Emily Nagel, the Team AkzoNobel sail trimmer, is convinced that fellow Bermudian Mustafa Ingham has what it takes to become a Volvo Ocean Race sailor.

Ingham is serving an apprenticeship with Team AkzoNobel’s Ocean Race rivals, Turn the Tide on Plastic, and is making steady strides alongside the most elite offshore sailors in the world.

“I know many experienced sailors who have wanted to get into the Volvo for years,” Nagel said. “Some have got into shore teams but very few can make the transition to sailors, normally because they aren’t big enough. Mustafa has realised that, not only is this an incredible opportunity, but also that he is the right build to be awesome in these boats.”

Turn the Tide on Plastic is a mixed, youth-focused team led by Britain’s Dee Caffari. The 44-year-old has built a multinational, 50-50 male-female squad, with the majority under 30 years of age.

Nagel and Ingham were former team-mates with Team BDA, Bermuda’s entry in last year’s Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, before the former joined 35th America’s Cup syndicate SoftBank Team Japan’s design team to put her naval architect expertise to use.

The two sailors bump into each other often these days on the Volvo Ocean Race circuit.

“I see Mustafa all the time,” Nagel, who won the 2014 International University Sports Federation Women’s Match Racing World Championships in Italy as a member of Team Vose-Glamour Racing, said. “I am so incredibly proud of him. He has recognised that the opportunity that has been given to him is truly incredible.

“I have watched him work hard and mature into a determined young man and I am so proud of my not-so-little brother!”

After five legs of the race around the world Team AkzoNobel are sixth and Turn the Tide on Plastic seventh in the Ocean Race standings. Yesterday saw Nagel’s team maintain their lead of the fleet on leg six of the race from Hong Kong to Auckland, New Zealand.

Nagel has not competed aboard her team’s Volvo Ocean 65 racing yacht since suffering a back injury on the third leg from Cape Town, South Africa to Melbourne, Australia.

The Volvo Ocean Race started in Alicante, Spain, in October and will conclude in The Hague, Netherlands, in June after 11 legs and 45,000 nautical miles of sailing.