On Board Executive Teams in High End Sailing - 4 keys to Success

10 years ago a friend of mine at the top of the sport in the business of One Design Sailing dropped out of the sport. When he came back, I had never left from sailing 100+ days a year and it was obvious the time away had hurt his details, but not his passion. He quickly got reoriented, got back in the business and won a World Championship in the span of 3 years. Along the way we campaigned a J/24 together and won a lot of events, but never the big one, and when push came to shove we had to break up the band, he had a top Professional past World Champion ready to help and I had to run my family business and start a family of my own.

I have gotten to sail with some really incredible people over the years and some have them proven better at there jobs of sailing than many of senior executives I have met in the business world. Here are some of the things the best in sailing have taught me.

The following are 4 strategies used by nearly all high end teams in sailing, and are extremely similar to executive business best practice.

1. Study, learn and be active in getting better, there is no other way. Videos, practice, and talking to good people are the best, time on the water, but the learners win in sailing, like business!
2. You wont feel like practicing at non events, we are not olympians, but practice is where it is at. Shoot for a 2x practice to race ratio in hours and you will watch your results grow dramatically. Write down all rig settings, sail settings and journal all events in a spreadsheet. I have notes from every major regatta I have sailed in, in detail and review them prior to returning to that location.
3. Your ability to motivate retain and get/be onboard the best crew is part of the deal. Sometimes great team members are holding you back, sometimes its the other way around, try to find a balance and show appreciation for the opportunity and the chance to be on the team. Be on time. Don't roll in late smelling of Rum, fold the sails, wait to eat until all the work is finished.
4. Communication is absolutely the best skill you can have on a boat. Build and maintain your own clearly stated vocabulary you establish and build upon, including your own moves, like a mexican drop, a wing on wing, all of your coordination has to be done in words and be matched with timing and execution. Narrow key words to one word phrases, like, cut, trim, ease, full speed, half speed, luff, flat tack/gybe (no roll in big breeze, waves or being close to other boats). This alone creates a crisp time sensitive communication stream that is adaptable and proactive in very tight spots, and will save you 5-10 pts a regatta.