Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 - Team SCA skipper on a steep learning curve

by Jedda Murphy & Rob Kothe on 11 Oct 2014 Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 - Sam Davies is the skipper of the 11 women Swedish entry Team SCA. Davies is new to crewed racing, she made her name as a solo sailor and at times it shows. During the practice races, Davies was have trouble judging her speed at the starts and was initially well off the pace. London Match Racing Olympian Annie Lush came back from the boat and stood leaning on the wheel post in front of Davies and in way that would never happen on a testosterone charged men boats gave her some gentle notes on how to maintain boat speed by sailing esses if she was early for the line.

Davies is the first to admit her inexperience.

‘The role I have on board as skipper is new to me and I agree it is new to me and it is something I had doubts whether I would be good enough to do the job when I joined the project and also I knew I had work to do to be good in this role and it is something I have worked on hugely and it is something within Team SCA I have had massive support both onshore with the Team Building Team and on board with the Watch Leaders Liz, and Caroljn, with Libby who is the navigator and also with all the girls. We have done team building sessions together.

‘They know I am a beginner in this job as well so they do accept that I do make mistakes and they support me as well in mistakes and also in helping together that we do this well. It’s a good way to progress and I know I have got lots to learn in the next nine months.’

‘For me it has been hard work for the last year and a half to change from sailing on my own to sailing with a crew, to work with them together as a team for all of us especially on the communications side of things.

‘Me learning not to try and do everything on board but in that process it has been amazing because we have girls that are so talented from all these different disciplines in sailing and each one of us brings something that the other one can’t bring to the crew then together we become stronger that way and together that means we all have a mutual respect of each other and what they can put in.

‘I think there are a lot of challenges on this leg. It is one of the longest legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. For Team SCA it is our first ever for 80% of the crew first Volvo Ocean Race leg that we have ever done so we know we have got a lot to learn.

‘I think we can start from the Med which is pretty unpredictable, getting out to the Gibraltar Straits is always tricky.

‘We could have some tricky decisions to make just after that looking at the weather forecast as it is lining up. Obviously we have got the doldrums to get through which I have been through a few times and sometimes it’s easy and other times it is very challenging so that could be tricky especially at this time of year and that there is the St Helena High which is in the South Atlantic.

‘Again that could put some question marks in the navigators’ heads as to how to get across that or around that. Finally for us, it is not so much a challenge, the bit we are really looking forward to is getting into the roaring forties and hopefully hooking onto some strong wind to sail across toward Cape Town.

‘The challenge could be that if it really windy to keep the boat in one piece at the end of that leg but I think most people are just looking forward to sending it at that point.’

Asked whether she felt there would be any additional challenges or advantages for SCA as an all female crew Sam responded, ‘I think that once, speaking on behalf of all the girls on board Team SCA, once we are out there we are just competitors like the others and this is a race we are trying to do the best we can in.

‘Someone asked me if there was anything different on board our boat compared to a guy’s boat and the only thing I could think of, correct me if I am wrong, was sports bras.

‘ We don’t treat this any differently and I don’t think we are being treated any differently apart from the fact the Volvo have tried to make the rules so we physically have three more crew members so physically that evens it up a little bit.

‘At the same time there are manoeuvres sometimes that if the guys can get all six on the handles to grind to furl a sail or hoist a sail then we will be a little bit slower than they will but there is not really that much difference.

‘Advantage could the three extra hands, occasionally we feel like that is a good help to us. Three extra brains, especially female ones – sorry guys, that could be an advantage but we don’t really think about that at all once we are out there.

‘We just focus on doing the best we can. Yes there is no division in the race so there is not much difference on board.’

Asked whether the crew were taking any good luck items on board for Leg 1 Sam replied:

‘I have a St Christopher. My grandad was a submarine commander in the war. He survived the war. When I started sailing around the world he gave me his St Christopher and told me that he always wore this when he went to sea and it brought him a lot of luck and he wanted me to wear it whenever I sailed.’

The breaking news ... there is a boy on board the all female boat! Sam explains ‘We have a thirteenth crew member who is called Barney. He is a purple dinosaur and does the race with us. He belongs to Liz Wardley, one of the crew members and he comes with us. He very popular with all the crew’