Volvo Ocean Race | Wislang crazy about 'awesome' Volvo Ocean 65s

At the age of 32, Daryl Wislang has already sailed twice around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race and is eager to complete a hat-trick in 2014-15. Crazy? Maybe just a little, but who wouldn't want to get on board one of the 'awesome' new Volvo Ocean 65s?

Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race

Wislang made his offshore Volvo Ocean Race debut with Telefónica Blue in 2008-09 and was back in the last edition on as part of the CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. In fact, his connection with the race goes back all the way to 2005-06, when he was a part-time in-port racer with movistar.

For the next edition, he would love to gain a 'promotion' from bowman with Telefónica and CAMPER to watch captain, but his absolute priority is just to be there again on one of the game-changing new one-design Volvo Ocean 65s when the teams set out from Alicante in October 2014.

"I think the new boat is a pretty awesome package," Wislang said from Alicante as he helped prepare the old CAMPER Volvo Open 70 for its next mission. "Being a one-design boat there's going to be no relying on speed advantage, no knowing that you are faster than another guy to get you out of trouble. The racing will be very interesting and the boats will stick very close to each other."

Wislang has been racing in the Mediterranean on the Maxi class and the Soto 40s on board Ngoni, together with his old CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson and Andrew Cape, navigator with Telefónica in the last edition. It's no surprise, then, that his thoughts have not been far from the Volvo Ocean Race.

"I guess you are always sort of thinking what would you like to do in terms of positions in the next race, the team and the programme. I have got the experience to go a step further but maybe I will have to wait another race... who knows? At the end of the day the day the race is the race and doing it is the main thing. Anything else is a bonus."

But just why is he so keen to come back and do the race yet again?

"Probably I'm slightly crazy!" laughs Wislang, who will be sailing again with Nicholson in Japan on Team Swing and then taking part in the Maxi World Championship in September and then the Sydney-Hobart Race. "You know if you keep on doing it you've probably got a screw loose somewhere.

"But it's such an awesome adventure. Part of it relies on teamwork and the strength of the team around you. You are a cog in the wheel or the machine and you have to put in a hundred percent all the time. That's physically and mentally draining and it's probably one of the things I love most about it."