‘We weren’t sure our plan would work’ – How Scallywag skipper David Witt came from nowhere to win Volvo Ocean Race HK leg
The Australian and his crew sailed into Hong Kong after a glorious journey from Melbourne during which they were without a key sail, had navigational issues and also had a man overboard
Hong Kong resident David Witt says he is not an emotional person but even he was unable to stem the surge of pride and joy when Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag – the Hong Kong-owned boat in the Volvo Ocean Race – sailed into Victoria Harbour as the winner of leg four from Melbourne.
The veteran sailor and his crew had to endure many obstacles in coming back from 90 nautical miles behind the fleet to overtake their six rivals with an amazing move that saw them cut the corner off the north-east coast of Australia and near the Solomon Islands.
All this while missing a key sail, using 70-year-old charts and having a man overboard. Witt spoke to the Post about their historic, 6,000 nautical mile run.
Soon after leaving Melbourne, Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag fell behind quite rapidly until you were 90-100 nautical miles behind the fleet. What happened?
Well, the first time we dropped back, we were sailing to the west because we wanted to be to the west the whole time. But we had a bit of a navigational issue, where the electronic navigational charts … the data didn’t match the paper charts. That area hasn’t been surveyed since world war two, so there was a discrepancy. It would have been a disaster if we had hit a reef or something, so we had to stop, turn around and re-evaluate the whole situation before we could continue. We we basically lost 50-60 miles but it was a safety issue there and safety is paramount.
You said it would have been catastrophic for Scallywag to finish last in this leg. What were your thoughts when you were 90 miles behind soon after leaving Melbourne?
I was concentrating hard on a plan on how we didn’t come last. I knew how … if we get a good result for the race I knew what it could do for Hong Kong sailing, what it would do for our team owner [Lee] Seng Huang, and I knew a poor performance just would not have any sort of effect on what we’re trying to do. And I’ve proved to be right. We’re lucky enough to win and I think sailing has already had a big boost here in Hong Kong. I knew the importance of the result.