JENS DOLMER
Jens Dolmer was always destined to be a sailor. His parents have no interest in sailing, and when he was younger, Jens sailed for fun during summer vacations at his family’s summer cottage in the south of Denmark. But he never competed.
“I’ve never had my own boat. I’ve never even been a part owner, and I never will be either. Owning your own boat demands far too much work,” says Jens and laughs.
Jens had no intentions of becoming a professional sailor when, at the age of 17, he left school to work on his cousin’s farm. But a 1996 farming accident that could have ended badly for Jens made him reconsider what was important in life.
“I enjoyed working as a farmer, but I wanted to improve as a sailor, so I applied to the Danish Sailing Academy on (the island of) Fyn,” Jens says. “I studied there for a few years, but I never completely left my job as a farmer.” At 29, Jens bought 120 dairy cows and his own farm in the southern part of the island of Zealand. To most people, such an investment would mean working round the clock. But not to Jens, for he could not give up sailing.
“I had two employees who looked after my farm, so I continued sailing,” he says. “And I sailed a lot.”
In the end, Jens realized that he wanted to commit to competitive racing, and six years ago he sold his farm and his cows in order to race competitively full time. After one year on a German IMS boat, he joined the Swedish America’s Cup challenge, Victory Challenge.
“I talked a lot with the guys in the team that had sailed in the Volvo Ocean Race, and I became very interested in being involved in this most extreme competitive sailing race one day,” he says. “And when rumors began circulating about Ericsson having two boats, one of which was to have a Nordic crew, I wanted to be part of that team.”
In the spring and summer of 2007, Jens and the Swedish skipper Anders Lewander met a number of times. It was clear from the beginning that they got along well together, and Anders was in need of a very strong crew member.
“My size and strength are obviously some of my most important assets. But I think it’s just as important that I’m always calm. I never get stressed,” he says. “But above all else, I’m here to win...”
