W
hen Ben Ainslie
began to form a
team with a view
to winning the
America’s Cup,
one of the first calls he made was to
Kiwi, Jonathan ‘Jono’ Macbeth. The
pair sailed together with Oracle Team
USA for the 2013 match and, ultimately,
he was persuaded to leave Oracle and
come to work for Land Rover BAR.
Macbeth has made a career from
the America’s Cup, working first
for his national team in Team New
Zealand – initially under Sir Peter
Blake then Russell Coutts. He was
part of the team’s successful defence of
the trophy in 2000 and stayed on for
both the 2004 and 2007 campaigns.
He was then picked up by Oracle
Team USA for its victorious Deed of Gift
challenge in 2010 and stayed with the
team for the successful defence in 2013.
This impressive CV, you might think,
is the sort born of a lifetime spent
sailing, man and boy. But Macbeth
admits he was actually focused
elsewherebeforeachancemeeting
with Blake: “At the time I met Peter,
TeamNewZealandwasjustbackfromtheir win in San Diego and looking for
grinders. While I was competing at a
national level in endurance sports, my
sailing experience was very limited.”
In fact he was working in a kayaking
store when he met New Zealand’s most
famous yachtsman. The two got on
well and Blake invited Macbeth out on
the AC boat. And the rest is history.
Speaking with Macbeth it is quickly
clear that this initial taking a chance
on a youngster has cast a long shadow.
In particular, in his position with Land
Rover BAR, he has not only focused
on the sailors who formed a core of the
race crew, but has been instrumental
in the set up and running of the
Land Rover BAR Academy team.
Clearly the Land Rover BAR Academy
programme has been a success, with one
of them called up to the senior sailing
team to race in the Cup and more visibly,
the team taking victory in the Red Bull
Youth America’s Cup. The second of
theseachievementsyoumighttaketobe
a significant aim of the Academy and as
such I wondered about its continuation
should the next Cup not feature a Youth
element. “At the moment we know as
much as everyone else about whetherLEADING
BY EXAMPLE
How has Land
Rover BAR’s
Jono Macbeth
pushed himself,
his team and a
new generation of
sailors to exceed
their sailing goals?
TOBY HEPPELL
finds out
FEATURE GOAL SETTING
HARRY K-H/LAND ROVER BARMarch 2018 Yachts & Yachting 65