Alphagraphics

Darvelid has enlisted Tracy Edwards as shore manager

The dark horse of the race, little is known about the all-woman entry of Alphagraphics.

Swedish sailor Helena Darvelid, 34, will skipper Richard Tolkein's Open 60 Petit/Bouye with an all-woman crew.

  Alphagraphics

Skipper: Helen Darvelid

Nationality: Swedish

Age: 34

Co-skipper: Carol Archer

Crew: Asia Pajkawska, Fred Brule, Suzette Smith, Philippa Richards

Shore manager: Tracy Edwards

The boat was named by supermodel Jordan but whether the team live up to the razzamatazz remains to be seen.

The team's campaign did not get off to a good start.

They were forced to pull out of the Hoya Round the Island Race, which was being used as a warm-up, when they ran aground.

Darvelid was a member of the crew who in 1998 attempted an all-female circumnavigation under British skipper Tracy Edwards in The Race.

Indeed, Edwards is to be the shore manager for the project.

Edwards: Made her mark in the 1990s

The match-up between Edwards, Britain's sailing star of the 1990s, and Ellen MacArthur, the queen of the waters in the new millennium, will be intriguing.

Edwards, the first woman to complete the Whitbread Round the World race in 1990, will not sail on Team HD but provide crucial land-based back-up and advice.

According to the race organisers, Darvelid is a certified Yacht Master Darvelid who has completed over 200,000 miles of ocean sailing in during her career to date.