Pete was the co-owner of the T22 Makai, full of energy, passion and a typical “Type A” personality. He had a “big boy’s playpen” at his office, and had the boat indoors in the warehouse space along with other big boy’s toys like sports cars and motorcycles. In the off-season, he spent hours working on the boat, rigging, working on the keel, fine tuning, using his talents to do everything possible to make the boat go fast. On the boat, he had the strength and agility to work foredeck, gybing the spinnaker pole. Peter did whatever it took to get results. He would even climb the mast if we lost a spinnaker halyard!
Scott was the tactician, and worked the middle of the boat. He trimmed the mainsail, genoa and flew the chute. His energy, passion and enthusiasm matched Pete’s. Scott is a creative visionary type, and well suited to the tactician role. He would always have his head in the game, looking out of the boat, surveying all the elements and giving input into our strategic and tactical decisions. He knew the rules, and used his knowledge to give us an edge on the race course. He loved to call people on the rules, yelling and barking at our competition.
I was the helmsperson, the driver. I focused on getting great starts, flying the telltales, keeping the boat on course and making quick decisions based on input from my crew. Some sailors find it unusual to have a woman skipper, although it made perfect sense for us! I had developed repetitive strain injury and chose to focus on driving as something I could do well. Scott took the job of trimming the mainsail upwind, usually the job of the helmsperson on a T22, and this freed me up to focus on keeping us on course. My strengths were focusing; getting results; keeping calm, cool, and collected; and collaborating.
Together, we made a great team. We raced together in all kinds of conditions, from light wind, through heavy storms. We got to know each other so well that we often knew what each other was thinking. We knew the roles that we had carved out for ourselves, and how we interacted best together. We were individually so committed that we wouldn’t intentionally drop our role, although when some condition came into play where we weren’t able to carry our part, someone else would step in to help out. Over the course of many races together, we really gelled.Coaching Challenge: How will you capitalize on the strengths of your teammates?
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