Brothers in arms: Køstner and Gram-Hansen shed light on their Extreme Sailing Series™ bond

When you spend as much time together as the sailors competing in the Extreme Sailing Series™ do, strong relationships with those closest to you are vital. And there are few stronger bonds than the one between SAP Extreme Sailing Team sailors Rasmus Køstner and Jes Gram-Hansen.

Saturday 24th September 2016

When you spend as much time together as the sailors competing in the Extreme Sailing Series™ do, strong relationships with those closest to you are vital. And there are few stronger bonds than the one between SAP Extreme Sailing Team sailors Rasmus Køstner and Jes Gram-Hansen.

The Danish pair have sailed side by side for more than a decade in some of the world’s top regattas but they’re far more than just team mates. Best friends, co-skippers and now business partners, the two are practically inseparable.

And it’s partly thanks to this special alliance that has seen their crew become one of the most skilled, experienced and respected teams in the Extreme Sailing Series. In 2011 the duo announced they were teaming up to found a team capable of winning the global Stadium Racing tour, and they haven’t looked back since.

“Jes and I have known each other for a long time and it’s a special relationship,” Køstner, 38, said. “We’re very close – when you work together for so long you get to know each other very well and respect each other. We’ve experienced some good things and some not so good things together, and that really makes for a strong relationship.

“It’s fantastic to work with Jes - he’s a guy that always keeps the big picture in mind and that’s important when you want to achieve something long term. I can get caught up in the details sometimes and Jes is there to remind me that we will get there, it just takes time.”

Gram-Hansen, 44, is equally in awe of his fellow countryman. “We are friends with many fantastic memories together but also we run a company together, and that takes a lot of trust,” he added. “Ras is a super-skilful sailor who’s been able to push us all the way. It’s been great to sail with him for so many years.”

With Gram-Hansen at the helm and Køstner calling the shots, SAP Extreme Sailing Team have enjoyed plenty of success that culminated in a runners up finish overall last year. When the 2016 season kicked off, a new challenge presented itself to the team in the shape of the foiling GC32 catamaran. Despite being new to ‘flying’, Gram-Hansen and Køstner embraced the change with trademark determination.

“We got to a pretty high level with the Extreme 40s but changing to the new boats was still a big challenge for us,” Gram-Hansen said. “We had no prior experience of foiling and the GC32 is incredibly fast and demanding. They’re challenging to crew and to drive because of the sheer speed the boats go.

“That said, it’s fantastic to be flying and we’re really enjoying learning to get the best from our boat. It’s going to be interesting to see if we can keep this steep learning curve going into the last few Acts of the season and into next year, and be one of the best teams on the circuit.”

Under the expert leadership of Gram-Hansen and Køstner, SAP Extreme Sailing Team have proved themselves a crew to be reckoned with. They currently sit fourth on the overall leaderboard, but with two more Acts left in the 2016 calendar, following the current one in Madeira Islands, the pair insist the best is still to come.

“I definitely think we can do better,” Køstner said. “We’ve been very close to getting good results a couple of times but in the end we missed out. It will come – we’re working really hard to get the details right.

“It’s frustrating at the moment but long term I’m confident in the team and confident that we can deliver a podium finish in the Extreme Sailing Series. If we can get our consistency up we can win regattas.”