Volvo Ocean Race: A stopover in The Hague

Volvo Ocean Race - A stopover in The Hague © Nic Douglass / www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com

Volvo Ocean Race - A stopover in The Hague © Nic Douglass / www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com

On my way home from the Newport Bermuda Race I stopped in at The Hague to catch up with the Volvo Ocean Race sailors post-race and post celebratory hangovers.

I interviewed nine sailors, live and uncut, eight of who I spoke to in Alicante before the race start: www.nicdouglass.org/volvostart2017.

To hit the ground running on my just over 24 hour stopover at The Hague, I caught up with Kyle Langford and Pete Burling, who have both come a long way from next to no ocean racing experience, and as former rivals at the AC35 in Bermuda. We chat about what could have been, and what is next, including some time off for these two elite sailors, the Cup and a potential NZ ocean racing team...

Next I headed to the DongFeng base to chat with the winning team!

First up was Chen Jin Hao, or Horace, we covered what the win means to him, and most importantly to China...

Then Carolijn Brouwer, one of the first three sailor girls to win the Volvo Ocean Race. The team won their first leg of the race when it mattered in her home country of the Netherlands...

And finally the skipper, Charles Caudrelier. We talk about DongFeng's faith to form the team early, how far the Chinese sailors on the team have come, how Carolijn's spirit kept the team moving forward, and what might be next to keep the winning momentum going...

Next up I headed to Mapfre to catch up three sailors, the first chat was with Sophie Ciszek, who I have spoken with at every stopover I have been to throughout the race. While it may have been tough to come second (even though it's an awesome achievement!) nothing is keeping this Sailor Girl down.

Next up was the boat captain Rob Greenhalgh. We look back at a few of the moments he may have wanted to change for a different outcome, chat about his potential next lap of the planet, and his plans to head "down under" after his duties wrap up at The Hague...

My final chat at Mapfre was with Blair Tuke. While he is pretty disappointed with second, he is looking forward to some well earned time off after a massive few years from the Olympics to the Cup and a Volvo... We talk more about a potential NZ team in future offshore races...

Last but not least I caught up with David Witt at the Scallywag base to talk about the ups and downs of their race... Definitely a tough interview, from the "social experiment" and Dr. Bes, to #ForeverFish and what is next...

After a big few weeks away, it's time for this Sailor Girl to do some sailing of her own, in the meantime for more adventures check out my website, or head straight to my social channels, @sailorgirlHQ on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.