Into the Storm Read Free

The Edge in life-and-death situations, this view seems hopelessly naïve. For me, the thought of a Marine rifle company in combat evolving as a self-organizing system was both ludicrous and terrifying.
    Listening to this expert, it also seemed inconsistent that the speaker who was railing against leadership was, in fact, leading the group: calling on individuals to speak, setting time boundaries, establishing breaks, offering expert opinions, and making pronouncements.
    As I reflected on Chuck's comment and my own experience, I decided that I needed to be less rigid in thinking about teamwork. My perspective on Teamwork at The Edge needed to be one that acknowledged the reality that leaders—including skippers on boats—have a very special role.
    There is no requirement that the leader must be as prominent as Ernest Shackleton. For that matter, in my previous book I did not suggest that every leader try to become “The Boss.” But I do believe that the skipper has a special role to play. In Part Two of the book I will point out specific ways in which leaders can help ensure that their teams are able to succeed at The Edge .

PART ONE

    The Story of the
AFR Midnight Rambler
and the Sydney
to Hobart Race

1

The Everest of Ocean Racing
    This has the reputation of being the toughest race in the world, and it is. It's considered to be the Everest of sailing and no race is more difficult on men or the boats .
    â€”George Snow, Owner and Skipper, Brindabella
    F or those unfamiliar with ocean races, they may all seem pretty much like the one described in a satirical article published in The Onion . Emblazoned with the title “Rich Guy Wins Yacht Race,” the piece features a photo of a smiling, self-satisfied sailor with a caption reading “The rich guy who defeated an estimated 75 other rich guys in Monday's Regatta.”
    Some sailing races do, in fact, fit the stereotype. There are some races—such as the America's Cup—that really do cater to rich guys, because it takes a lot of money to build the boats and find the sailors capable of winning the competition.
    The America's Cup originated in 1851 with a race between the schooner America and seventeen British boats. It is still governed by pretty much the same rules that applied when America first brought home the trophy. The winner of the cup picks the race venue, and challengers engage in a survival-of-the-fittest process until one boat remains to take on the winner.
    Though the America's Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy in the world, only a wealthy person could ever hope to claim it. The expenses are enormous. Marketing, salaries for champion sailors, research and development, and boat construction require millions of dollars. Many, many millions of dollars.
    A single sail can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the contest doesn't always take place on the water. The 2007 race set off a bitter legal battle between billionaires Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli, two of the richest men on the planet. Bertarelli, a biotech heir, took home the cup, but Ellison was unhappy with the winner's proposed rules for the next race. Thus ensued a nearly three-year court battle that had many race enthusiasts shaking their heads.
    While the America's Cup may be the iconic race for many people, not every ocean race is a rich guy's sport. The Rolex Fastnet Race, for example, is a different kind of competition. Held in the United Kingdom, the Fastnet is a challenging technical race covering 608 nautical miles. The race begins in Cowes, on the southern coast of England, rounds the Fastnet Rock off the southwest of Ireland, and finishes at Plymouth in the south of England.
    The rules of the classic Fastnet Race are different than those of the America's Cup, and it doesn't take the same level of wealth to compete. That's because the Fastnet Challenge Cup is awarded to the overall winner based on corrected time . Each boat is given a