While having a great time in Spain last week I took with me a bit of Clipper reading... not the Clipper recommended text book reading, this was 'Team Spirit' by Brendan Hall. Brendan skippered Spirit of Australia to victory in the Clipper Round the World Race 2009-10.
It's a great read, well written and gripping throughout, a must for those who plan to sail with Clipper or maybe just follow the race, also anyone who wants to understand what makes good leadership or maybe even just see what lies ahead for me (gulp!).
It's a great read, well written and gripping throughout, a must for those who plan to sail with Clipper or maybe just follow the race, also anyone who wants to understand what makes good leadership or maybe even just see what lies ahead for me (gulp!).
Racing round the world on a yacht as an amateur will be hard enough... being the Skipper in charge of 19 amateurs takes it to a whole new level.
Here is an extract from the book... Hold on tight!
I was so worried, I was physically sick.
I've skippered a lot of boats in heavy weather, but I'd never felt like this before. The only thought in my mind was that people die in conditions like this.
The boat lurched sideways as it was struck by another massive North Pacific wave and I was thrown against the wall of the boat toilet. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and the fear was written on my face.
Come on! Be Strong, Brendan. We'll get through this. You'll keep them safe. Man up. Be strong.
Outside, up on the deck of out 68ft racing yacht, the crew struggled to turn the wheel as we were struck side-on by that 50ft wave. The impact was like being T-boned by a lorry. The boat jolted sideways and lay over on its side. A 3-ton wall of white, frothing water flooded over the deck. The helmsman was thrown off balance and fell backwards towards the ocean below, brought to a jarring halt when his safety tether went taut. The back-up helmsman, who was braced when the wave struck, grabbed the wheel and forced it over at the boat struggled upright again. 'Are you ok, guys?' shouted a scared voice from the hatch. The back-up helm gave the thumbs up.
It was pitch black, the hurricane-force storm was reaching its violent crescendo, the crew were frightened and we were smack in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from the safety of land. We had already taken a pounding and the next 12 hours were going to be some of the longest of our lives.
I had to be a strong leader, keep a strong, calm face and tell the crew that we were going to be fine. That's what they needed to hear. But we weren't fine - the waves outside were enormous and every 20 minutes or so we would get smashed by one from an unusual angle, like the one that just got us. Fatalistic as it sounds, I knew that if there was a massive one out there with our name on it, it would get us, roll us over, snap our mast off and possibly drown the crew up on deck. We couldn't see it and we certainly couldn't avoid it.
I gave reassurance, I put on a calm face and stayed strong. We were as safe as we could be in the conditions and we were prepared for the worst. But the nightmare thought remained.
People die in conditions like this.
'Team Spirit' by Brendan Hall, available from amazon.
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