Team SCA bid farewell to Lanzarote
by Team SCA 27 Jul 2014 12:49 BST
27 July 2014
Today, the 27th of July 2014, marks the end of an era for Team SCA, who will be leaving their training base in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote where they have been operating for the past 18 months. The Puerto Calero Marina has been home to two previous Volvo Ocean Race campaigns and has excellent facilities for a project of this nature.
"Having the boat and the base so close has been invaluable. Alongside that, twenty minutes off the break-wall we are in optimal wind conditions. This is a very unique place for training, so it really has been perfect," Liz Wardley (AUS), sailing crew.
SCA has made the most of their location off the coast off Africa, using the conditions on their doorstop to their advantage as they train to race and live offshore. From watch systems, night sailing, maneuvers, cooking, sleeping, strategy and systems, the team has been running through every scenario so that they can to gain as much experience offshore ahead of the start of Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race on October 11. This has been complemented by in port race training allowing the team to leave the island feeling well prepared for the challenge ahead.
"It is definitely a significant milestone for the team, this has been our home for the past 18 months. I am certain that when we look back a year from now, everyone will say it was worthwhile for us because we had so much good training. We have learnt a lot and the development has been enormous. On paper the experience gap is still huge compared with our competitors, but certainly our learning curve has been the steepest of all the teams." - Team Managing Director, Richard Brisius.
There are just over two months left for SCA's preparation for the race, the team is making the move torwards into race mode, sailing straight to Gosport in the United Kingdom where they will compete in the Artemis Challenge during Cowes Week, followed by the Round Britain and Ireland Race in mid-August.