HAMPSHIRE sailor Sam Davies admits the Volvo Ocean Race is a steep learning curve for everyone onboard the all-female boat Team SCA.

Davies, from Hamble, saw her team finish the second leg of the round the world odyssey in Abu Dhabi early this morning.

They were the final boat to finish, with the leg winners having arrived in the middle east on Saturday.

Davies said: “We are still very much in a learning process.

“The crew are all learning together and applying what we learnt from leg 1 and putting this into practice for the second leg.

“This role is not easy, and the hardest part is the communication, knowing what is expected of me with the team after sailing single-handed for so long.

“There is a lot that I am trying to do better, trying to learn and looking ahead to do the best we can.

“In terms of conditions, leg one was relatively warm and dry but this leg really was extreme heat.

“We had some cold and windy weather at the beginning but I think everyone has forgotten what that felt like now.

“There aren't really any conditions we don't like being in because we learn something new each time. We are just trying to make the boat go as fast as possible in any speed and condition.”

A tactical error cost Team SCA dearly, resulting in them finishing well adrift of the leaders.

“We made a navigational decision and got left behind and weren't in amongst the other boats anymore which was hard, and having no chance to catch up was difficult during the end of the leg,” Davies added.

It has been all-new to us – none of us have sailed in the Indian Ocean apart from Dee (Caffari).”

Davies went on: “We learnt a lot from leg one and from this leg - it is just frustrating that it doesn't show in our results.

“If we hadn't made that mistake we would have been well in front of MAPFRE at the finish.

“Sometimes learning things the hard way makes you stronger and this is only leg twp with another seven to go.

“The positive thing is that we are coming out of this stronger and we are going to be even better.”

Caffari, from Gosport, admitted the end of the second leg was tough.

“Once we lost touch with the last couple of boats we were basically just sailing on our own,” she said.

“The faster way we will learn in this race is to be sailing alongside another boat, so we need to find the boat speed, stay with the pack and increase our learning as fast as possible that way.”

Click here to see the weather conditions Team SCA have had to endure in the Volvo Ocean Race.