Looking ahead

The Volvo Ocean Race skippers give their thoughts on the forthcoming leg to Auckland via Hobart

Tyco is unloaded from the ship in Sydney

Q (to Kevin): Have you had a new rudder made or are you using a spare?
KS: We've had a spare in for the last couple of days while we have been training, but McConaghy boats here in Sydney finished our replacement rudder yesterday afternoon. So we'll be fitting that tomorrow and it will be the rudder that will do the rest of the race. It's built in a slightly different method - it's more of a one-piece stock as opposed to the two-piece stock that our previous rudder was. We're happy it's going to do the job for us, although it leaves us with only a day's sailing with it before the Hobart. We're pretty confident with the structural side, it's just more that it doesn't bind or ride up, we'll be okay though.

Q: Was it the method that failed on the last one?
KS: It was a standard method of building a rudder, and it's not as if the builder went into it blindly, it was an approved method but we’re still trying to find out exactly what went wrong with it - we're in the middle of chopping it up. This new system of building the stock in one piece takes another element of doubt out of it, as you're not relying on glues. It's a similar size - it has to be identical in size, shape and weight it's just a different method of building the stock.

Q: Any crew changes for any of you?
NM: Yes, we have two crew changes here; one of them is the return of our Spanish member Guillermo [Altadill] who had to leave us for the last leg due to family illness. The other change is Chris Larson, the American sailor onboard.

JF: We will be announcing our crew changes closer to the start; but for this leg we have Peter Isler coming on with us, he has always been doing this leg and he will do some other legs with us towards the end of the race when his America's Cups commitments allow him. We'll be announcing the crew list shortly.

KF: We have Erle Williams replacing Terry Hutchinson on this leg; Erle will be doing all the shorter legs with us so that was always planned. We also have one unplanned change as our Swedish Bowman Mikael Lundh got injured on the last leg, and we have been advised by the doctors to let him have one leg off to rest; he has been replaced by David Blanchfield from Sydney, so we're pretty strong on Australians for this leg.

LM: We've got one change, which is a change back, one of my crew from the beginning hasn't been able to commit to the whole race but she's coming back for this leg.

GD: Keith Kilpatrick who got crook with a sore tummy on the last leg is off, and we've got Swedish Freddy Loof who is currently Star World Champion and has won three Finn Gold Cups. He's a big boy, we'll soon make him small!

KS: We've got one change which is Damian Foxall hopping off this leg and Richard Dodson from One World America's Cup challenge is coming to help with the tactical side.

GK: We have two crew changes on SEB, we have David Rolfe leaving us for this leg and he is replaced by Sean Clarkson, another Kiwi crewmember. The
twelfth crewmember will be Tony Rey from the United States. Both these guys are America's Cup and Whitbread people.

Below: SEB's new Kiwi contingent Sean Clarkson (left) and Tony Rae