Adrienne Cahalan was the only woman competing in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. It is named after its current owner, Volvo...

 . She was a qualified lawyer and had a master’s degree in Applied Meteorology.

Adrienne grew up on the Lane Cove River

Lane Cove River

The Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour.-Description:...

 (part of Sydney Harbour)in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. After learning how to sail as a teenager, she began to race lasers

Laser (dinghy)

The International Laser Class sailboat, also called Laser Standard and the Laser One is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy. According the Laser Class Rules the boat may be sailed by either one or two people, though it is rarely sailed by two. The design, by Bruce Kirby, emphasizes...

 and was a member of the twelve-foot skiff

Skiff

The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...

 club. Since then Adrienne has been part of the Cheyenne crew which broke the Round the World World Speed Record in 2004; she has circumnavigated the globe on several projects, and has had four World Yachtswoman of the Year nominations. This is all with also having experience in three Volvo Ocean Races (formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Race) prior to her race in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race.

She has been the navigator on four line honours winners in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, Australia on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart. The race distance is approximately...

 including Wild Oats

Wild Oats

Wild Oats or wild oats may refer to:* Avena, a genus of grasses that includes the cereal oat* Chasmanthium latifolium or wild oats, a grass* Uvularia sessilifolia]] or wild oats, a bellwort* Wild Oats , a 1994 sitcom...

.