Team SCA have confirmed their sailing line-up for the Fastnet Race starting this weekend, with four new candidates joining the five crew members already confirmed by the all-female team for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Credit : R.Tomlinson/TeamSCA
Dutch pair Annemieke Bes and Klaartje Zuiderbaan, American Sarah Lihan and Justine Mettraux of Switzerland will be joining the established quintet for the Rolex Fastnet Race starting on August 11 in Cowes, in the UK.
The 600-mile race will see the teams round Fastnet Rock off the southwest of Ireland and then finish in the British port of Plymouth.
British pair Sam Davies and Annie Lush, Australians Sophie Ciszek and Liz Wardley and Carolijn Brouwer of the Netherlands have been undergoing a rigorous training program at SCA's base in Lanzarote after winning their places on the crew for the Volvo Ocean Race.
It will be their first major international race together and they will be joined on board by male coaches Brad Jackson of New Zealand, Brazil's Joca Signorini and Pepe Ribes of Spain.
"The race is quite symbolic as it will be our first 'real' race for the SCA Team," said Davies, who is taking part in the race for the fifth time. "We have done so much hard training this year, and learnt a lot, but we have been alone on the water out in Lanzarote, so it will be good to get alongside other boats and give ourselves a taste for racing again."
Sailing their training boat, the repurposed Volvo Open 70 Mar Mostro, the team will indeed get a proper taste of racing. A record 372 boats have entered this classic offshore race, including Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, who will be one of their competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race itself, starting next year.
"We realise we still have a lot of work ahead of us and getting some real racing under our belts during our long preparation towards the Volvo Ocean Race is crucial and will be extremely beneficial for us as a team," said Brouwer.
Team SCA arrived in Southampton on Friday 2 August and will spend the week training and preparing for the race start on Sunday.
Team SCA - Crew for the Fastnet Race 2013:
Annemieke Bes NED
Carolijn Brouwer NED
Sophie Ciszek AUS
Sam Davies GBR - Navigator
Brad Jackson NZL - Coach
Sarah Lihan USA
Annie Lush GBR
Justine Mettraux SUI
Pepe Ribes ESP - Coach
Joca Signorini BRA - Coach
Liz Wardley AUS - Boat Captain
Klaartje Zuiderbaan NED
From : VOR
