Lessons from sport : Sunset sailing in Sydney

I recently had the pleasure of competing in a race around Sydney Harbour on board Southern Excellence II, a 70 ft yacht that has competed in the Sydney to Hobart a few times (pictured above).

I was part of a group that fulfilled the role of ballast in this particular endeavour, our chief responsibilities included not being in the way and not spilling beer on the deck, jobs we executed brilliantly. In a related note, I now truly appreciate what it means to swear like a sailor.

We didn’t win (in fact, we came dead last in our division), but I am a firm believer that when you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Here are the lessons I learnt on a beautiful evening on Sydney Harbour, with sailors cursing all around :

1. Starting can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be perfect

Sailing must have one of the most challenging starting sequences in sport. Every boat must time their approach to the starting line and not cross it before the official time. This involves circling around the harbour and positioning yourselves with a good run up to line. Cross too early and you have to circle around and go over the line again. The boats that got this right had an immediate advantage at the beginning but it did not mean that they had won the race.

Starting is important. Start too soon and it may cost you dearly, start too late and you give the competition a free head start. The most important thing thought is that you HAVE to start. If you don’t start (or launch or ship or open the doors), you can’t finish and you certainly can’t win. 

2. Just because you are in front does not mean you will stay there

There was one particular boat I desperately wanted to beat. They had cut us off earlier, apparently breaking some right of way rule which no-one could easily explain (but did introduce me to the previously mentioned swearing). I didn’t need to know the finer points. We were cut off and I had boat rage. We lead them for most of the race but a poor course selection meant that we had to tack twice before rounding one of the last buoys. That cost us precious time we could not make up and they ended up beating us by 24 seconds (on an hour long race).

If you are in the lead (or have majority of the market share or possess game changing IP), don’t get comfortable. There are so many things outside of our control that change the situation very quickly. Even things inside our control may be executed better by the competition. 

3. A team is better than a group of talented individuals

Our crew on this race had not yet raced together before. Individually, they were all very experienced sailors but they had not developed that almost sixth sense that a well drilled team have. Even though they had an exceptional vessel at their disposal, they were unable to coax the speed needed to secure a higher finish.

This reminded of Peter Drucker’s famous statement – “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. This team had a strategy and they were all competent but there was no culture.

It is critical to have a plan, but if the team can’t implement it then what is the point? A team that works well together can outperform a group of stars that do not work well together. 

In the end, we made it back safely to dry land. The sting of losing softened by the the glorious sunset, casting the Harbour Bridge and Opera House as stunning silhouettes.