Why did Jeff Scott walk?

The Kiwi Volvo veteran puts the record straight on why he left a buoyant News Corp campaign to join djuice

There have been plenty of musical chairs during the Volvo Ocean Race, but one of the most baffling moves was Jeff Scott's departure from News Corp in Rio, to return aboard djuice for the start of leg 7 in Annapolis. Why would a sailor of Scott's calibre choose to quit a boat that is in with a serious chance of a podium position in favour of one that has consistently picked up the wooden spoon, Amer Sports Too excepted?

Despite a long history of sailing with Ross Field, including being part of the winning Yamaha team in the 93/94 Whitbread, Scott and Field are known for not seeing eye to eye, so the gossip running around Scott's departure that it was a proverbial two-fingered goodbye from the Kiwi watch captain to his old skipper.

But speaking to madfor sailing having just got ashore from djuice at the La Rochelle finish, Scott said it wasn't quite like that. "I thought I was going to come back on News Corp for this leg, but they had such a good result on the leg up to Baltimore that they didn't want to change the team. I can understand that, but this is how I make my living.

"I preferably wouldn't have changed teams, but I've got to feed the family, and that's how professional sailing is these days, I suppose. But I don't like the pink, I'd be much happier in the blue. When we left Baltimore, I was trying to get my wet weather gear off Spike [Peter Doriean, who defected from djuice to News Corp] or Matt Humphries, but they wouldn't give it to me," he laughs.

"I was pretty disappointed not to get back on, but I'll be on djuice for the rest of this race now. This is the fourth one for me. I thought when I got off at Rio that would be it for me, but the hard thing is I got the email from Jez [Fanstone, News Corp skipper] saying we don't need you, and then I was getting used to the idea of hanging up my boots, when these guys got in touch and I thought, yeah, that's an offer, that's good. I know Ross is pretty pissed off [about Scott's move to djuice], but that's the way it goes, he could pay me not to sail."

Scott's departure at Rio was seen as a real blow for News Corp as his experience of three previous Whitbreads and his intimate knowledge of the 60-foot boats was seen as the key factor in getting News Corp up to pace. But their leg win from Miami to Baltimore shows there is plenty of other talent on the blue boat besides Scott. That said, Scott is widely respected and the email from djuice was not the only offer that has shown up in his inbox since Rio.

Djuice, however, being stuck firmly in seventh place overall, offered Scott a way of continuing to earn a crust without jeopardizing his relationship with the News Corp crew. "It's not the only email I've had off boats to come and join them," he says, "but it's probably the least controversial. It's good to see them again, and no one holds any grudges for me doing it, which is a good thing. Jimmy Jumpship's not a good name. Then again last time I left Knut to join Ross. I started out on Innovation Kvaerner and then Ross wanted to put the band back together and so I went to join the band."

But surely bringing up the rear of the fleet can't be as much fun as fighting it out for a podium finish? Not necessarily for Scott. "I've really, really enjoyed this leg. News Corp is under a lot of pressure for that third spot. Kiwis and Australians are quite intense and News Corp's a quite intense boat. I'm here to enjoy it. That was the thing about the '89 race - it didn't matter whether you came first or last, but now there's such an emphasis on coming first. We've just crossed the Atlantic, that's a pretty good effort in itself, I think."

Despite evidence to the contrary, Scott insists there is nothing wrong with the djuice hull shape, on page 2...