Volvo Ocean Race: Team SCA crew member profiles

Skipper Sam Davies, left, and Libby Greenhalgh are accomplished sailors but are in their first Volvo Ocean Race. Corinna Halloran / VOR

A look at the 11 crew members, two more than the others, onboard Team SCA.

Sam Davies, skipper (UK)

An accomplished single-handed sailor, she has plenty of tough experience, having sailed in two Vendee Globe races as well as the challenging Open 60 class for the past 10 years.

Sophie Ciszek (Aus & US)

Not yet 30, but Ciszek is already an old hand at sailing. She has competed in four Sydney-to-Hobart races and was, until 2012, a full-time crew member for the Open 60 Hugo Boss. Has sailed more than 60,000 nautical miles.

Dee Caffari (UK)

A giant in the women’s sailing world, Caffari is the only woman to have sailed solo around the world in both directions (east about and west about) and also the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world three times.

Carolijn Brouwer (Ned)

An Olympian, who sailed in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games, Brouwer was the only female skipper in the Tornado multihull class in Beijing. More importantly, she was at the helm on Amer Sports Two in the 2001/02 VOR.

Sara Hastreiter (US)

Wanted to be a rodeo princess when she was growing up in South Dakota but instead is a sailor, having completed 40,000nm. She has vast competitive experience, including at the Caribbean 600, the IRC Nationals and the St Thomas Rolex Regatta.

Stacey Jackson (Aus & UK)

With previous VOR experience, of a kind, having worked as a sailmaker on the shore team for Telefonica in the 2008/09 race at the India and Singapore stopovers, Jackson has raced the Sydney-to-Hobart nine times, with a line honour in 2010.

Annie Lush (UK)

An Olympic sailor, who participated in the London Games in 2012 in the Elliott 6m class. She is an ace on the World Match Race Tour, having been women’s world champion in 2004, 2005 and 2010. In 2010 Lush topped the ISAF World Ranking.

Elodie Mettraux (SUI)

One of the four under-30 members in Team SCA’s squad, Mettraux has been managing the Geneva Training Centre (for sailing) for several years. She won the amateur ranking in the 2012 Tour de France a la Voile.

Justine Mettraux (SUI)

Another on board with plenty of competitive experience, the elder Mettraux joined Team SCA off the Mini-Transat Campaign. She was part of the Geneva Training Centre for a decade and has plenty of offshore racing experience.

Libby Greenhalgh (UK)

Formerly a weather forecaster at the UK Met office, she has used that background to become the team’s navigator. Greenhalgh has also become one of the navigators to look out for in the race. She works in the UK with the British Sailing Team and has good experience in dinghy sailing.

Abbey Ehler (UK & Aus)

Was on Amer Sports Two in the 2001/02 VOR and has sailed exclusively in team environments. She won the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2003 and works in the yachting industry.

Sally Barkow (US)

Has been a regular on the Olympic sailing circuit for a decade and has also competed in various offshore regattas. She was named Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year in 2005 and 2007.

Liz Wardley (Aus)

Also a member of Amer Sports Two from the 2001/02 VOR, Wardley was a skipper in the Sydney-to-Hobart when she was only 19. In 1999 she came first overall in the IMS Division 2 of Australia’s ocean classic race.

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