Pindar in the Volvo Baltic Race

Trainee British offshore sailor Sophie Luther gets a ride on Avant

23 year old Sophie Luther, winner of the Pindar Sailing Scholarship, is facing her first challenge at the moment as a crew on the Volvo Baltic Race - and the only woman in the race.

The spotlight has been turned on Sophie Luther since April this year, when the talented young sailor won a three-year sailing sponsorship deal from Pindar, the company backing offshore sailors, Emma Richards and Mike Sanderson.

Luther is currently trying to flesh out her offshore experience on grand prix boats and with the help of a plane ticket generously provided by Pindar, she found herself in a very wet Kiel last weekend, catching a ride on the Volvo Baltic Race.

Luther jumped on AV-Teknik for race to Warnemunde in Germany, where, on the dockside, a chance conversation with Mikael Lundh, skipper of Avant, the old Swedish Match, led to a trial place in the crew for the next leg to Sweden.

And she succeeded! She’s joined the Avant crew for the rest of series, sailing as the only girl in the Volvo Baltic Race. Today she will sail the 18 mile coastal race followed by the Gant Round Gotland Race which starts on Sunday. Finally she will take part in three windward/leeward races on Wednesday, 7 July.

Since joining Pindar, Sophie has been sailing smaller boats, but racing in the Volvo Baltic Race she has the chance of sailing the much bigger V.O.60. ”It’s a fantastic chance for me to get experience from real offshore sailing,” she says, adding with a smile, “Life has changed dramatically for me, but the dreams are still the same."

Sophie will be writing for thedailysail during this weekend's Gant Gotland Runt race