Just In Need Of A Little Luck and Good Team Work

by Rudi Rudiger, Assa Abloy on 19 Oct 2001 As many of you have gathered by now, ocean racing at this level is an
extreme emotionally charged sport with elation and despair in every wind
shift.

In this environment, they say the true test of a team's real metal is in
the face of adversity. We had such a test two nights ago.

After holding a solid second and convinced we were in position to take the
lead, we crashed into a wall.

During the night slatting, pointing away from the leaders, who we knew
were running away, we had one of our first challenges as a Team. I don't
know if a lot of people can visualize this, but with 12 highly strung ego
charged racers craving for the lead, to be in this predicament is one of
the worst-case scenarios for us. You could feel the stress and pain.

Nobody slept all night, but while I was lying below for a while reflecting
on where it went wrong and how we were going to get out of it, I could
hear the guys still joking on deck and continuing on with their usual
trivia questions like name the 12 actors in 'The Dirty Dozen'. All the
while still eking out every meter of speed even though we knew it was
pretty hopeless and the wind was going to have to come to us.

It could have been easy to get down and start blaming myself and Roy
[Heiner], but they didn't. Instead they were supportive and encouraging.
It was also a good test for Roy and I, and I feel nothing has changed, we
just keep fighting forward.

This was when I realized, that while we had lost a small battle on leg
one, we had won a big victory for the Volvo Ocean Race. We, as a Team,
know that when the chips are down, we won't get down. And the support from
the Team ashore all over the world was even more uplifting. It almost felt
like we could jump over the side and pull the boat to the wind. And don't
think I didn't contemplate it!

So we're not sure why some are saying we need help of religious
proportions, all we need is a little of what helped propel Amer Sports One
in what Dalton intimates is a slow fat boat from fifth to first. In his
words,” they’re going to need more than a two hundred mile lead to hold us
back,' because we have a fast boat and a stronger than ever will to win!

So while the leaders will likely gain some more miles for a couple of
days, we're looking ahead for opportunities while pushing ASSA ABLOY as
fast as she will let us.

Keep the support coming, you all make a difference!

Cheers,