Volvo Ocean Race: "I challenge him to take back the record"

Fast, strong, brave, smart and beautiful: that's the Brazilian 49erFX sailor Martine Grael. With the Dutch team AkzoNobel and skipper Simeon Tienpont, the 27-year-old from Rio de Janeiro set a new 24-hour record of 602.51 nautical miles during the ninth leg of the race. The old record was held by Martine's father Torben Grael. He had already achieved an impressive 596.6 nautical miles in 24 hours with his team on "Ericsson 4" in the 2008/09 race around the world. Barely ashore, his daughter now sent cheeky greetings to the five-time Olympic medallist, double Olympic champion and Volvo Ocean Race triumphant, saying in an interview: "I challenge him to get the record back. I'm pretty sure we'll have some pretty fast boats in the next edition of the race. Who knows..." Rumour has it that Martine has already given her father a new nickname in Cardiff: "Captain Slow".

Martine Grael, who had her home country at her feet when she raced to gold in the 49erFX with her foresailor Kahena Kunze in Rio's Guanabara Bay in 2016, is the first Brazilian woman to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race. Her skipper Simeon Tienpont has repeatedly given her top marks during the nine legs so far: "Our sport is pretty male-dominated, but there are some incredible women out there. Martine is one of them. Her fighting spirit and her attitude to competition are inspiring. She's an asset to any team!" Martine Grael was motivated to take part in the race not only by her father, who took part in the Volvo Ocean Race three times, but also by the British explorer Ernest Shackleton and his adventurous voyages.

AkzoNobel skipper Simeon Tienpont had been among those in favour of the new rule for the race around the world from the start, which had led all teams to hire female crew members. Tienpont had said before the race: "I now have a three-year-old daughter. If she likes sailing, then I'm happy that she can now hang a poster above her bed with one of our girls in the Southern Ocean in the mast." Perhaps one day it will be Martine Grael in action, hanging Tienpont's daughter as a picture on her wall.