The art of motivation - our third fastnet qualifier - written by Pauline Errey

01 Jul 2013 18:27 | Anonymous
As our Fastnet campaign continues, this weekend saw Javelin & her crew schlep out to Dieppe & back. This race provided some useful learning & insights into crew motivation.

So how can you tell what the motivation levels are on the boat? Here are some of the signals:

So focused on racing & winning that they forget to wash for 3 days.
Bounce out of their bunk with a ready smile when roused once again from their sleep when they are off watch.

Understand the need to keep their energy levels high so they are coiled, primed & ready to spring into action when required. One top nutritional source was mini chilli beef pasties (apparently they taste scrummy – so scummy that 3 crew ate all of them before the Skipper & I could even get a look in!) However, the gold standard was the pre-made toasted cheese & ham sandwiches, rewarmed in the oven on Saturday & also eaten cold from the fridge on Sunday. Nothing tastes better, particularly when sitting in fog early Sunday morning just off the end of the Traffic Separation Zone, dodging big ships.
Will stop at nothing to raise morale - from flashing their boxers at the helm when they went off for a fag, to offering to rummage & retrieve my half a chunky Kit Kat I’d saved for later & now couldn’t access as it was buried under my life jacket, oilies etc. As for some of the other suggestions on how to pass the time as we were wallowing mid channel – my lips are sealed. What happens on the boat, stays on the boat.
How to Motivate Racing Teams

1. Have a Racing Groupie.

In our case this is Kate (the RBYC Commodore) on her yacht Purple Mist. Friday night, just after we’d crossed the start line, Kate’s dulcet tones could be heard ringing out across the water as she motored towards us, waving to wish us luck.

Kate – likes to be in the midst of the action
It was very much appreciated – almost as much as the confusion she then created amongst our competitors as she ploughed her way across the start line (I’m joking – she missed most of them!).

2. Drink Copious Cups of Tea

It is highly recommended that once you have crossed the start line you put the kettle on. Do not be distracted by the fact that all the other boats are putting their spinnakers up. Keeping the crew hydrated is far more important. You will then be able to sit comfortably, drinking your cuppa & watch all the other boats broach & rip their spinnakers.

3. Have a Pit Boss – in the Pit

Unfortunately Tanya, our pit boss, was sick & not able to do the race this weekend. This left Peter, the poor Skipper, watching in angst at the helm while his two spinnaker cockpit novices valiantly endeavoured to work out guys from sheets (both red!!) using novel & highly unprofessional aide memoirs eg ‘pull the guys’ which are the thicker of the two red lines became the ‘pull the fat bloke’. This did cause low levels of immature teenage like sniggering from one of the cockpit team each time she got to say it – sorry!

Sooo funny ….
Alex, our First Mate & Bow Boss, did try to take on Tanya’s role & direct activities from the bow. It was quite hard to hear her though, particularly when she was all wrapped up in the spinnaker – oops let go of the wrong line again.

4. Have Team Racing Gear

After our first Fastnet feeder race we decided to get team jackets. This week we got to try them on for size. They look really smart – although the men’s seem to have a unique design feature & give all our guys moobs. Maybe I should wear a man’s top ….

How NOT to Motivate Racing Teams

1. The Course

Picture the scene. 1900 start at Cowes. Head off out to the forts past Portsmouth (arrived there at 2030), out to Owers past Selsey Bill then turn BACK AROUND, beat upwind & against a springish tide & go all the way back to Nab tower BEFORE you start heading off across the channel. EIGHT hours after having left Cowes we were finally back at Nab Tower. I can officially declare that that is one of the few times I have been right royally grumpy while on a boat. All that work to go absolutely nowhere.


Then if that wasn’t bad enough, we got halfway across the channel & ran out of wind. Javelin is a heavy boat that goes on strike when there is less than 10 knots of wind. So after having spent most to of the night slogging our way back to Nab Tower we then flopped & wallowed, drifting with the tide in the channel. Seeing our boat speed record 0.0 kn – was the low point of our race. I know that there was (probably) a very good reason for the course being designed the way it was – but that doesn’t mean I have to like it & I didn’t.

2. The Committee Boat Calling it a Day

After wallowing for hours the wind did finally pick up & we got going again. As we neared the French coast, we started to hear Ocean 1 (the Race Committee boat) talking to the boats as they were finishing. Spirits revived we sailed on with new vigour. Then, over the airwaves, Ocean 1 declared they were leaving their station ie they’d had enough, their moules & frites were on order & they couldn’t wait around any longer for the dawdlers. To be fair, the first boats had finished 5 1/2 hours before we did but we were by no means the last!

See you later alligator!
Seriously though guys. Could you not leave your boat on station & a light on below then take your radio with you to the restaurant & pretend when we hail you that you are still there waiting to receive us & recognise the sterling efforts we’ve made to get there – eventually???

3. Boats Returning Before you’ve Arrived

As if that wasn’t bad enough, we also had the indignity of seeing boats heading back across the Channel having finished the race & turning back for home. Polite request – please choose a different route home so you don’t have to sail past us.

Thoroughbreds power through water
At least AIS doesn’t let them programme in a ring tone – otherwise we would have been hearing Queen ‘We are the Champions’ blaring out at us as they passed. In return from us they’d have heard – ‘Highway to Hell!’

We on the other hand – time for another cuppa
4. Checking the RORC Website

Monday morning I woke up & checked to see where we had come in our class. While my expectations were not high, I was somewhat surprised to see that apparently we had ‘not yet finished’. Was I dreaming & I wasn’t actually at home in my lovely comfy bed but still wallowing in the channel 3 days after having set off from Cowes. No – fortunately a few hours later the results were updated. 18th in our class.

5. Disrupted Sleep

Sleep is as essential as ensuring everyone is fed & watered throughout the race. Clearly we have these latter two nailed. We are not so good though on managing sleep. As we were only 5 crew, our watch system was modified, (in theory) to 4 hours on & 3 hours off with one off watch being only 2 hours long. However, we discovered that it was really helpful to:

Rouse people from their bunks regularly when they were off watch. For maximum effect, don’t do this too soon after they’ve gone to their bunk, or they’ll get up quickly, be focused on the task & get back into their bunk ASAP. Much better to wait until about half way through their time off watch. Then they’ll be fast asleep, take a while to get up on deck & fumble their way through whatever it was you wanted doing, by which time there’s no point in them going back into their bunk so they suggest the next person goes off early instead – sweet!

Wodda ya want & why?
Don’t remind people that their smart phones are just that & will auto correct to French time once you hit French waters. As a result they’ll turn up an hour early & be roped into putting the kettle on, by which time they are wide awake & there’s no point in them going back to bed so the next person might as well go off early – result!
Create a peaceful environment. This is best achieved by leaving metal coat hangers in the cabin lockers that rattle incessantly every time the boat goes over a wave. Once you notice that they’ve managed to track down this source of irritation & sort them out, test your gas alarm. Turn on the gas (for another cup of tea obviously) & if you discover that this trips the gas alarm, take the time to investigate it properly & see if you can fix it. After all safety first, sleep second.
So 246 miles later we managed to complete the course & get back safely. Fog, encountered just as we were got to the outskirts of the TSS, made for an interesting trip on the way back. This provided us with a chance to have a chat to our fellow competitors on One Life (HSY) & a man with a gorgeous midnight DJ voice on Hooooot Stuuuufff, who were in the pea soup with us. Also got to hear the conversations with some of the big boats making some distinct but slightly random turns (towards us!)

Next St Malo – in two weeks time. Yippee!!

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