Tension, Temperament and Trust

Tension, Temperament and Trust

by Mark Jardine 1 Oct 05:00 PDT

Sailing an AC75 is obviously not something every sailor can do. The myriad of controls, the split roles and the incredible speeds all make it a tricky proposition, but when you’re sailing against an evenly-matched opponent, the difficulty goes to a whole new level.

This is the situation for the teams on board INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, currently taking place in Barcelona. They’ve alternated wins, and there has been some incredibly exciting racing, but notably there hasn’t been an overtaking manoeuvre during a race (that has finished) over the first four days.

The tension is highest for the sailors in the pre-start, where the boats are closest together, and everyone is aware just how important the start is. Getting out of your opponent’s dirty air, or ‘gas’ as it is sometimes referred to, is seriously tricky, and you end up relying on a good windshift to make gains, or a slip-up by the other team.

It doesn’t help that the wind shadow is in front of you downwind as well as upwind, so the leader holds all the cards. The temperament needed to keep calm in the pre-start when you know this is the case, is extraordinary. This is what separates the great champions from good sailors: the psychological difference that allows you to make the correct decisions under the most extreme pressures.

Despite being British, and a staunch supporter of INEOS Britannia, I am in awe of Jimmy Spithill’s temperament. Time and time again he’s shown he has what it takes when the going gets tough.

Wind back to San Francisco in 2013, when he was the Skipper of ORACLE TEAM USA who were 8-1 down to Emirates Team New Zealand in the first-to-nine series. In that press conference, which has now become immortalised, he quipped, “Imagine if they lost it from here” – the rest was history.

The commentators joke about his heart rate being far lower than his co-skipper Checco Bruni during races. When you hear him talk during the racing his voice sounds like he’s just woken up on a leisurely Sunday morning and is asking what the time is. The man has ice in his veins.

Together with Bruni, the port-side helm of Luna Rossa, the Italian team have a formidable pair of sailors who have formed an incredible bond and relationship in the boat. They were the ones to pioneer the twin-helm setup in the AC75s, back in Auckland during the last America’s Cup, and the length of time the two have now been sailing together in this way is reaping benefits. The communication between them is clear and concise, the trust between them is absolute.

On INEOS Britannia, the pairing between Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher is new. Dylan was only drafted in to the port driver’s seat a couple of days ahead of the preliminary regatta, when nearly everyone outside the British camp thought Giles Scott would fill that role.

The move, in my opinion, was a masterstroke, not because Fletcher is a better sailor than Scott, but because he brings something different to the table. Ainslie and Scott have come through the same route in sailing, both being multiple Finn Olympic gold medallists, whereas Fletcher brings his skiff and International Moth experience.

The only error, if it can be regarded as such, was that the change was so late. The helms on an AC75 need to be working as one, akin to how Spithill and Bruni do. There is no time or place for, “Are you sure?” By the time you’ve got the reply a hundred metres have passed under the bustle and an opportunity is lost.

The British sailors have got wound up at times during the Louis Vuitton Cup, be it due to umpire judgements, close calls, windshifts or fluffed manoeuvres. When the same happens on Luna Rossa they’re all business. Take, for example, when the Italian boat’s rudder has stalled, causing the boat to either slide sideways or fall off the foils completely. Jimmy Spithill can be heard saying “Down trav, ride height, power boys,” in six words relaying to his team exactly what is needed to get them back on track.

The phrase that is used within the camps, mentioned post-race, and used widely throughout sport is ‘Trust the Process’. Elite athletes train for any given situation so many times that executing it under pressure becomes second nature. We see it time and time again in other sports, from a rugby or American football player lining up for a kick between the posts, to a hurdler visualising their run ahead of the final. When the tension is greatest, they trust the process and execute when it counts.

If anything, on an AC75 the process is even more important, as each sailor needs to be carrying out their tasks in perfect unison with each other. These are remarkable boats, sometimes travelling at five times the windspeed and seeming to defy what we know about physics. Adjusting them to the vagaries of the sea and wind does put sailors into uncomfortable situations, where they need to react as one.

Temperament stems from trust. Trust in your team mates, trust in your boat and trust in yourself. That trust develops over time, and it is more time together that Spithill, Bruni, and the rest of the Luna Rossa team have had.

The INEOS Britannia team is developing fast, and when you look at the performance curve, the British team’s is steeper, which would suggest that as the competition goes on they will improve even more, but will it be in time to beat Luna Rossa? The trust is building, the temperament is improving, but also the tension is mounting.

I wrote back in August that this America’s Cup could, more than many others, come down to the sailors, and we’re seeing it playing out right now in Barcelona. It’s a feast for our eyes and is producing some nail-biters. The winner though has to then move on quickly to prepare themselves for the 37th America’s Cup Match itself against the holders Emirates Team New Zealand, and they’re looking ominously fast in practice.

I wish good luck and safe sailing to them all.

Mark Jardine

Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor