‘I’m 47, it’s too late to change’: David Witt ready for Hong Kong’s Scallywag to return to winning ways
Skipper says it has been a mentally tough time since tragedy struck the crew and admits he can’t wait for the race to finish
Skipper David Witt and his Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag crew are ready to start winning again in the Volvo Ocean Race after a difficult couple of months in which they suffered the tragedy of losing teammate John Fisher.
Scallywag were in sixth place soon after the start of leg nine from Newport as the seven-boat fleet started the relatively short 3,300-nautical mile journey across the Atlantic to Cardiff, in Wales early on Monday morning (Hong Kong time).
China’s Dongfeng Race Team was leading the fleet heading east towards the United Kingdom.
“We are learning to sail better and obviously we had a bit of a tragedy that set us back on the scoreboard and personally, but we’re ready to get back to where we were before all that happened and, hopefully, with double points we can get back,” said Witt before leaving Newport.
Scallywag won leg four from Melbourne to their home port in Hong Kong before a second place behind Team AkzoNobel in leg six from Hong Kong to Auckland, New Zealand.