DSM and Dutch Olympic Committee present new Olympic boat

Amsterdam, NL, 04-Mar-2008, DSM, the innovative partner in sports of the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF), is presenting a number of major innovations for the sport of sailing. Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout, Dutch Olympic sailors in the 470 class, will be going for gold in Qingdao this summer using a new boat. NOC*NSF chair Erica Terpstra and DSM Managing Board chairman Feike Sijbesma will christen the boat today at the HISWA boat fair in Amsterdam. The boat is the result of close collaboration between DSM, NOC*NSF and the Dutch Olympic sailors.

According to Feike Sijbesma, DSM has put a great deal of time and effort into the innovations for the Dutch Olympic sailing team: ‘Specialists from various DSM divisions have worked closely with the sailors, NOC*NSF and the Dutch Sailing Federation to make the new Olympic boat a reality. The hull and the rigging proved to be the most crucial parts where new materials and improvements by DSM would bring speed benefits and could thus make the difference at the Summer Games. We are proud of the result and wish the sailors every success in China.’

The sailing innovations represent a new milestone in the series of innovations that DSM is developing for the Olympic Games in August in close collaboration with the Dutch athletes and NOC*NSF. Previously, DSM presented innovations in the fields of sports nutrition and materials, including cooling systems that will help the athletes to regulate their body temperature in the hot weather conditions in China.

High-performance hull
The new Olympic boat was built with the aid of a certified mold for the 470 Class and using composite laminates specially developed by DSM which provide extreme stiffness at minimum weight. The DSM material is based on knowledge that DSM gained in developing longer and stronger blades for large wind turbines. The material ensures optimum stability of the boat in the short waves characteristic of the China coastal waters. This will minimize energy losses and will enable the sailors to maintain boat speed. Over the past twelve months De Koning and Berkhout have been training intensively with a prototype of the new boat. ‘The new Olympic boat offers the best of two worlds: a perfectly molded shape with exactly the right stiffness, which can bring speed benefits. This combination was previously not available. We are very glad that we have the opportunity to sail this boat’, said Marcelien de Koning.

Running rigging with Dyneema®
Another important focus of the innovation program of DSM and NOC*NSF is the rigging of the Olympic boats. Following the motto ‘only the best is good enough’, all Dutch boats that will be sailing for Olympic medals on the coast of Qingdao in August will be equipped with special lines with Dyneema® in the colors red-white-blue and orange. These lines offer sailors optimum control; they are the best lines currently available for competitive sailboats. DSM will today symbolically hand over a small piece of the three kilometers of custom-made lines with Dyneema® to the chairman of the Dutch Sailing Federation.

DSM and sports
Sport is about performing at a top level, day in, day out. About passion, ambition, wanting to be the best, about continuous improvement and teamwork. As such, sport embodies a number of DSM’s core values. Just like sportspeople DSM is continuously pushing its limits: Unlimited.DSM. Innovation is one of the main spearheads of DSM’s strategic course, with its focus on Life Sciences and Materials Sciences, and it is equally important in the world of sports: innovations in the fields of nutrition and materials can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Innovation is our Sport™ is therefore an apt title for DSM’s program in the field of sports.

DSM and NOC*NSF have been ‘Partners in Sport’ since 2001. In the run-up to Beijing 2008, DSM has stepped up its efforts in the field of sports and innovation even further in the hope of making a major contribution to the success of the Dutch Olympic team during the Summer Games of 2008.

Dyneema® is a registered trademark of Royal DSM N.V.