Volvo Ocean Race team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew additions

by Volvo Ocean Race on 21 Apr 2011 Volvo Ocean Race team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing today announced its latest additions to the crew currently made up from seven nationalities from five continents.

Robert Greenhalgh joins as watchleader while Justin Ferris comes aboard as helmsman-trimmer and onboard sailmaker. Paul Willcox joins as an under-30s crew member. The USA’s Nick Dana, who was back-up MCM for PUMA last edition, will be the Media Crew Member.

Greenhalgh is a major coup for the Abu Dhabi outfit. As one of the UK’s most talented next generation sailors, he won major championships in everything from small dinghies to round-the-world yachts. His previous Volvo Ocean Race winning experience will be critical to the team’s success: he sailed on ABN Amro One in 2005-06 and on PUMA Ocean Racing in 2008-09.

Ferris has spent the past 10 years living and breathing the Volvo Ocean Race. Starting as a sailmaker for the winning Illbruck Challenge in 2001, the dynamic Kiwi made the step up to join the Pirates of the Caribbean team for the first edition of the Volvo Open 70 class in 2005, then for Puma Ocean Racing in 2008.

A former South African sailor of the year, Willcox has been involved in successful keel boat campaigns, the latest of which saw him helm The Ker 46 Tonnerre De Breskens to become the 2010 Royal Ocean Racing Club Boat of the Year. Aged 28, he has worked with Team Russia in the 2008-09 campaign as a reserve sailor and with the shore team.

'We said we wanted to be highly competitive on all fronts; we are close to making god on that promise,' said skipper Ian Walker, who has spent the last seven months in the United Arab Emirates capital.

The new crew members would join Walker, navigator Jules Salter, watch captain Craig Satterthwaite, Simon Fisher, bowman Justin Slattery, Wade Morgan and Emirati stars, Adil Khalid and Butti Al Muhairi. They are currently undergoing a multi-continent training and testing programme, which covers sail testing in New Zealand, navigation and weather training in North America, and sailing in Abu Dhabi.