It would be understandable if Greenhalgh, a driving
force behind the Magenta Project campaign to increase
the number of women in professional sailing, had had
second thoughts about joining the Scallywag crew. She
says she and Witt had “a strong conversation” before she
joined the boat. The last thing either of them wanted was
for the dynamic between them to fail.
Instead they picked up the team’s first ever win, driven
by a brave navigation decision at the Solomon Islands
(although controversaially it was later revealed race
control warned the boat of a nearby reef – see page 40).
Presumably she’d not be there if the she felt she wasn’t
being listened to? “I think one of the most refreshing
things about this boat,” she says, “is that it’s an open
platform. You can share your experience or knowledge or
thoughts on any aspect without it being ‘That’s not your
area’. That, for me, is also a really good thing because with
Team SCA I was really in a box; I was the navigator, didn’t
get involved in sailing really.
“That’s something Witty is a good advocate for. He’s like:
‘Right, everyone on this boat is a good sailor in their own
right, everyone should be engaging, pushing forward.’”
It’s no doubt the Leg 4 win has changed things for Witt
and the Scallywag crew – fans accosted him every time he
walked through the Hong Kong race village, and the team
base was seething with supporters every day. But success
brings a different type of stress, and Witt seemed almost
more weary as the hero than the underdog.
He admits the team was underprepared for the
shoreside element of the travelling circus that is the Volvo
Ocean Race.
But if he were offered a fully funded campaign, with
months of optimisation and strict training regimes,
would he take it – or would he
still prefer to do it his way?
“If SH asked me, yes. If
anyone else asked, probably
not. But who says that’s what it
takes [to win]?
“Having two years to prepare
and proper data, that’s exactly
what it takes. Having a
personal physio every day
when you get off the water, I
don’t think you need that to
win the race. I think that makes
the sailors precious.”
Whether the Volvo Ocean Race needs skippers like Witt
is another question. Ian Walker, winning skipper of the last
race, thinks it does. “He’s good for the race, he’s a character.”
Libby Greenhalgh says: “Everyone talks about the Volvo
needing to have more characters, and he’s almost being
taken down for it.
“No offence to some of the others, but we can watch
Mapfre and Dongfeng talk about 0.1 and 0.05 per cent
differences, and for the people you are trying to engage in
our sport it’s pretty dull.”
Witty says he’s just being himself. Certainly he’s pretty
unedited and makes it easy for others to draw a picture of
him as a controversial character.
He also says he doesn’t really care about what everyone
else thinks – a claim that doesn’t always sound very
convincing. But right now he’s racing around the world with
some of his closest mates, a home leg win under his belt, and
is probably going to arrive in Auckland on the overall
podium. Why should he care what anyone else thinks?Witty in his oWn Words
On selecting his team:
“Blokes I want to go war with, blokes I
would stand in a trench with, blokes
who would have my back in a bar
fight, they’re the guys I want to sail
around the world with.”On the ‘Breakfast Show’ video:
“When I finally saw what went to air, I
thought it’s a bit awkward, if you
want to view it that way. But when
you look at the raw footage, there’s a
whole bit cut out where Bessie’s
laughing her head off and giving it
back to us.”On crew numbers:
“I thought being lighter was better
and having seven people [was better].
I was wrong. The last bloke who never
made a mistake, he was nailed on
a cross.”On Alex Gough’s MOB:
“He got a bollocking. It was a fatherly
bollocking. It’s a silly thing to do in a
team environment and he’s a kid. I
don’t yell and scream, and I don’t
have that sort of leadership. So when
I do get a bit angry at somebody they
take it seriously.