00.00 Dee Caffari, Turn the Tide on Plastic
00.47 David Witt, Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
01.20 Xabi Fernández, MAPFRE
01.33 Bouwe Bekking, Team Brunel
02.03 Charlie Enright, Vestas 11th Hour Racing
02.21 Charles Caudrelier, Dongfeng Race Team
02.52 Simeon Tienpont, Team AkzoNobel
03.19 ENDS

Dee Caffari: The Rolex Fastnet is definitely an ocean classic. It’s one of those 600-milers, there’s a number of them on the Rolex calendar, and people generally have it on their Wishlist, their to-do list, their bucket list that they want to tick off and I know that for some of my crew it’s their first ever Fastnet race and they’re super excited.
Any miles on the water is very good training in preparation for the Volvo Ocean Race and when you have the whole fleet together it really gives some good perspective on where you’re slacking off and how much work you need to do.
The Rolex Fastnet race is great training ground, it’s got a lot of shifts and the intensity needs to be full on.
You have a lot of tidal gates, you have a lot of sail changes ahead plus obviously the strategy against the other boats. It really does test every single member of the crew. It’s going to be full on. Not a lot of sleep, a lot of work and I think they’ll be exhausted when they finish in Plymouth

David Witt: We’re lucky because Leg Zero hasn’t been here before. And coming in late, we’d be two legs into the race, miles behind the rest and trying to catch up.
The longer we can sail on the same water as MAPFRE and Dongfeng the more we’re going to learn. And hopefully we have until Alicante to get the boat motored properly. Just don’t expect us to set the world on fire until the real stuff happens.

Xabi Fernández: The main goal of Leg Zero is to see where everyone is, and to see how our sail changes are, our performances, it’s going to be very interesting.

Bouwe Bekking: Yeah the Rolex Fastnet Race, looks like quite an easy one this time. We’ll be sailing upwind all the way until Land’s End, and then there’s actually a little system is developing, first we get no wind and then the big shift to the right, but then once we round the Fastnet Rock it looks like there will be nice smooth sailing, 18-20 knots downwind to Plymouth and the we’ll arrive on Tuesday, somewhere near midnight.

Charlie Enright: We’re more focused on ourselves right now, and not the other boats, because we’re just sailing as a team for the first time this week.

Charles Caudrelier: It’s the first time we are all going to sail off-shore against the other boats so it’s important to see where we are amongst the other boats. It’s a good race to train, to start racing together, because we have been training but not racing too much and we have a new team member.

Simeon Tienpont: Pretty excited with this weather. It’s good, there’s been such a build-up to get a campaign from nothing on the ground to where we are at now and I think it is more than a rewarding feeling to start doing proper racing and to feel as a crew that we’re ready for it, to get to the next step and learn and see where we are at.
Crew lists:
Vestas 11th Hour Racing: Charlie Enright (skipper, USA), Simon Fisher (GBR), Mark Towill (USA), Phil Harmer (Aus), Tom Johnson (Aus), Tony Mutter (NZ), Nick Dana (USA), Abby Ehler (GBR), Hannah Diamond (GBR). Onboard Reporter: Martin Keruzore (FRA)

Dongfeng Race Team: Charles Caudrelier (skipper, FRA), Pascal Bidegorry (FRA), Daryl Wislang (NZ), Carolijn Brouwer (NED), Marie Riou (FRA), Horace (Jinhao) Chen (CHI), Jeremie Beyou (FRA), Stuart Bannatyne (NZ), Jackson Bouttell (GBR/FRA). OBR: Jeremie Lecaudey (FRA)

MAPFRE: Xabi Fernández (skipper, ESP), Joan Vila (ESP), Antonio "Ñeti" Cuervas-Mons (ESP), Pablo Arrarte (ESP), Robert Greenhalgh (GBR), Blair Tuke (NZ), Támara Echegoyen (ESP), Sophie Ciszek (AUS), Willy Altadill (ESP). OBR: Ugo Fonollá (ESP)

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag: David Witt (skipper, AUS), Steve Hales (GBR),
Luke Parkinson (AUS), Mark Fullerton (NZ), Alex Gough (AUS), Ben Piggott (AUS), John Fisher (UK). OBR: Konrad Frost (GBR)

Team AkzoNobel: Simeon Tienpont (skipper, NED), Jules Salter (GBR), Brad Jackson (NZ), Joca Signorini (BRA), Roberto 'Chuny' Bermúdez (ESP), Nicolai Sehested (DEN), Brad Farrand (NZ), Martine Grael (BRA), Emily Nagel (trialling, BERMUDA). OBR: James Blake (NZ)

Team Brunel: Bouwe Bekking (skipper, NED), Carlo Huisman (NED), Kyle Langford (AUS), Alberto Bolzan (ITA), Jens Dolmer (DEN), Annie Lush (UK). Rest of the crew to be confirmed. OBR: Richard Edwards (GBR)

Turn the Tide on Plastic: Dee Caffari (skipper, GBR), Liz Wardley (Aus), Nicolas Lunven (FRA), Bernardo Freitas (POR), Annalise Murphy (IRE), Francesca Clapcich (ITA), Henry Bomby (UK), Lucas Chapman (AUS), Andrew McLean (NZ), Annika Zayac (USA). OBR: Jen Edney (USA)