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10:00 PM Fri 8 May 2009 GMT
Green Dragon has announced their crew for the In Port race this Saturday 9th May in Boston. The team will feature a new line up including additional grinders in the form of America's Cup veteran John Barnitt and newcomer Scott Millar.
Also onboard will be Green Dragon shore team regulars Johnny Mordaunt and and James Carroll. With navigator Ian Moore currently on leave in the UK the team has been re-organised to accommodate some change in roles. Skipper Ian Walker will take on the role of tactician, a role he is familiar with from his time on the America's Cup circuit, Green Dragon watch captain Neal McDonald will step up to take on the helm for this race and Damian Foxall will move to the mainsheet.
'We are quite lucky really that a lot of the guys on the boat are pretty flexible. Obviously Neal has been a skipper before, Neal probably does more helming than anyone else on the boat offshore. It is not like it is new for him and in fact historically I've done a lot more tactics than I've done helming. I hoping it might work really well. In an In Port race in light winds we want to do well. In China we were within a whisker of winning the day, we certainly don't go out there thinking 'oh sixth is good, or fifth is good', we want to beat as many boats as possible. It is quite a big ask of Neal with just one day to practice to then straight into helming an In Port race. It says a lot about Neal that he is prepared to step up and do that in the limelight.'
Ian Walker, Skipper Green Dragon - Listen to the interview in full here
John Barnitt (USA)
John has a sailing career spanning over 20 years, a veteran of the America's Cup he has sailed on four editions of the Cup and won the prestigious title three times. He started his career with Dennis Conner on Stars & Stripes in 1987, sailed the infamous 1988 catamaran vs. monohull match and in 1992 experienced the early days of the new Cup Class. After some time out, he joined Alinghi in Auckland for the victorious 2003 America's Cup. In 2007 he then joined Alinghi as sports director for the sailing team.
AMERICA'S CUP:
1987 Stars & Stripes
1988 Stars & Stripes
1992 Stars & Stripes
2003 Alinghi; Starboard Grinder
2007 to 2009 Alinghi Sports Director
Scott Millar (IRL)
Scott Millar (26) from Northern Ireland, returns to Green Dragon after being a part of the shore preparation team last year. Scott sailed onboard Green Dragon for the 2000-mile qualification passage and was based in Alicante with the team as they prepared for the 37,000 mile race. Scott is a graduate of the Volvo RYA Keelboat squad and has raced numerous boats from Beneteau 25s all the way up to Maximus. At 6 ft 4' and 96kg Scott can expect plenty of hard work but as a former representative rugby player that will come as no shock. In-between sailing Scott has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at Auckland University where he worked alongside America's Cup syndicates in the Auckland University wind tunnel.
Green Dragon Crew List
IAN WALKER (GBR) - Skipper/ Tactician
NEAL McDONALD (GBR) - Helm
DAMIAN FOXALL (IRL) - Mainsheet
SCOTT MILLAR (IRL) - Trav/Runners
PHIL HARMER (AUS) - Trim
ANDREW MCLEAN (NZL) - Pit
ANTHONY MERRINGTON (AUS) - Trim
JUSTIN SLATTERY (IRL)- Bow
FREDDIE SHANKS (GBR) - Bow
JAMES CARROLL (IRL) - Pit Assist
JOHNNY MORDAUNT (IRL) - Grinder
JOHN BARNETT (USA) - Grinder
GUO CHUAN (CHN) - Media Crew Member
www.greendragonracing.com
by Lucy Harwood
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