It is amazing how much difference two years can make in someone’s career. About this time two years ago I was taking a six-month break from sailing commercially, with the consideration of a career change at the forefront of my mind. I had become disillusioned and tired and I felt it was time to take action and address the situation.

Two years ago I would never have thought it conceivably possible that I would be stood on a stage in the magnificent Banqueting House on Whitehall two days ago to receive, on behalf of Puma Logic and her team, the prestigious RORC ‘Yacht of the Year’ trophy. Saturday night was the highlight of my sailing career and the proudest night of my life.

Success does not come without huge amounts of commitment from many people. One of the things I love most about yacht racing is that it is a team event, the team consisting of those on the water and the shore support. Also of huge importance to everyone on Puma Logic has been the support of friends and family, this has been especially the case for me.

It is the encouragement and support from my close family and Allie Smith, my co founder of Sailing Logic that got me through the difficult times of 2007. It is fair to say that in the autumn of 2007 I had hit rock bottom. The Fastnet had ended abruptly when Tom broke his leg. I was sailing with a team that had lost respect of me as their leader, and to be honest I did not really want to be sailing with them. I had lost my drive, my determination and most importantly my passion for sailing.

After a lot of soul searching in my six-months off and analysis of what had gone wrong I learnt a lot of harsh lessons. I firmly believe in the old adage ‘there are no weak teams, just weak leaders.’ I whole-heartedly buy into to that and came out the other end fighting. I identified some of my weak spots and addressed the issues head on. I was determined never to end up in a similar situation and I wanted to be better equipped to deal with any difficulties within the team, of which there will be always some.

I spoke at length during the dark winter months with most of the team that had sailed with me on the Fastnet 2007. I wanted to understand fully where it all went wrong and who better to ask than the people that I pissed off the most! Brian admitted that he had finally taken the decision (at 68 years old) to retire from offshore racing, so I started with him. Next up was Richard whose opinion on team building/management issues I value greatly. As for Tom, well he had no problems with me, but his wife banned him from racing!

Last year David Bright joined me on Puma Logic for the Warsash Spring Series as my first mate. It was my first time back on the water and I was certainly a little nervous. It was my first opportunity to put into place the new skill sets, which I hoped I had learnt, and without a doubt I had a certain amount of trepidation. Not to mention could I remember a kite from a genoa or a tack from a gybe!

During my six months off I decided to learn a new sport. I learnt to play tennis! I launched myself into it (in a similar way to the way people commit to Sailing Logic campaigns). Most of all I wanted to remember what it was like to learn a new skill set. I wanted to experience the frustrations of ‘not quite getting it.’

When after the 100th shot my coach stopped and exclaimed ‘that was perfect, what did you do differently?’ it all suddenly fell into place and I understood completely! I had absolutely no idea what I had done differently! To me I had just hit the ball in exactly the same way as the previous 99 shots! My coach could not understand why I could not repeat the accuracy, style and power of that shot. He asked me to visualise it; I tried and couldn’t. At that moment I knew exactly how it felt to be trying to learn a new skill.

After a few weeks of good coaching I was hitting nearly half the shots with the same efficiency. I could fully appreciate the difference between that good shot and the average ones. I could visualise what it was I was trying to achieve and my game did improve expotentially. I learnt a valuable lesson and felt I would have a much better empathy with the new team that was arriving at Shamrock Quay in early March.

Above all else what impressed me most was the patience of the coach, with just the occasional mild expression of frustration when I ‘did not get it.’ However, he never made me feel like an idiot. I wanted to be more like him.

I loved the Spring Series and sailing with Dave gave me a whole new outlook. I also re-learnt a lot about some of the most important aspects of yacht racing that I had completely forgotten. It is about fun and having a strong bond between everyone on board. I was back to how I used to be three years previous and I was loving my sailing again.

The Madeira Race, whilst being extremely tough and demanding, is now fondly remembered as ‘the best month in my life.’ Brian is now 70 and is coming back next year for the Round Ireland Race (having been to Madeira and back and completing the Fastnet this year). Richard also did the Madeira Race last year and the Fastnet this year. Tom finally managed to persuade Shelly to let him race offshore again and he successfully completed the 600 mile Middle Sea Race on the same boat as me!

The greatest success for me was when the entire core team of the Madeira Race last year, decided they wanted to come and race with me again this year in the Fastnet Race. What a turn around and I have to say that this team has a unique bond with many very special qualities. Dave Bright was hugely influential in the development of the team and the morale that was created, but I have no doubt that if I had not learnt to play tennis, then it could have been a different story!

The rewards were to be great. As I said in my speech, stood where King Charles I once stood, ‘never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being stood here tonight to accept this amazing reward.’ Puma Logic and her team were proudly presented with the highest annual accolade that RORC have. Puma Logic was announced as the RORC ‘Yacht of the Year.’

Luckily for me, my team, on this occasion, did not want my head on the block; unlike poor King Charles I who was sadly executed at the same location in 1649 after loosing the Civil War.