2014 - 15 Volvo Ocean Race - The Mettraux sisters

by Agathe Armand on 4 Nov 2014 2014 - 15 Volvo Ocean Race - Sitting inside Team SCA’s base in Cape Town, the rain pouring outside, shore crew busily running around preparing for the girls’ arrival this week, she smiles as she sees her sister Justine caught on camera.

Justine is out at sea, sailing with the all-female team. The video shows her scratching the boat’s mast, hoping for the wind to come.

'You’re scratching the mast to have a magic gust,' explains Elodie-Jane, who is part of the same 13-strong squad as her sister, but wasn’t picked for the first leg of the race.

'I don’t know if it works, but it’s true that they had a few tough nights with clouds, according to the news I get from Juju. It’s only the first leg, but I hope we’ll be a bit luckier for the next one. We all know we need a bit of luck when sailing.'

Coming from Switzerland, both sisters have trained for months with SCA. But when her younger sister left for Cape Town on October 11, Elodie-Jane went back home.

'When they left, I felt sad, of course, but it wasn’t between me and Juju. I joined the team quite late, and I’m kind of sure I’ll be on the second leg,' she adds with a smile.

'I told her to take care of herself, but I did nothing special at the start. All that we shared before was already special. We didn’t need something else.'

Elodie-Jane kept up with her fitness training, and followed her sister’s progress.

'I check the tracker on the website and the app twice a day. Dee Caffari also sends weekly analysis reports and it’s good for me to follow what’s going on.'

There’s no animosity in Elodie-Jane’s voice, only the joy and pride of seeing her sister on screen, and on the ocean - taking part in an amazing adventure, sailing all to way down the Atlantic.

'She seems quite happy there! From what I can read in her emails, I think the girls are having a good time. It’s difficult to be fully happy with their position, but everything is going well onboard.'

'I hope the team arrive on the seventh because it’s my birthday,' laughs Elodie-Jane, glancing at her sister’s image.

'Yeah, I hope she’ll be here to party with me.'