Volvo Ocean Race | Pace of training quickens as Team SCA approach Fastnet test

At 0700 each morning in Puerto Calero on the Canary Island of Lanzarote, the women of Team SCA report to the gym for the first part of a gruelling day's training. The workload is anything but relaxed for the five crewmembers already chosen and the others hoping to join them in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, and the pace of work is only quickening, as Brazilian coach Joca Signorini explains.

"It's an intense schedule," says Joca, who has competed in three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, including a victory with Ericsson 4 in 2008-09.

"From 0700 to 0830 the team are at the gym with our fitness coach Santi Casanova, before heading for breakfast. We're then out on the water for five or six hours, or between 24 and 48 hours if we're heading out offshore. So far, each training programme here in Lanzarote has been around 20 days, of which there might be two or three days off depending on how hard the work is."

There will be no let-up in pace as the team approach their first high-profile international test in the Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on August 11. The team are taking it very much as a training race but it's still a major motivation, particularly as Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – future rivals in 2014-15 – are also taking part.

"The big objective is to make the most of the opportunity the Fastnet gives to continue our training in race conditions," Joca explains. "It is a break from our usual routine and it's not easy to find opportunities to race against similar boats. You always learn more racing against similar boats."

Once the Fastnet is over, Joca and his fellow coach Brad Jackson will look forward to swapping their training boat, the rebranded Mar Mostro from the last edition, for a brand new Volvo Ocean 65, currently being completed at the Green Marine boatyard in the UK.

It will be a big challenge for everyone, and particularly the members of the first all-female team in the Volvo Ocean Race since 2001-02 –British pair Sam Davies and Annie Lush, Australians Sophie Ciszek and Liz Wardley and Carolijn Brouwer of the Netherlands plus their still-to-be-named colleagues.

"We're going to have a period where we're getting the boat, learning to sail it and getting the crew as prepared as they can be for the race," says Joca.

"Right now, the big challenge we have is that the profile of an ideal female sailor in the Volvo Ocean Race doesn't exist.

"But everyone is happy with the progress we've made and they're very motivated. We've worked very hard on the physical side to get everyone in the best shape possible and I'm sure we'll be at a very high level."