Team 888 set sail

Ellen MacArthur's beloved Open 60 heads for start of DaimlerChrysler transat

With the full team now in place, the Mark Denton and Jonny Malbon's ocean racing team Team888 is now en route to Newport, Rhode Island to prepare for the start of her summer season, kicking off with the Daimler Chrysler North Atlantic Challenge starting on 21 June.

After a fond farewell to the team and her old Open 60 from Ellen MacArthur, Team888 slipped away. Jonny Malbon and Ian McCabe are on board and are due to arrive in Newport around 8 June. Meanwhile, Mark Denton - Malbon’s co-skipper remains in London working round the clock to secure a corporate sponsorship for the team. To date, Jonny and Mark have self-financed the project and so finding a sponsor is crucial.

One of only two British boats in a field of 63 yachts from ten nations, Team888 will be up against Robert McNeall's maxZ86 Zephyrus V in the DaimlerChrysler Transatlantic Race.



Led by co-skippers Mark Denton and Jonny Malbon - no strangers to ocean racing - the development team comprises six crew in accordance with DaimlerChrylser race rules.

Mark Denton (33 GBR) – Co Skipper
Over the past 8 years of professional sailing and some 80,000-ocean miles, Mark has sailed and raced in many different yachts and events around the world. His most recent success was as skipper of the BP sponsored yacht in the BT Global Challenge 2000/1 Round the World Yacht Race achieving 3rd position overall. Mark is also the Commercial Manager of Team888.

Jonny Malbon (28 GBR) – Co Skipper
Jonny has also achieved over 100,000 miles of professional sailing since the start of his career. His most notable position of late was as Kingfisher’s Boat Captain, preparing the yacht to an extremely high standard for Ellen MacArthur to race, before being responsible for returning the yacht to base post-race. Jonny has invaluable experience of the yacht and is continuing his role as Head of Preparation for Team888.

Will Oxley (32AUS) – Navigator
Will is also another ex-BT Global Challenge Skipper, of second placed yacht Compaq. Most recently Will has been the weather coordinator for the Victory Challenge America's Cup Team in Auckland, sharpening his meteorological knowledge on shore before joining Skandia Wild Thing as Navigator for the 2002 Sydney-Hobart race. They then took the Hobart to Melbourne record on the way back up. Will joins the team as navigator.

Nick Black (GBR 25) – Bowman

An experienced inshore and offshore racer, he’s been a loyal member of the Kingfisher preparation and delivery team alongside Jonny, so also knows the yacht intimately. He’s now running the newly formed Sam Davies Figaro campaign before joining Team888 as bowman.

Ian McCabe (GBR 27) was a key part of the BT Global Challenge support team, and most recently was an integral part of the build team for the British Americas Cup Team, Team GBR. If anything breaks or is damaged he’ll endeavour to fix it, allowing us to keep sailing 110%.

Richard Hulme (GBR 25) Ex ‘Ecover’ Open 60, ex King’s Cup, ex Clipper Skipper and most recently trying for a ‘Figaro’ campaign before his sponsor dropped out at the last minute.

Following the DaimlerChrylser, the team will continue onto the Calais Round Britain and Ireland Race - a fully crew class race for the Open 60s. They will then sail in the Rolex Fastnet Race on 10 August.

Denton added: "We have had to take a big punt in order to secure the boat, but we will be on the start line in Newport. That said there's still some financial mountains to climb for the team going forward, so we are hoping to attract some corporate partners who will realise for themselves the significant commercial benefits and branding opportunities available from sponsoring such a team. It's a bit of a gamble for us without a doubt, but the opportunity just couldn't be missed, and we believe we have put together a great package - experienced and dedicated sailors, three high profile events, and a legendary boat that needs no introduction."