Young man with wide open ocean future ahead of him

by Tracey Johnstone on 21 Aug 2009 Australian Casey Smith has just completed his first Volvo Ocean Race as bowman aboard PUMA which finished the gruelling 37,000 nautical mile 2008-09 race in second place.

Smith hails from the small town of Mooloolaba located on the east coast of Australia in the sunny state of Queensland. He started his sailing as a young fellow racing Sabots then progressed to skiffs before moving into the big boat scene in his 20s. Trained as a sail maker and with time on the water as a key member of the maxi-yacht Skandia campaign, some Sydney to Hobart races and fine tuning his skills with the US Pegasus team training in the Star, Finn and Etchells classes, his big break came in 2008 when he was selected for the PUMA team.

Smith, as one of the ‘under 30’ team members required under the 2008-09 Volvo race rules, continually proved his incredible versatility as a talented sailor and the Mr Fix It on board PUMA.

Winner of the Leg Seven Seamanship Award, Smith’s skipper, Ken Read, said of Smith at the time of nominating him for the award '…Casey has been nothing short of a stud on board. We break it, he fixes it. Bulkheads, longitudinal frames, generators, keel systems, electronics--you name it. And now rudder systems.

'Middle of the Atlantic in the spring, the last thing you want to hear is the bang of a rudder snapping off. Not only due to the fact that your regatta is probably over, but the fact that you want to get home safely, Casey helped engineer and implement a system that not only got us home in one piece, but put us right back into the competitive game.'

Back on shore at Newport, Rhode Island, Smith reflected on his extraordinary voyage.

Q - What was the Volvo Race like for you in terms of the experience, the challenges, the crew ?

CS - Being my first time around the world, the experience was never ending. It was just one huge adventure to amazing places; Spain, Cape Town, India, Singapore, China, Rio, Boston, Ireland, Sweden and Russia. It was a chance of a lifetime.

The biggest challenge for me was trying to balance a healthy family life with Kate and Sophia while remaining focused on the job at hand. The girls travelled with me as much as possible and when you reach port you want to spend time with your family, but there's always a mountain of work to do too on the boat. We were very fortunate to have an awesome shore team that kept our boat operating at 100% the whole race.

We had a solid core crew on board. We made some changes as we were learning about each other along the way due to not a lot of sailing time before the race. That is one key thing – preparation. Sailing time before the event is vital so you can turn up to the start line on the pace and confident in the boat and people.

Q - Looking back, what did you expect the race to be like ?

CS - I never set any expectations as in my experience you can never live up to them. I just went in open minded ready to learn and contribute.

Q - What would you have done differently in preparing for the race ?

CS - Personally not much. I had a really good lead up to the race. Living in Newport, I was part of the program from the start helping to build the boat. Getting to go home to my own house and family each night was a really stable environment to be in leading up to the race.

As a team, with more time, we just needed to sail and race the boat more to learn it better and start the race 100% on the pace.

Q - What were your memorable highs and lows of the campaign ?

CS - The experience itself is a massive high. Just the places we have been and the sailing along the way will be hard to forget and of course blasting along days on end with over 20 knots of boat speed leaves a mark in your mind. As for the lows, anytime the boat breaks during a leg, taking the chance of winning a leg out of play, was very disappointing.

Q - What do you think could be improved in terms of the PUMA campaign ?

CS - This was PUMA's first time in the Volvo Ocean Race and breaking into very new territory for the company. I think to place second in their first race was an awesome result that has made them very happy. We just need to keep building on what we have learnt.

Q - What could be improved in terms of the race ?

CS - The organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race are doing what the think is right to keep the race alive and an amazing event. There will be a rule and we will design the boats to meet that rule and race them around the world to win. To a sailor it's all about the racing. That’s why we do the race.

Q - Would you do the race again and with the same team ? Why ?

CS - I hope I get a chance to do it again and to build on what we have learnt from the last race. Why ? Why not?

Q - Have you had a break since the end of the race ?

CS - I'm back home in Newport with my girls now and just relaxing. I'll be doing some local sailing on the Rambler and trying to regain my golf swing I lost somewhere in the China sea.

My family is everything to me. We are very excited about a new baby to brother or sister for Sophia. All decisions are made with family as the priority. A family has made my life so much richer and the places we got to visit over the last year as a family makes us a very lucky one.

Q - What are you long-term sailing goals ?

CS - Just to be able to sail for a living is very special so if I can keep doing it and support my family, I will never stop.

Reflecting on the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 Smith concludes 'it really is an abrupt end to something that has consumed two years of my life. I now have to set the next goal and go for it.'