KEITH BRASH
Update
SC: We went into a trial situation for selection; so I was pushing 150% in everything I did to get on this team. As soon as I stepped onboard and with Brad Jackson watching my every move, I wasn’t going to step back and chill here… If that means lifting some- thing I probably shouldn’t be lifting I was doing it! SH: What sort of impact has the race had on your body? SC: My body has held up really well… so far. The biggest concern was how much weight I lost. I am a big person, a big female, over 1.8m and 72-78kg depending on the programme; so losing 4 or 5kg is quite a lot. During stopovers we are eating as much as we can but not generating the muscle that we had prior to the race, and I was struggling with eating the amount of food we needed to take in when we hit the dock. I still have plenty of energy but when the doctors checked weight and body fat percentages they said I had lost a couple of kilos too many. Luckily I have good genes and good fitness and going into the event extremely fit means you can recover a lot quicker. SH: Have you changed the way you carry out manoeuvres since leg 1 to alleviate pressure on individual crew? SC: We haven’t changed the process much, we are just way better working as a team. Everyone has their specific role onboard but we also each know everyone else’s position as well, so we are all aware of the workloads. We are obviously much better at stacking the boat; fore and aft trim was some- thing we lacked but it’s now second nature. SH: Was that footage of acupuncture carried out on your back during leg 2… SC: Yes. I studied clinical myotherapy at university so brought some needles on the race. When I injured my back on leg 2 I was in so much pain I could hardly walk, so handed onboard medic Dee Caffari the acupuncture needles and said go for it; I was up for anything by that stage, my body was in a full-on locked posture that no painkiller could touch. A disc was herniating 90% of the nerves supplying my left leg, so we were trying everything there. SH: You missed two legs… a tough call? SC: I didn’t know the extent of my injuries and the surgeon said within a month you will be good to go again… little did he know what I do for a living! So we showed him some footage from onboard and he said OK, maybe wait six weeks, and that is when I started training again. So it was definitely two legs I was going to miss and possibly more. SH: Your role on leg 5? SC: I have good numbers steering downwind in waves, so I was driving on leg 5 – we have plenty of good bowmen. So I am happy, it gave me some time to concentrate on my trimming and driving, but I will always be a bowman… SH: Had you experienced the Southern Ocean before? SC: Apart from Sydney-Hobart races I did a delivery from Hobart to Perth ending up around 50°S and getting slammed by a huge low pressure, so I have seen some of the conditions it can throw up – it’s pretty scary.
SH: How did you specifically prepare for leg 5? SC: I guess mentally it was a bit daunting, so I was looking back on what I had experienced before and also looking at the team I am racing with. A lot of this team have been together for two years, we know each other really well, we know what we are each capable of; mentally I couldn’t ask for anything more and that gives me a huge amount of confidence. Plus we have Dee Caffari and Sam Davies who have been there before, alone, plus Libby, Abby and Caroline who have all been down there. We can sail the boat but racing it hard enough was obviously the challenge, keeping the boat and people in one piece. SH: What are the easy bits? SC: Nothing is easy out there… SH: And the hard bits? SC: Nothing is too hard if you have wanted to do this race for a long time.
Blue Robinson SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with q
Magnus… ‘Mange’ Olsson was remembered by his protegés on SCAwith a wreath placed in the ocean as they rounded Cape Horn
Quantum Racing’s new TP52 will not be the easiest boat on which to do a recut – not if the stripes are still going to line up
12 SEAHORSE
Attached… were over 200 messages from family and friends Truly… a lovely man and a giant among ocean racers Seriously... Yes, the America’s Cup organisers really did make their ‘all-change’ announcement on 1 April This’ll run… ETNZ has since produced a contract signed by AC organisers ACEA confirming Auckland as a Cup qualifier venue Smart so far… Chinese (Class40) circumnavigator Guo Chuan has purchased Francis Joyon’s 100ft tri Idec His primary objective… in this all-carbon racer is a speed record Through… the North East passage Take… excellent radar Routeing… Dongfeng’s new mast was flown from Dubai to Itajaí Via… Amsterdam Game over… sport selection for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games has now ended Without… sailing being reinstated Desperate times call for… Oracle will support Team France’s AC effort with design and technical support Expect… Seahorse’s own Cup entry to follow imminently Real reason… did recent onsite trials ‘tell’ the Cup organisers that the AC62 was simply too big for Bermuda’s sailing area? Reckon so… ed T’riffic… Mike Holt and Carl Smit defended their 505 world title in South Africa… and with a day to spare Imaginative… the Dongfeng crew filled their 1,200-litre forward ballast tank with gazoil to ensure they made the long motor to Itajaí On track… Kiwi stars (and Cup sailors) Burling and Tuke won (yet) again in the 49ers, this time at the Princess Sofia in Palma Significant… also in Palma, the debut of kitesurfing alongside a Sailing World Cup Inch… by inch. Is Mumm returning to sailing? The… French champagne house will support Alain ‘Hydroptère’ Thébault in this year’s record quests Small steps… a US team captured an offshore trimaran record when Renaud Laplanche and his crew set the new Cowes-Dinard mark at an average speed of over 26kt on the former Banque Pop Steve Fossett… he’d be properly chuffed Impressive… when rebuilding Vestasthe Persico team had only 28kg of corrector weights to play with On a boat… weighing 12,500kg 71… the number of crew on Lady Bon the final day in St Barths Toe (still) in the door… Luna Rossa’s AC72 cat is going on permanent display in Milan’s Leonardo da Vinci technology museum First victim… the Cagliari round of the AC World Series has been cancelled ‘post-Prada’ Finally… please remember to check out ScuttlebuttEurope and RaceboatsOnly at
seahorsemagazine.com
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