TeamSpirIT Addresses Grievances

by Betsy Crowfoot , Senior Writer, Quokka Sports on 4 Oct 2000 TeamSpirIT and skipper Andy Dare overcome differences that arose in Leg One.

Early charges of malcontent aboard TeamSpirIT have been addressed in the days since the team finished 10th in the first leg of the BT Global Challenge 2000/01.

Many expected TeamSpirIT skipper Andy Dare -- an amiable, long-time yachtsman with over 85,000 miles of sailing and many yachting certificates under his belt -- to place better among the 12-boat fleet. TeamSpirIT finished 43 hours after frontrunner Quadstone.
“It’s been disappointing being at the back of the fleet,” said skipper Andy Dare. “There’s always going to be a first, there’s always going to be a last,” he pointed out, adding, “I thought we might be higher up to start with.”

Evidence of disappointment spilled out in an email, as early as 15 September, when young crew member Angus Fuller wrote, “Imagine rocking into Boston in last place?! We’ve even already had a crisis meeting for the whole crew.”

But it wasn’t until 30 September when TeamSpirIT tied up to the pontoon at Boston Harbour -- after a disheartening three-hour delay by customs and immigration -- that the potential scope of the situation came to the surface.

“We don’t have an ultimate strategy,” charged Tina Williamson, a 35-year-old crew member and one-time employee of Challenge Business, as she disembarked.

“We don’t seem to have a plan … we’re making decisions on the spot all the time. So, if you’re waiting half an hour to decide whether you put the genoa up or down you’re losing ground, and the crew got demoralised,” Williamson said.

One team member though said he felt blindsided by the complaints, which he said weren’t raised onboard the yacht. And Dare, who heard of the complaint via race organisers, dismissed Williamson’s critique of his leadership skills, saying, “It’s always hurtful to hear things like that, but you’ve got 18 people on the boat, with 18 different viewpoints. We’ve not chosen to sail together, we’ve all been put together and we’ve got to get along with it.”

“The thing I kept drumming into people and what we’ve all come up with, is not to go off moaning about things,” continued Dare, “but to offer solutions and to go forward.”

“We’ve had constructive comments and now we’re moving forward. As long as its going forward then that’s positive,” Dare added. “We’ve come in and all talked and got some points out. So now its all out there.”

“What we have are essentially management problems to solve, on board,” explained TeamSpirIT Project Director Edward Scott. After four days of soul-searching, Scott said, the team has made significant strides towards solving them.

“We intend to make major changes to the way we do things, in this next leg, and we will judge our success or failure on how good we've been at implementing change. Should we do better in the finishing order, that will be icing on the cake,” Scott added.

Dare responded to charges that jobs onboard were undefined. “We looked back at the last races and realised there’s two ways of looking at it: everyone having a go at everything.” Or, he countered, “You can go along the road of one person having one job and that’s all they do. You cook for 10 months going around the world.”

In addition, TeamSpirIT is the only yacht that uses a three-watch system, whereas the balance of the teams split their 18-man crew in half. “I made up the watches in the middle of the summer. I think it has become apparent that we can have a bit of a reshuffle with some of the people on board. Make more use of people and that will make the boat faster.”

Williamson wasn’t sure whether that would be enough. “I need to see that there is a strategy, a decision-making process, and the watch leaders are allowed to make their own decision and we’ve all got defined roles and we all know what we’re doing, we all know how to communicate. It’ll be very difficult to get back on the boat without that.”

Williamson said her criticisms of Dare weren’t personal. “He’s excellent at boat preparation, he’s a lovely guy, but I don’t know if he’s got the racing knowledge. Some of us have paid to do an adventure and some of us have paid to do a race, when you’re at the back of the pack, you want to race.”

“No one wants to quit,” she admitted, however, she said, “Two days ago I was prepared to swallow [the £25,000 berth fee] just to get off the boat so I could start my future life. I don’t want to go into the Southern Ocean with all the dangers there, feeling this low, after an easy leg like this where it’s been jolly uncomfortable, it’s either been too hot, too cold, heeling over, being sick and having to do deal with poor morale as well. You’ve got to go into the Southern Ocean totally committed and on the ball,” Williamson said. “Getting the crew right at the start of a 10-month event is more important than the position you finish in at the end of the first leg of six,” said Scott. “My commitment, the sponsors’ commitment, is supporting the crew -- to help them get the best out of themselves and their talents.”

“If we come in 10th again, but we’ve given our best, well that’s all we can do. We weren’t last,” Dare reminded. “Everyone tends to dwell on the negatives. We’ve all just crossed an ocean. We’ve achieved an awful lot.” “Yes it’s hard, but it’s hard for all of us, it’s the world’s toughest yacht race,” Dare continued. “It's not going to be easy, is it?”