Briton's Matt Humphries joins Aussie Volvo boat

by Volvo media on 10 Dec 2005 Grant Wharington has snapped up Briton Matt Humphries to replace departing navigator Campbell Field aboard Australian yacht ING Real Estate/Brunel for the next Volvo leg to Melbourne. It will be Humphries fifth race but the first time he has been responsible for navigation. Wharington must also fill a place left by fellow Mornington Peninsula yachtsman Graeme Taylor.

Also, Australian offshore sailor Anthony 'Youngster' Merrington will join the crew aboard Pirates of the Caribbean in the Volvo Ocean Race. Merrington, 34, from Sydney, replaces Swede Freddy Loof, who has decided to withdraw from the team to focus on Olympic sailing and match racing.

Merrington joins compatriots Justin 'Juggy' Clougher, from Tasmania, and in-port race grinder Mark McTeigue, from Sydney, in the team. Merrington has more than 120,000 nautical miles of experience in offshore racing, including sailing with Team SEB in the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race.

He first joined the Pirates of the Caribbean shore crew in early October in Spain. The team were forced to withdraw from the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Vigo, Spain, to Cape Town, South Africa, with damage to the yacht’s canting keel system.

The boat, named the Black Pearl, has received extensive repairs and will be ready to re-start the race on leg two from Cape Town to Melbourne, beginning on January 2 and expected to arrive into Port Phillip Bay on January 17.