Meet Lisa McDonald - part 2

EF Education was a base from which the Nautor Challenge team can learn

Continued from yesterday's article...

Grant Dalton's phone call offering Lisa McDonald the job of heading Nautor Challenge's all-female Volvo campaign came only a couple of weeks ago. With just three months to go until the start of the Volvo Ocean Race, Dalton must have instinctively known that Lisa would see the urgency of the situation and do her utmost to make it work.

Lisa is delighted about the offer and cannot wait to get started. "There are so many good female sailors around the globe," she said. "This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of a female team and for them to take advantage of a campaign - even if it is late." It is clear she feels Dalton is key to the success of her team. "The one value that I see in this project is that Grant Dalton is leading it," she said. "He is so determined, so strong and organised. If anyone can get us all on the start line, well prepared it will be Dalts for sure - that's why I'm so excited."

Organising a crew is going to be Lisa's main priority over the next few weeks. Although no one has yet been announced, former EF Education crew Katie Pettibone with whom Lisa teamed up last year to raise their own sponsorship for the Volvo Ocean Race, is certain to be top of the list of candidates.

In making her selection Lisa is looking to employ crew with a multitude of talents. "I've got the next couple of weeks to put together a crew. At this stage, because we are so late, I would like to try and get on board as much round the world racing experience as possible,"she commented.

Among the crew will be several with previous Whitbread experience including others in addition to Pettibone who sailed with her on EF Education. Former skipper Christine Guillou has told madforsailing she will not be taking part at all while Ellen MacArthur is believed to be keen to sail part of the race, but not with an all-female crew.

Like Ellen, Lisa does not subscribe to the view that female sailors have less opportunity to achieve their dreams in this way than men. "People can't expect offers to fall into their laps, no matter whether they're male or female. In my eyes, we as sailors are all out of the same pot: we're all in it for the same reasons and the same racing. You just have to get out there, work hard and make as many people as possible aware of what you're doing."

In addition to round the world expertise Lisa also wants to bring some new faces into her campaign, in particular girls with tactical, driving and trimming talents. "If they come in and compete at the top level then they have every chance of ensuring they will have further opportunities in the future."

With EF Education, it was widely felt that the girls crew always played second fiddle to the boys both in terms of the performance of the boat and the equipment on board. Lisa dismisses that with a laugh: "Compared to EF this project is like apples and oranges. I really think we had a fantastic opportunity with EF to be in a full scale programme as a female team. EF provided the perfect learning foundation for us to take part in the sport and to learn what we could from the other guys and from the competitors." She adds that this time they will be able to capitalise on what they achieved with EF and with some training, take it a step further.

continued on page 2...