Volvo Ocean Race – crew changes keep coming

MAPFRE stay with their winning crew but elsewhere in the fleet where significant swaps are taking place.

In total, 19 sailors are rotating on board for Leg 4, with 18 coming off (SHK/Scallywag is racing with one additional crew for this leg).

Some are scheduled rotations, while others have been forced by injury or for other reasons.
A dozen will be seeing their first action of this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race and several had to complete a survival at sea refresher course on site in Melbourne.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing skipper Charlie Enright will miss Leg 4 as he and his family deal with an on-going medical situation.

Enright plans to re-join the team in Hong Kong while Mark Towill has been nominated as skipper for the lead.

Charlie Enright © Sam Greenfield/Volvo Ocean Race

In addition to other changes announced earlier, Libby Greenhalgh joins fifth-placed Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, as navigator, replacing the injured Antonio Fontes.

Australian yachting legend Grant Wharington joins the team for the first time, along with rookie Trystan Seal. This will be the first leg Scallywag races with nine sailors on board.

Team AkzoNobel will have had the shortest time ashore, but skipper Simeon Tienpont is confident his team is ready to get back to work.

Rotating back on board are Peter van Niekerk and Luke Molloy, who are in for Alex Pella and Justin Ferris. And Emily Nagel will take this leg off, replaced by Cécile Laguette.

Dee Caffari’s Turn the Tide on Plastic will have veteran navigator Brain Thompson on board for the first time, replacing as Nico Lunven.

While Ireland’s Annalise Murphy returns for Bianca Cook and Bernardo Freitas rotates on board for Lucas Chapman.

Leg 4 is scheduled to start in Melbourne at 14:00 hrs local time (03:00 UTC) on 2 January 2018.

Crew Lists Leg 4 Melbourne to Hong Kong, with an ETA of 20 January:
Dongfeng Race Team
Skipper – Charles Caudrelier FRA
Navigator – Franck Cammas FRA
Watch Captain – Daryl Wislang NZL
Watch Captain – Jérémie Beyou FRA
Crew/trimmer – Kevin Escoffier FRA
Crew/trimmer – Justine Mettraux SUI
Crew/trimmer – Carolijn Brouwer NED
Crew/bowman – Jackson Bouttell AUS/GBR
Crew/bowman – Chen (Horace) Jinhao CHN
OBR – Martin Keruzore FRA

team AkzoNobel
Skipper – Simeon Tienpont NED
Navigator – Jules Salter GBR
Watch Captain – Chris Nicholson AUS
Crew – Peter van Niekerk NED
Crew – Brad Farrand NZL
Crew – Nicolai Sehested DEN
Crew – Cécile Laguette FRA
Crew – Martine Grael BRA
Crew – Luke Molloy AUS
OBR – Sam Greenfield USA

Team Brunel
Skipper – Bouwe Bekking NED
Navigator – Andrew Cape GBR
Bowman – Carlo Huisman NED
Helm-trimmer – Jens Dolmer DEN
Helm-trimmer – Kyle Langford AUS
Helm-trimmer – Sam Newton AUS
Helm-trimmer – Rome Kirby USA
Helm-trimmer – Sally Barkow USA
Helm-trimmer – Abby Ehler GBR
OBR – Yann Riou FRA

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
Skipper – David Witt AUS
Navigator – Libby Greenhalgh GBR
Watch Captain – Luke Parkinson AUS
Crew – Alex Gough AUS
Crew – Annemieka Bes NED
Crew – Benjamin Piggott AUS
Crew – John Fisher GBR
Crew – Grant Wharington AUS
Crew – Trystan Seal GBR
OBR – Konrad Frost GBR

Turn the Tide on Plastic
Skipper – Dee Caffari GBR
Navigator – Brian Thompson GBR
Watch Captain – Martin Strömberg SWE
Watch Captain – Liz Wardley AUS
Crew – Elodie Mettraux SUI
Crew – Francesca Clapcich ITA
Crew – Annalise Murphy IRL
Crew – Bernardo Freitas POR
Crew – Bleddyn Mon GBR
Crew – Frederico Melo POR
OBR – Brian Carlin IRL

Vestas 11th Hour Racing
Skipper – Mark Towill USA
Navigator – Simon Fisher GBR
Crew – Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bermúdez de Castro Muñoz ESP
Crew – Phil Harmer AUS
Crew – Nick Dana USA
Crew – Tom Johnson AUS
Crew – Tony Mutter AUS
Crew – Stacey Jackson AUS
Crew – Hannah Diamond GBR
OBR – Amory Ross USA

MAPFRE
Skipper Xabi Fernández ESP
Navigator – Juan Vila ESP
Watch Captain – Pablo Arrarte ESP
Watch Captain – Rob Greenhalgh GBR
Crew – Louis Sinclair NZL
Crew – Blair Tuke NZL
Crew – Willy Altadill ESP
Crew – Sophie Ciszek AUS/USA
Crew – Tamara Echegoyen ESP
OBR – Ugo Fonolla ESP