Completing the Transpac Race to Honolulu was for a long time a distant fantasy. I've always enjoyed challenges and particularly those involving endurance. In the four years that I've had Sauvage, I have acquired more and more confidence in her and myself as a sailor. I realized she could be an ideal Transpac racer, with considerable upgrades and a crew. So the Transpac would be a great test of me and the boat.. I had also gotten to a stage (and age!) in my life where I realized that if I was ever going to do some of those things I may have just considered, the time is now. Completing my first book just before the race was one of those.
Little did I know what I was getting into when I composed an ad for crew. I am reminded of a quote by Goethe "whatever you do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it". In what had to be one of the most fortuitous of circumstances, one the first individuals who responded said that not only he might be interested but he knew of several other guys who might also be interested. He, as did the others, belonged to the Ventura Yacht Club – my club. So in a matter of a week or two I had an 'instant', local, and veteran crew just about all of whom raced together, knew and got along with one another and three of whom had done the Transpac several times!
They had but one condition. The boat needed to be equipped and the crew trained to do nothing less than win our division. Which meant doing (spending!) what was necessary to equip Sauvage to win. I was in although at the time I had no idea of what 'being in' really meant.
The six months we have spent preparing for this race have totally transformed my sense of what this race is about. It's not about the boat (or the 'bike', as Lance would say) or me, it is really about the team. I have rarely met a more committed and skilled team in any endeavor. My role, in addition to providing the boat and funding, often just means getting out of their way and allowing them to do what they do best. At the same time I am learning a tremendous amount about ocean racing and equipping a boat to safely ocean race 24/7. This, I have learned, is a whole different game than ocean cruising.
It has not been unusual for me to wake up on a Sunday morning at 8:30AM and find one of the guys working on the boat installing a new alternator. Or climbing up the mast to rig a new tricolor nav light. Or showing up one afternoon with an emergency rudder he personally fabricated from steel and wood. Or seeing them spend both days of a weekend on the water, in team meetings or in attending weather and safety seminars. This all is done without any prodding or direction. Rather it is done solely on their own initiative. I could not buy this level of commitment.
In my work and book I speak about World Class construction teams. Team Sauvage, as we now call ourselves, embodies the best of those. Common goals; open, direct verbal communication; everyone 100% accountable for everything; continuous improvement; outside the box thinking; and, the team 'owns the game' = winning, safely, with no excuses.
We have acquired a shared passion which to me is a priceless state of being in today's world. Regardless of how we finish, we can say that we know we did the best we could as individuals, and as a team, to prepare for and sail this race. It will be an experience that we can all look back on with a sense of pride and accomplishment.Little did I know what I was getting into when I composed an ad for crew. I am reminded of a quote by Goethe "whatever you do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it". In what had to be one of the most fortuitous of circumstances, one the first individuals who responded said that not only he might be interested but he knew of several other guys who might also be interested. He, as did the others, belonged to the Ventura Yacht Club – my club. So in a matter of a week or two I had an 'instant', local, and veteran crew just about all of whom raced together, knew and got along with one another and three of whom had done the Transpac several times!
They had but one condition. The boat needed to be equipped and the crew trained to do nothing less than win our division. Which meant doing (spending!) what was necessary to equip Sauvage to win. I was in although at the time I had no idea of what 'being in' really meant.
The six months we have spent preparing for this race have totally transformed my sense of what this race is about. It's not about the boat (or the 'bike', as Lance would say) or me, it is really about the team. I have rarely met a more committed and skilled team in any endeavor. My role, in addition to providing the boat and funding, often just means getting out of their way and allowing them to do what they do best. At the same time I am learning a tremendous amount about ocean racing and equipping a boat to safely ocean race 24/7. This, I have learned, is a whole different game than ocean cruising.
It has not been unusual for me to wake up on a Sunday morning at 8:30AM and find one of the guys working on the boat installing a new alternator. Or climbing up the mast to rig a new tricolor nav light. Or showing up one afternoon with an emergency rudder he personally fabricated from steel and wood. Or seeing them spend both days of a weekend on the water, in team meetings or in attending weather and safety seminars. This all is done without any prodding or direction. Rather it is done solely on their own initiative. I could not buy this level of commitment.
In my work and book I speak about World Class construction teams. Team Sauvage, as we now call ourselves, embodies the best of those. Common goals; open, direct verbal communication; everyone 100% accountable for everything; continuous improvement; outside the box thinking; and, the team 'owns the game' = winning, safely, with no excuses.
I feel humbled and proud to be a member of Team Sauvage.
-Jim Eisenhart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkqL_ThlnW0
ReplyDeleteGreat to meet the crew of Sauvage.
Copy the link above to see HD video of S/V Sauvage casting off for the Transpac start.
Best of luck and fair winds,
Josh and Hiro
Double-handed...2013 Transpac!