Sam Davies interview

madforsailing spoke to Maiden II's ever smiling crew member

A look around the boat and although there is nothing to prevent the boat going to sea and sailing fast it is all too apparent that Maiden II needs a major refit, whether it is the trampolines which have developed more sag than they had when Grant Dalton and Mike Quilter used to spring across them gazelle-like two years ago, or the broken starboard daggerboard or the blown out perspex on the cuddies or the sails which are the originals from The Race (the mainsail has the Club Med logos blacked out). All this is on stand by awaiting the money coming through.

"We're already designing new sails. We need a new wheel [the port wheel is a little crumpled since Paul Larsen was hurled into it when they went down the mine during the 24 hour record], and a new daggerboard - the daggerboard is upside down right now. We may just fix that one. And I need a new headboard car and all the ropes need replacing - all these ones went round the world. Everything has lasted well. We haven't had problems with anything breaking, but it's just starting to look tired. We've replaced the standing rigging, so the rig is safe. That was a priority job. We need two new bubbles. We probably won't put perspex in them again. In the Southern Ocean, you're trying to shelter in there but the sun's never out so you don't need the perspex for that but when you're in the tropics or anywhere where it is warm and wet, you want to take cover, but you can't stay in there for long because it's like a greenhouse and there's no breeze funnelling through."

There is also the issue of side panels along the outboard sides of the cockpits. These are fitted on Orange and Team Adventure, but at Grant Dalton's insistence weren't fitted on this boat for reasons of weight. At present it has not been decided whether or not these will be fitted.

During The Race and on Orange's recent Jules Verne Trophy bid, all the Ollier cats experienced some form of structural problems. Davies says that on Maiden II these were fixed after The Race and so far have not recurred. "We've tested it quite hard. We haven't come across any problems structurally," she says. 44 knots and a 697 mile day would certainly indicate this to be the case.

The forthcoming programme for Maiden II is to go up to London in July. The crew is likely to take a two week break afterwards. They may then, in Davies' words, be "showing the pony" around Cowes Week in August before making an attempt on more records. One interesting proposal which may or may not come to pass is getting Maiden II, Orange, PlayStation and Geronimo all lined up for an attempt on the Round Britain record. This would fit in with Bruno Peyron's aims for the class, but whether or not it will fit in with the individual boats' programmes remains to be seen.

Meanwhile it is fingers, toes and everything crossed that corporate Britain comes to its senses and can see the sponsorship value of the Maiden II program.