mmediately after the announcement of
my Volvo Ocean Race team, Turn the Tide
on Plastic, back in June, my focus was on
crew trials and selection. Time was not on
my side and I knew when I embarked on the
project that I was not going to be able to trial as many
sailors as I would ideally have liked.
Within 24 hours of the announcement, all possible
channels of communication were being used by sailing
hopefuls to put themselves forward for trials.
Applications came in via email, my website and all the
social media platforms on which I have a presence. I have
never felt so popular! I didn’t even put out a formal
request; there was no need.
In fact, by not putting anything out publicly I had
unwittingly started the selection process: anyone who was
hungry enough for a place on board would fi nd me.
Anyone who wasn’t proactive or bright enough to do that,
wasn’t cut out to be on the team in the fi rst place.
My aim was to create a
youth-focused team with
an equal number of men
and women – a fi rst for
the Volvo Ocean Race and
unique among the teams
in this edition of the
event. I wanted to arrive at
the kind of gender
equality that is often
sought but rarely attained in so many walks of life.
I received three times as many male applicants as
female. I am sure there are reasons for this but what it
meant for me was that the pool from which I could choose
female sailors was much more limited.
One of the fi rst things I had to ascertain was availability.
It is no small thing to put your life on hold and give
yourself entirely to a sporting event. We will live, eat and
breathe the Volvo Ocean Race from now until the end of
June next year.
Sailing skill was a prerequisite but I also needed the crew
to be physically ready for the race. We don’t have the
luxury of being able to put a team through a planned
strength and conditioning programme, addressing any
weaknesses along the way; we need sailors at peakphysical fi tness from day one. At a very basic level, I had to
look at their vital statistics and what physical shape they
were in to assess whether they had the strength required
and how likely they were to get injured.
On the sailing front, I did not want to underestimate or
exclude anyone who did not have offshore miles or big
boat experience. This level of fl exibility allowed me to cast
the net wider when inviting sailors for trials and created
opportunities for individuals who perhaps wanted to take
their sailing career in a different direction.
Once I had ticked the boxes for availability, sailing skill
and physical fi tness, I looked at what secondary skills each
applicant had. What other strengths or knowledge did
they possess that would benefi t the team? It could be
anything from expertise in electronics or engineering to
rigging and sailmaking.
Another important factor in this campaign is being 100
per cent behind the message we are delivering for our
partners. We will be setting an example as we race around
the world and need to practise what we preach. It is no
good us telling others to avoid single-use plastic and then
buying disposable bottles of water to drink. At the risk of
sounding trite, we need to be the change we want to see.
Finally, I looked at personalities. The group of people
that will eventually become my team are going to spend a
very intense year together. At times they will be under
extreme pressure, physically and mentally exhausted,
and in hostile conditions. They need to be compatible.
Inevitably there will be niggles – we are human after all- and none of us is going to be happy all the time. But it is
how we deal with issues as they arise that will make or
break us as a team. It’s a long way around the world and we
need to have each others’ backs at every level.
It is important that we all agree on the objective and
how we are going to attain it. I give people responsibilities
that allow them to ‘own’ an area and, in turn, they feel
valued and part of the team.
On a practical level, it is important to cover illness and
injury and to rotate the crew. This provides each sailor an
opportunity to have a break and recharge. Without
exception, they will come back ready to go at full throttle
again and this fresh injection of enthusiasm at the start of
each leg is a great boost to a team, particularly as the race
progresses and fatigue sets in.
DEE CAFFARI
PICKING A VOLVO OCEAN RACE TEAM WITH AN EQUAL NUMBER OF MEN AND
WOMEN AND AN EMPHASIS ON YOUTH PUTS ME IN A UNIQUE POSITION‘We need sailors
at peak physical
fitness on day one’
I
18 November 2017