Volvo Ocean Race - The never give up mantra of Team SCA
by Victoria Low on 8 Nov 2014
Team SCA arrives to the pontoon in Cape Town after completing Leg 1 in 6th place. Charlie Shoemaker / Volvo Ocean Race
After 26 days 23 hours, 37 minutes and 49 seconds, Team SCA crossed the line to complete Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014/15.
The all-female team fought right to the finish and sneaked past Spanish entry MAPFRE, passing them in the final 10 miles of the 7,000 mile leg to finish sixth.
Skipper, Sam Davies, comments: 'We are really, really happy to be here. We knew it was possible and we did not stop fighting, it’s something that our coach Magnus always taught us and we kept that spirit with us all the time.'
'If we have learnt any lessons it is to never give up. We need to keep it with us for the next eight legs and we are honored to take in these lessons and learn from them.'
For Sara Hastreiter, who only started sailing four years ago, the finish into Cape Town rates as one of the best moments of her entire life 'no matter what else I do in the future, this will be up there.'
Some clever tactics by navigator Libby Greenhalgh who chose a route further offshore in the approach to Cape Town, reaped rewards for the team in a leg that saw its share of ups and downs.
'We are pretty pleased to come in on such a high note as it’s been a tough last 10-15 days. I was pretty sure we’d get close to them but I wasn’t sure we could pass them. I think there was a little roll of the lucky dice and it clearly worked.
'We could not be happier to have come from where we were and, in the last few days, to start eating up the miles. To see them [MAPFRE] and then be going past them is brilliant. It is a long game because 10 days ago we were all probably thinking how are we going to come back from this. I do believe we are the ‘comeback kids’ in the races we’ve been doing, but hopefully soon we won’t have to be the comeback kids, we’ll just be in it.'
Team SCA will spend the next day and a half debriefing with their coaches before taking a well-earned brief holiday and then returning to work late next week to begin preparing for the start of Leg Two to Abu Dhabi on November 19, Team SCA website
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