“The strength of the team is each individual member…the strength of each member is the team.” Guidance from no less a figure than Phil Jackson, the legendary American basketball coach and one of the great minds of the sporting world.
Success in a team sport is a complex matter. In individual sports, an athlete is driven by a selfish streak, assuming total responsibility for his or her destiny. It is competitor versus competitor. Winner takes all. Team sport has more layers. Individuals must put themselves second to the wider needs of the collective. A great team is not only the sum of its individual talent but the result of this talent working unselfishly and harmoniously together.
In a sport like football the essence of each team’s spirit is created in the dressing room and on the training field. The nucleus of the group and its hierarchy is moulded over seasons of hard work. While the working environment is fundamentally different, the secret to building an effective offshore sailing team is essentially the same. Successful crews learn to work together through practice and discussion, binding together to become a group capable of living and working in a confined space and a high-pressure environment, where the might and unpredictability of the elements plays a wild card role.
The 2012 Rolex Volcano Race is being contested by a number of the world’s most impressive Maxi yachts (measuring over 18.29 metres/60-foot in length), handled by international crews of upwards of 15 people. The event, organised by the International Maxi Association (IMA), is a recent addition to the Mediterranean calendar and joins established offshore races such as the Giraglia Rolex Cup and the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The offshore element of the event is in two sections, with the main event being a 300-nautical mile leg beginning and ending in Capri and comprising a journey through the UNESCO-protected Aeolian Islands.
Filip Balcaen’s 112-ft Nilaya (BEL) is the arguably most eye-catching yacht in attendance. She is the largest, the heaviest and the newest construction with an enormous sail area (her spinnaker alone measures nearly 1,000m2). Balcaen, an owner who loves to helm his Supermaxi yacht, has entrusted ocean-racing professional Bouwe Bekking with the boat’s tactical decisions and with managing Nilaya’s 16-man crew for the race. “Bouwe is the decision maker onboard and everyone in the crew recognises him as our commander in chief,” begins Balcaen. “He is a great coach and brings a lot of people skills.“