Nick Moloney on the EDS

"It's important to me that this project is successful. I like to think there may be a possibility I may have the opportunity to take Kingfisher in the Around Alone or the next Vendee, but all these decisions lie with Ellen and, obviously, what she wants to do," he added.

Moloney's crew for the 520-mile first leg of the EDS to Cuxhaven in Germany, is made up of co-skipper Ellen, plus her manager Mark Turner, the Australian navigator Adrienne Cahalan and another Aussi, Anthony 'Youngster' Merrington. Ellen is sailing on the first three legs - leg two takes the fleet from Cruxhaven to Porstmouth, leg three crosses the Atlantic to Baltimore.

Moloney has no doubts about who Kingfisher's main rival in the seven-strong EDS fleet will be. "Definitely Sill," he said. "They are our nemesis to date. For me she's my only real insight into the fleet in close competition. All the boats have their strong points but Sill can claw up to 30 miles-a-day on us in some reaching and running conditions."

Based on experience gained at the two recent inshore grand-prix at Fecamp and Quiberon, Moloney believes Kingfisher is competitive upwind, close-hauled, when two-sail reaching and in over-powered conditions against the best of the others including Sill. But off the wind, the bigger rigs, wingmasts and the hull forms of the Finot and Lombard boats give them the edge.

He is very impressed with Roland Jourdain's optimisation of the Marc Lombard-designed Sill which finished third in the Vendee despite one false-start and a stop for repairs just after Cape Horn. "It has to be in the balance of the boat," Moloney said, adding that he felt Jourdain had found what he called the 'sweetpoint' in his boat which had enabled him to maximise its performance. "They've swept the rig, the daggerboards and the keel aft and they've also done a lot of work on their sail programme and they've got big, big sails," Moloney said.

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