Roles on Board

Three of the Clipper 70s battling it out

So, what does it take to race one of these yachts 40,000 + miles around the world?  Lots and lots of organisation and a good team.


As well as crew who will sail the boat, pull the sheets, change the sails, and pack the spinnaker we need a number of other people who are willing to put in that little bit extra on top of everything else.

The 'Nav' Station

Chief Engineer (CE): This person is responsible, under the skipper's supervision, for maintaining all on board mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in a fully working condition including routine servicing.  It will involve making sure the engine and generator are in fully functioning mode, as well as the entire electrical system on the boat - lights, navigation station (nav station), steaming lights, communications equipment etc.  All the plumbing has to function properly and this includes the water maker, heads and showers, fresh water system including the water heater, grey and black water systems and the bilge and fire pump systems.  Different colour water!  What's that all about?  Grey water is from the showers and sinks, including the galley, and the black water is from the heads.  And probably one of the worst jobs on the boat will be to unblock the 'heads' if, and let's hope they don't, they get blocked.  Could be a very messy and smelly job!

The CE has to organise all the routine maintenance and cleaning of these systems at the stop over ports as well as making sure there are sufficient tools and spare parts on the boat prior to sailing.  An enormous task which is carried out with the help of one or more Assistant Engineers.

Medic:  A suitably qualified person is nominated as the 'Ships Doctor' and in our case we have a retired GP, Peter, who is sailing around the world.  Together with Jim, our skipper, and a shore based team, Peter will make sure that any medical issues are correctly dealt with including the management and organisation of the medical supplies.   Jim remains responsible overall for all medical issues, but Peter will run the day to day medical aspects and make sure the kit is maintained as well as ensuring there is a suitable medical history for all the crew.  I sincerely hope that all Peter has to do is hand out sea-sickness tablets!

 Media Director:  We will need someone to oversee and organise all the media output for our boat though all the crew will share the media workload.  This will involve writing blogs, taking photos and videos and making sure that the media requirements for the boat are completed in a timely manner and to a high standard.  We will have two people, Henry and David, attending the training, with Henry (RTW) overseeing all the on board activities and David (Leg 7), with all his media experience, being our on shore guru.





Mending sails down below

Sail Repairer:  This is a vital role as it is the condition of the sails that will play a big part in determining how well we do on the race.  Two of our RTWs, Henry and Peter, will be doing the training for this.  Peter can already sew up people so is happy to learn to sew sails - I wonder if there are any similarities.

Sail repair will be carried out down below and with badly torn sails can take as long as 24 hours of continuous work.  Clipper kindly give us a heavy duty sewing machine so not all is done by hand.  As well as Peter and Henry there are other 'leggers' who have offered to help in this quarter.  Not sure if it is something I fancy doing as the boat rocks from side to side.

Treasurer and Quarter Master:  This person is responsible for managing the crew fund and buying all the extra bits of kit and equipment that we feel is necessary.  Nothing bought must improve the performance of the boat but we are allowed things that help make life more manageable and comfortable.  For example our first purchase has been two fridge/freezers that will make our meals a little more interesting for the first few weeks.  Chloe (RTW) has the enormous task of trying to get extra funds from people and also coordinating all the various lists of what people think is necessary.

Chief Victualler (Queen Mother):   The most important crew position on the yacht which carries an enormous amount of responsibility.  The role of the CV is to ensure that all the correct supplies are purchased and loaded on board before the start of each race.  Janice (RTW) is responsible for organising the menus for all on board, buying sufficient food supplies for each leg, managing the menu, managing the storage of all ships stores, tracking the usage of stores and stock taking, replenishing stores when required.  Janice will do this with a team of assistants as well as managing the food spending account on behalf of Jim.

Food is one of the most important aspects of this type of sailing as the last thing anyone wants is to come off watch to find a cold plate of unappetising food presented to them.  It will be difficult when the weather is rough to serve up a gourmet meal but I think simplicity and flavour have to be two of the more important elements.  We also have to take into account food allergies and intolerances - so extremely complex.  I believe that we will each need around 4000-5000 calories per day if we are to function in an optimum way so I expect we will be eating lots of pasta, rice and potatoes!

Bob the MOB dummy tied on at the stern

Safety Officer:  Howard will be making sure that all the safety equipment is on board before each race and that it is checked and maintained in an appropriate way.  He will also have to ensure that we are all kept up to date with our training eg. fire drill practice, MOB recovery etc. and that all new crew joining the boat are fully briefed on the operation of safety equipment and are familiar with drills.

Bob, our MOB dummy is tied onto the pushpit (at the other end of the boat to the pulpit) and travels around the world with us.   This means that every time a new set of crew joins the boat we can practice picking someone out of the sea.



The top of the mast needs checking
on a regular basis

Bosun:  This person is responsible for the all the maintenance, care and repair of all sailing related deck equipment including sails, rigging, winches, halyards, sheets, blocks, dinghy............ etc.  The list goes on and on.  He/she is responsible for organising the repairs and maintenance pre start, during each leg and at each stopover port, and for making sure that there are sufficient spares and tools carried on board and topped up when necessary.  Henry is doing the short training for this but will be supported by many other crew members who will also be repairing and checking sails, servicing winches and carrying out other sailing related tasks.



A winch being serviced
Just make sure there are no bits left in the pot
once everything has been put back together!

 

Someone will have to go up the
mast on a regular basis to check
there is no undue wear and tear

 

Stopover Manager:  This person will be working with our Skipper, Jim, and the Team Coordinator to manage the day to day activities that are necessary during each of the stopovers.

 

The stopovers are divided into three discrete parts to ensure that we get the most out of our time while docked.

• The first part - involves the dreaded 'deep clean', routine maintenance and the repair of any broken items.
• The second part - we should be able to have this time off providing there are no serious issues or 'Corporate Days'.  Corporate Days involve entertaining and taking for a sail those sponsors that are in port.
• The third part - all meet back on the boat, meet the new 'leggers', clean and tidy the boat, sort out any outstanding issues, victual, crew training and leg planning.

The different parts are not necessarily equal in time and if more work has to be done on the boat then we will have to do that rather than take time off.  As Jim says, "If the boat isn't ready for the start then we will pay for it in the next leg".

 

Other jobs:  On top of those jobs listed above we also need someone to be involved with the IT/Communications on the boat, a Social Secretary who is prepared to organise all the crew social events, crew parties and crew clothing etc, and someone who can be our Shore Support while the rest of us are racing around the world.

 

What am I doing you might well ask?

 

Team Coordinator:  This is me.  Responsible for the majority of administration related to running a race yacht and, in Jim's words, "Organising the Skipper!"

 

As I am finding out it is a big role but I am enjoying every minute of it, and why I put my name forward is a mystery, but I did.  So far all the major roles on board have been allocated and training dates set and attendance agreed.  I am now sorting out who will be available for the two Boat 'Prep' weeks and for the delivery from Gosport to St Kat's in mid August, as well as helping Jim to sort out the agenda for the crew weekend and Janice with the victualing for our camping trip.  I can see an enormous Sainsbury's shop looming on the horizon before pitching my tent in a field near Blandford Forum in the depths of Dorset. 

The campsite
A sloping field but not as sloping as the
30 degrees we need to get used to!

I am constantly answering emails, have now become quite adept at facebook - though did send a confidential document to the wrong facebook group (oops) - and have just signed up for What'sApp with the help of Rebecca.

Ruffled feathers need to be smoothed and we have already had a bit of 'Storming' in our group dynamics.  I am hoping to write something about group dynamics in our next newsletter so that we can all understand what is normal in groups, especially those that are constantly changing as ours will be for each Leg.  There a total of 56 crew members, plus Jim, so many different relationships to manage - hopefully this is where my counselling training will kick in! 

Enough for now!

The next big 'excitement' is the announcement of our boat sponsor on the 18th and then the crew weekend over the 20th to 21st June - there are about 24 of us going so should be great fun.


This is what it's all about
Teamwork