“And Dean, it was clear from that, it wasn’t on his
radar and all of a sudden Jimmy gave him something to
think about – which no one thought would come true at
the time but it did.”
It may just be friendly banter between you and your
mates that you are racing against but getting into
someone’s head can ruin their regatta, whether it is the
America’s Cup or a local event, the pressure is there and
any bit of doubt will hurt.
Murray explained, “You can’t help but think these sorts
of things weigh on people’s minds and it is the same as a
heavy weight title fight, all the teasing and banter that goes
on before those sorts of big events, it’s all part of playing
with people’s heads."DON’T PANIC
The key to being a good skipper, as we have discovered, is
remaining positive. Knowing that your boat is ready, your
crew is ready, you are prepared for anything, will reduce the
negative thoughts and keep you mentally prepared.
“Yacht racing, a big part of it, is all about boat
preparation, preparation of the crew and sails and the
whole boat and obviously you want to go on the race
course knowing you have a boat that is capable of
winning races. Clearly using those tools in the best way
you can. And approaching a series, it is important because
they are generally long and consistency is vital, having a
bad score is probably the worst thing you can do because
it can bring you undone.”TEAMWORK
While keeping the boat fully prepared, remaining positive
and having a good crew is important, if you don’t respect
your crew or your crew doesn’t respect you, it is going
to be hard to get the results you are capable of and keep
everything positive.TOP: Keeping the owner happy is important for any skipper,
here Bob Oatley is watching his maxi cross the finish line in
the Sydney Hobart Race.
ABOVE: Jimmy Spithill remained positive throughout the
America’s Cup press conferences despite being 8-1 down.
RIGHT: Mark Richards and Ken Read congratulate each
other after a hard fought race.“Having a bad score is probably tHe worst tHing you
can do because it can bring you undone.”
34
AUSTRALIAN SAILING (^) + YACHTING
APRIL-MAY 2015 MYSAILING.COM.AU
ACEA/ABNER KINGMAN
SKIPPER PSYCHE