World Class Teamwork -- In the Doldrums

Yesterday at this time we were clicking along at 8+ knots in sunny sky's basking in our first place rating (which turned out to be an error on the part of our mother ship) and celebrating the half way point of our journey. Nothing could stop us now! Did you know that halfway between Hawaii and CA -- roughly 1,100 miles -- is the farthest point from any land in the world?

Today, or rather this morning at 4AM, on my shift after what I thought to be a respectable 45 minute term at the wheel the wind went catiwhompers and virtually died. Keep in mind that I am Captain in name only (and because it's my d___ boat!) and that this has nothing to do with my competence as a downwind racer. Which is virtually none. My frustration must have been evident as "go faster than the wind" Jeff and the "second most interesting man in the world" Spille, offered to 'let me take a break'. Well to my unsubdued glee neither of them were able to make it go any faster. With that, I couldn't help but sardonically comment with a smile "Having fun Spille?". With that, Craig, my fellow watch mate and I proceeded to give him a taste of his own medicine = 'go left', 'go right', pointing their finger in the desired direction', etc. "'World Class' teamwork on this boat is dead", I thereupon declared, "It's now about retribution and payback".

Crew morale on a long sailboat race not surprisingly has a lot to do with whether you're winning and/or going fast -- even if it's not in the right direction. Plodding along at 4 knots and hoping that your competition is suffering the same fate is not particularly uplifting. So we make up for it with attempts at humor usually at someone's expense. Oh and did I mention that it brings forth heretofore unknown recollections. With me it was recalling the entire script of the Old Spice cologne commercial. "Yo ho, yo ho" says the captain to the bosum, "Old Spice means sailing like a ship upon the ocean, so look for the bottle with the ship upon the ocean". I think people still buy that stuff. After a morning when we were visited by numerous dead squid on the deck, we substituted 'dead squid' for 'Old Spice'. Sleep deprivation helps.

Seeking a new inspiration for World Class teamwork. Jim Eisenhart