US Edition 
Volvo Ocean Race: Abu Dhabi Racing's Justin Ferris leaves campaign and replaced by Ben Ainslie's rival
One of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s senior crew members, Justin Ferris, has left the campaign with half the Volvo Ocean Race still to go, though skipper Ian Walker has played down suggestions of disagreements among his crew.
Ferris, an experienced helmsman and trimmer from New Zealand who started his Volvo Ocean Race career with EF Language in 1997, left the team after they arrived in Auckland following another disappointing leg.
It was a mutual decision, said Walker, who announced Ferris’ replacement as 39 year-old Australian Anthony Nossiter, an Olympic rival of Ben Ainslie's who competed on Djuice Dragons in the 2001-02 whitbread Race.
Walker said: “Maybe it was coming back to New Zealand or maybe it was not having seen his kids for six months I don’t know but both of us felt we were not getting the best out of each other and we should try something different. It was fairly mutual really.”
Abu Dhabi started this Volvo Ocean Race as favourites to win with a Bruce Farr-designed boat built by Jason Carrington and a crew packed with offshore experience and talent.
But after dismasting six hours into the race on the first leg from Alicante to Cape Town, they have recorded three consecutive fifth place results and their disappointing performance now rates as the biggest surprise of this race.
After 20,000nms completed, the boat appears to excels only in a small range of conditions and to date, those optimum conditions have eluded the fleet. Also as the race has progressed, talk of problems in the crew have gathered pace with Ferris’ departure giving credence to the stories.
Walker admits his job has been made more complicated by their disappointing performance but was at pains to point out his crew remains a tight unit.
“Everyone who understands the race will see what’s going on. We have been off the pace and in that situation, it doesn’t matter who you’ve got on the boat and how good mates they all are, if the boat is not as quick up or downwind, you are not going to win the race.
“We have to come to terms with the situation and work with what we have got.
“When things don’t go well, it becomes a test of spirit and a test of resolve trying to hang in to better days but the notion that we are not doing well because the crew are not getting on is entirely false,” he said.
Walker is hoping the boat and new crew will come into its own in the fifth leg through the Southern Ocean from Auckland to Itajai where there will be plenty of running downwind which should suit the boat better.