Volvo Ocean Race

Capey, as he is universally known, won the America’s Cup with Alinghi in 2003 and took honours in the Sydney-Hobart race no fewer than five times. Born in Melbourne, the major prize absent from his resume is the Volvo Ocean Race, after appearances on board Tokyo in 1993-94, Toshiba in 1997-98, movistar and later Ericsson in 2005-06 and PUMA last time out. 

Known to everyone as Ñeti, the Santander Royal Yacht Club member is one of the under-30s in the team. He was pitman and bowman on Telefónica Black in the last race, enjoying victory on the final leg from Stockholm to St. Petersburg. He has also raced on the Audi MedCup circuit with Bribón, the programme which boasted King Juan Carlos of Spain as its skipper and patron.

Telefónica’s MCM has a strong background in sailing, having raced on Telefónica Blue during the Round Britain and Ireland Race. He managed to juggle his preparation for the role of multimedia reporter with getting married just before the start.

Signorini, nicknamed Joca, started sailing around the Ilha Grande to the west of Rio de Janeiro at the age of seven. The only Brazilian sailor in the current race, he made his Volvo debut in 2005 on Brasil 1 and he sailed with Torben Grael again on the winning Ericsson 4 in 2008-09.

The man from Palma de Mallorca was part of Spain’s golden sporting generation, winning top honours at the country’s home Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. Calafat, who has four children, has also tasted victory in the America’s Cup, with Alinghi in 2007, and sailed with Telefónica Blue in his only previous appearance in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2008-09.

A sailor since the age of six, the Brighton-born McDonald competed in the Olympics in 1988 and America’s Cups in 1995 and 2007. His first, short-lived, Volvo Ocean Race experience came in 1993-94 on the Maxi Fortuna, before the mizzen mast fell down, and he went on to compete in 1997-98 (Silk Cut), 2001-02 (Assa Abloy, as skipper from Leg 2 onwards), 2005-06 (Ericsson, skipper) and 2008-9 (Green Dragon). He is married to Lisa McDonald, who competed in two editions, with EF Education in 1997-98 and Amer Sports Too in 2001-02.

Arrarte, from the northern province of Santander, is one of the three under-30s on the team. He made his Volvo Ocean Race debut on Telefónica Blue last time out, having competed in the Athens Olympics in 2004. Known to his team mates as Patán, he celebrated his birthday during Leg 1, on 11.11.11. with a gift of chocolate from the crew.

Born in Alicante, now the race’s home, Ribes is an experienced boat builder with three previous editions of the Volvo Ocean Race to his credit. His first was with Amer Sports One in 2001-02 and he went on to sail with Movistar and Telefónica Blue in the last two editions. Before the current race, he became an ambassador to the Felix Mantilla Skin Cancer foundation with the aim of spreading awareness about the problem in the sailing world and beyond.

Fernández has sailed with his current skipper and fellow Basque Iker Martínez since 1999, when they got together in the 49er Olympic class. Since then they have won gold medals at the Sydney Games and silver in Beijing, and while their focus is very much on the Volvo Ocean Race they may yet be back for another Olympic campaign in London. Like Martínez, Fernández was part of the 2005-06 and 2008-09 Volvos and received word of their ISAF Sailor of the Year award during Leg 1.

One of the under-30s on board, Gills was born in Tasmania and is competing in the Volvo Ocean Race for the first time. “The new rule is perfect for giving us young ones the chance to break-in and learn," he said in a pre-race interview. "Without the rule I wouldn't be here." One of his main achievements in sailing to date has been in setting the monohull record in the Fastnet with ICAP Leopard in 2007, before it was broken by Abu Dhabi in 2011.