Introducing Arden

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG Propulsion is pleased to announce the appointment of Arden Oksanen to the Media Crew Member (MCM) role aboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

Oksanen, age 36 from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, is the final member of PUMA’s 11-strong sailing team and completes the line-up for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 that starts in Alicante, Spain in November. The PUMA Ocean Racing crew has been carefully crafted to combine the utmost skills, physical endurance and competitive spirit as the sailors prepare to race 39,000 nautical miles, day and night, over nine months.

Oksanen hails from the worlds of extreme skiing and kayaking with 14 years experience in producing, directing, shooting and editing action sports programming. New to sailing but no stranger to the world of adventure sports, he will put his sea legs to the test using his expertise as an adventure storyteller to produce video, image and audio content of the PUMA Ocean Racing team.

Oksanen has previously been the recipient of Kayak Magazine's No. 1 and No. 2 best kayak films of all time awards, in addition to numerous other industry accolades. As PUMA’s MCM, Oksanen’s primary duty will be as the boat’s cameraman, editor, director, writer, photographer and radio correspondent. He will be tasked with capturing all of the on-board action from remote waters and broadcasting it via the latest technology to computers and living rooms around the world through the PUMA sailing website www.puma.com/sailing, www.VolvoOceanRace.com and social media platforms.  As stipulated by the Volvo Ocean Race regulations, MCMs aboard the Volvo 70s are not permitted to assist in sailing; however, in addition to his media responsibilities, Oksanen will be pressed into duty in the boat’s “galley,” preparing meals for the PUMA Ocean Racing crew during each race leg.