Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel mentally prepare for Leg 4

by Robbert-Jan Metselaar on 3 Feb 2015 Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 - The sun, salt water and lack of sleep had etched deep lines on the faces of the Team Brunel sailors by the time they arrived in Sanya. But their lined faces did not tell everything. The windless days, high temperatures, decisions that turned out badly, sheer bad luck and a fifth place on arrival had also had an effect on the men’s morale. It’s now the job of team coach Anje-Marijcke van Boxtel to get the sailors mentally fit again.

'There was no time for them to feel sorry for themselves in the final hours,' says Anje-Marijcke van Boxtel of Schouten Global. 'The boys fought right up to the finish to overtake MAPFRE. For some sailors, the disappointment only sank in a few hours after the finish, when they realised that they had come fifth.'

'I think it’s extraordinary that after such a demanding leg nobody blamed anybody else and that the atmosphere on board was good. Because apart from finishing fifth, the team had to cope with severe and sometimes frustrating conditions on the way. There was hardly any wind, it was extremely hot, they gained ground on the boats in front of them time and time again, just to see these miles slip away just as quickly. And sometimes it was as if they had to sail through a floating mountain of rubbish.'

'We couldn’t find a single reason why the boat wasn’t fast enough,' says Jens Dolmer, as he sits down next to the team coach. 'And without a direct reason, you can’t point to a guilty party. Nobody was grumpy and there were no arguments, but we were very fed up.'

'We shouldn’t think up too many excuses. It’s just a bad result,' continues Jens Dolmer. 'After Sri Lanka, we were having to play catch-up all the time. We made some bad decisions and we also had some bad luck. We constantly felt that we had to attack. That’s very taxing mentally. We felt that we were giving a hundred per cent and when all the systems confirmed that, it was all the more frustrating that we couldn’t catch up with MAPFRE and Alvimedica.'

In the days after the finish, Anje-Marijcke takes every crew member aside for a personal talk. 'When you lose, these one-on-one talks are just as intense as when you win. During the talk, I ask them how they’re doing, where they think dangers lie, and how the procedures on board went in their opinion. Apart from being thoroughly fed up, the boys are now also very anxious to find out why things did not go as they should have gone. This drive to be better is now much more evident than after the two previous legs.'

Jens Dolmer believes that the strength of Team Brunel is that they are always looking for improvements, irrespective of the result. 'Anje-Marijcke plays a major role in this. She is not just our team coach but also our counsellor. The men can go to her to air their grievances about what they didn’t like on board or to tell her what they would like to see done differently on the next leg. You can also tell her about mutual frustrations. Personally, she’s helped me to control my feelings. If I had a problem with someone, I could be pretty direct in how I reacted to them.'

Anje-Marijcke has now talked to everyone and is trying to create an overall picture. 'I’m now putting all the information together. Finally, I’ll discuss my findings with skipper Bouwe Bekking, who will use this in his next briefing with the men to bring about improvements. The main message of my story is that – generally speaking - things should be talked about more, both in briefings and aboard. These talks should be about strategy, tactics and the importance of continuing to communicate – even at stressful times. Before the start of the next leg, my aim is to teach the man to talk to each other at times like that and harness their strengths.'