‘It’s dark, windy, there’s big waves and you’re just going Wow!’

Annalise Murphy, 27, from Rathfarnham, Dublin, won silver in the Laser Radial sailing class at the 2016 Rio Olympics and hopes to compete in Tokyo 2020.

Sat, 21 Oct, 2017 - 01:00

But first she is crewing on one of the seven boats in the 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race.

Her boat, Turn the Tide On Plastics, skippered by experienced Briton, Dee Caffari, is promoting inclusivity and sustainability with an international youth crew that has a 50/50 male/female mix.

Q: When you were approached about this did you go ‘Yes!’ immediately or have to think about it?

It’s a fantastic challenge but even now I think ‘can I do it?’ Physically it’s very hard but the mental challenge of doing day-after-day, that’s what’s going to be really hard. I’m pretty realistic. I know there’ll be tough days and it’ll be about having a good attitude on those days and trying to get through it.

Q: These boats are one-design 65-footers which is about six times longer than your Laser so they must be lovely and roomy?

My Laser is actually roomier! We just have a carbon-fibre bunk-bed and share it with the person on the opposite watch from you so it’s one-out, one-in, four hours on, four hours off, and there’s six bunks on each side.

Q: How does the sailing differ from what you usually do?

I usually race alone for 50 minutes at a time. Now I’m part of a crew of 10 and some of the legs are 23 days non-stop.

There’s navigation, tacking and jibing and grinding. I do a lot of grinding because of my size and strength. All of our equipment has to be moved from one side of the boat to the other whenever we tack or jibe, to keep it balanced. A day’s food is 25 kilos so when you have a 23-day leg that’s about 300 kilos that has to be moved each time, as well as our spare sails and equipment.

Q: What’s this we hear about you having to cut your hair?

It’s not compulsory but the water is constantly washing over the deck so you’re always wet. Someone else will be getting into my bunk straight after me so having shorter hair will help to keep it dry. There’s also winches and stuff and if you got your hair caught in a winch it’d scalp you.

Q: Jeepers! Don’t you also usually suffer from sea sickness?

I’m better on deck and I’m fine when I’m asleep but yes, I still get sea-sick, especially

in the first 24 hours.

Q: How does ocean racing work?

Basically half the crew races the boat for four hours and then has four hours off, when your priority is to make yourself a meal and sleep. Apparently you get so tired that’s not

a problem.

Q: What’s the grub like?

It’s all freeze-dried. So it’s boil kettle, pour in, leave for 10 minutes to rehydrate and then you get your, er, delicious meal! It all has the texture of porridge but I quite like the chicken tikka one.We get three meals a-day plus three bars — two protein and one energy. You need to eat 4,000 calories every day.

Q: You’ve been training with the crew for a month in Portugal and some of it sounds incredible, especially this ‘Sea Survival’ course?

I did a Yachtmasters course, a medical course and a Sea Survival course. That was amazing: two days in an indoor environmental pool in Newcastle where they get waves going, torrential rain, lights off and you’re in the water in the dark, learning how to group together with or without a life-raft. The waves are tiny compared to what we’ll experience. Hopefully we’ll never need to use any of

this stuff.

Q: Is it true you’ve also learnt how to stitch cuts?

Yes. There’s three medics on board and I’m one. We did a six-day course with a

medical marine company WSOS so now I can do stitches, put in a cannula and give

injections!

Q: What if it’s a really bad injury and someone has to be evacuated?

It depends where you are and if they can get a helicopter to come and get you. I can put in a drip, we’ll have antibiotics and we can call a doctor 24/7 via video conference so they can talk us through it.

Q: What will be the hardest thing for you personally?

Not showering, especially on those 23-day legs. When it rains in the Tropics you can have a bit of a shower but otherwise we only have baby-wipes — biodegradable ones of course.

There is a toilet on the boat but there’s also the back of the boat, depending on the weather conditions. Apparently it’s good to wash your face with fresh water before you go to sleep so you don’t wake up all salty and crusty.

Q: With weight and balance so vital what are you allowed to bring?

A personal bag of 11 kilos — mostly clothes. Not our wet weather suits or boots but all the other basics: toothbrush, sunglasses, woolly hat, sun-cap, two sets of thermals and some underwear.

Q: Can you bring a phone?

No, but Volvo have created an app and are giving us iPod Touches which can take videos and pictures for uploading to social media. Basically we’ll be able to send messages but not receive. I could be posting ‘Hi Mum, come get me!’. Are you scared?

There’s going to be amazing and terrifying days. I’m probably most terrified by the fact that you’re on this boat and not getting off it until you get to the next destination. You can’t just say ‘Oh no, I’ve had enough here’.

Q: You’ve said some of the training has been amazing. Like what?

Like getting to steer the boat in the middle of the night. It’s dark, windy, there’s big waves and you’re just going ‘Wow!’ We steer manually, there’s no auto-pilot. You can only steer for 60 to 90 minutes, because of the concentration and also because the steering is so heavy you can get tendonitis in your arms.

You have a whole dashboard with numbers like your speed and angle which your navigator gives you. Basically you’re trying to get the fastest possible speed out of those numbers and angles.

Q: Any worries about how this might affect your Tokyo 2020 campaign?

No. I’ve sailed a Laser so much that I could sail it blind-folded with my hands tied behind my back. I sometimes do practise blind-folded for feel and things! This is a great opportunity.

I’ll be learning about sailing 24/7 and it will make me a better sailor, not a worse one. It also means I’ll be refreshed coming back into the Laser with two years to go to the next Olympics.

Annalise Murphy is a Liberty Insurance brand ambassador. Follow her jouney on Twitter — @TurnTidePlastic and @volvooceanrace