2.12. 15 square meters, 9 men, 9 opinions, 3 languages, 2 cultures

From the very beginning this has been a very good team. After spending ten days with nine men in just 15 square meters space, you start to know each other. In this Love Boat you cannot hide, escape or withdraw from anything that happens onboard. There is no out of sight, out of mind. Nine men, three languages, two cultures: one 15 square meter melting pot. You share the ups and downs, you share the smell of dirty clothes, the noise of your snoring mate, the good and bad jokes, one toilet, one outdoor shower and Olli and I even share the same bed.

Evidently one’s mal organisé becomes everybody’s mess. Still there is no whining. Clearly we are not here to complain and there really is nothing to complain about. Sailing is great, weather varying, food excellent and the team just keeps getting better and better. Just when the mood is getting somewhat melancholic, the captain brings up a bottle of Spumante or then a sudden gale or shower clears us up.


From good to great

So, what is it that makes teams like this to grow from good to great? Same mission. First, it appears that everyone on board have the same basic idea about the journey. This is not an easy biscuit and all have done their preparatory work well. Each and everyone is clearly oriented to get the job done and get across the Atlantic.


One captain.

Alberto is not only the captain and owner of our boat, but he is also a charismatic leader. His sense of humor, attitude and easiness brings calm. So far, so good. Then there are eight first officers – no primadonnas. Let's make one thing clear: there is not one member in the team that would not like to make and take decisions. When considering tactics, maneuvers, strategy, dividing tasks and taking actions there are no lack of opinions.

However, respect of others as well as common interest in tactics drives the team to debates, discussions and sometimes even arguments. Most often this decision making process leads to well optimized decisions. Sometimes it may result in compromises that are less good and sometimes it makes some of us to think of the negative side of democracy and perhaps long for work where oneself is the decision maker.

Combination of Italians and Finns

Never thought about it before, Italians and Finns could be difficult to put together.
Rational and introvert Finns probably compliment well talkative and temperament Italians.
Most likely Italians laugh at Finns as the later take a naked shower on the deck, run around in their underwear, take three to five vitamin pills a day and are able to be silent for four hours straight during the night shift. In return Finns can't stop admiring the style and the cooking and laugh at their jokes at the dinner table. Yes, we look different, we sound different and we act different. What a match! Now that days and nights are really hot, there’s only 800 miles to go, the race is getting tough and weather more challenging, we need every drop of the Italian-Finnish greatness. And Pronto, perkele!

Pasi


Sic transit Gloria mundi

Today has been extremely difficult. Wind has been on the side for more than 24 hours and we have had difficulties in getting the speed out of it. We have tried different main, jib, gennaker and spinnaker combinations, but none seem to work. When the 24 hour results came in, we knew to expect the worst. Our 174 miles will certainly not keep us in the battle for the gold.

This was confirmed by the results from the other boats. We lost six miles to the leader and 25 miles to the second and after that things have only gone worse. Right now we are in almost stand-still and guys are talking about going swimming. Nice experience of course, but we would all rather be flying the spinnaker at 15 meters per second wind heading towards St. Lucia. The only consolation is that we are not the only ones suffering from the lack of wind. At least all the boats in the northern route share the same fate. In the worst case this means that the wind works like security car in Formula 1 races, collecting all the boats together and making us start the race practically from the beginning again. Tomorrow we’ll see.

Hannu