Volvo Ocean Race | Training pays off as SCA score huge Fastnet boost

After leading Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for most of their Fastnet duel, and securing an IRC CK class victory on corrected time into the bargain, Team SCA had every reason to be satisfied with their performance. Here's what they said on the dock in Plymouth on Wednesday morning.

 

 

Carolijn Brouwer (NED)
“I think this went really well and we can be really happy. It showed us that as a team, the training and hard work has paid off.

“It was a relatively easy Fastnet, so in a way you could say that we had it easy but you still have to get around the race course in good shape. We did well on the first half of the race until the Rock and I think that tactically we played the shift well and on the way down it turned around a little bit.

"Abu Dhabi came with pressure from behind and they had a bigger sail so they closed the gap and found the moment where they could pass us. But we beat them on corrected time!”

Liz Wardley (AUS)
“Our hydraulic ram broke on the J2 just 30 seconds into the race. But we luckily were able to save it and change it for another. Otherwise we could have had some major issues, as it is a pretty important sail.

“We had an interesting race with a lot of upwind conditions and it was interesting to be able to sail with Abu Dhabi and compare how we performed against them. It is important for everyone that we had a good result but to be honest it would have been good whatever, as we had a good performance.

“We sailed better together as a team than I thought we would be doing at this stage, actually. It was also good the way our coaches pushed us quite hard during the race. We now know more about some of the areas in which we are lacking experience and that we need to practise more, which is good for the next step in our development as a team.”

Sam Davies (GBR)
“It was like lots of games of snakes and ladders. Abu Dhabi got some snakes and we got some ladders. We had a good ladder at Start Point on the way out and then we had a snake on the way back from the Rock. So overall, we are even!

“All in all it was really good and we are happy that we have done this. It is a great confidence booster and shows that we can do it. It is setting us up for the lead-up to the Volvo Ocean Race.”

Sophie Ciszek (AUS)
“It was awesome.  It was really good to do a race and the match with the Abu Dhabi boys was really good. When we got in front of them it was really cool.”

Richard Brisius (Team SCA’s Managing Director)
“I am pleased. I think that the crew did a fantastic job all the way from the start to the Fastnet Rock and all the way back down. They did about 20 gybes just last night and had to make a lot of tactical decisions.

“The Fastnet was our first big goal – do it well and do it cleanly. It is part of this long, long journey to do the Volvo Ocean Race.  It is a good benchmark for both the crew and coaches, especially in this field of other competitors.

“The debrief starts already and tomorrow we leave for Lanzarote. For sure a few things have been learnt, but the biggest learning is how to race on one of these boats and how intense the competition is. After three days racing you can still see your competitors. It will be like this during the Volvo Race, but for 20 days!”