Meet the crew: Dominique Hausser

This week we catch up with Dominique, a Swiss crew member who is preparing to race 40,000 nautical miles around the world in 57 days’ time.

A former doctor who worked with the Swiss Sailing Federation, Dominique is a keen sailor with more than 50,000 nautical miles under his belt. Dominique recently completed his final level of race training.

Name: Dominique Hausser
Age: 60
Occupation: Retired MD
Nationality: Swiss
Signed up for: Clipper 2015-16 Race, Circumnavigation

What led you to sign up for the Clipper Race?

Since I was 20 years old it has been a dream of mine to sail round the world.

I already played a couple of virtual regattas, finishing 88^th out of 1565 finishing boats in the 2012 Vendée Globe

Why did you choose to do the full circumnavigation?

Like the vast majority of Team Olivier, I want a podium place come July 2016. I am very happy to be in Team Olivier and on CV24 (formerly Switzerland in the last edition of the race).

I am excited to do the Rolex Sydney Yacht Hobart race again, which I have also played the virtual race of as well.
One of my roles will be being responsible for the medical team with the principal objectives to prevent 1) Dehydration 2) Injuries 3) General infections

What have been the highlights of your Clipper Race experience so far?

My Level 4 training was excellent; it was a great experience to begin to sail with other crew members in Team Olivier and Skipper. While racing with my crew, we have discovered that the vast majority of my team are hoping to be on the podium in 2016.

Sailing with your fellow team mates you begin to think about how the team will be organised in the future. We have already begun to talk about different topics and team dynamics. We know what our team objectives are and now we are beginning to work on how to achieve these objectives.

I have enjoyed all the training from my Level 1, 2, 3, 4 and my Coxswain course. All of the training has been very different with different objectives to the courses. For me, if I am on a boat I am happy. I am just waiting to be back on board as soon as possible.

What has been the most challenging experience?

It’s a good exercise for people to learn to live without a lot of water for cleaning on board. You have to be ready to work hard with a nice team.

What do your family and friends think about you doing the race?

They are very happy for me. My son will be at the Olympic Games pre-test event in Rio de Janeiro and then in Israel for the World Championships. My family cannot make it to the stopovers but they will follow my progress on the race website and team blogs. My wife knows that when I am sailing, no news is good news!

To find out more about Dominique’s Clipper Race adventure, you can read his personal blog here.

If you would like to join Dominique and race the world’s oceans this year, please get in touch via the apply section of the website. We are now also recruiting for the Clipper 2017-18 Race.