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dominance of the 49ers. The only setback in that period was missing out on Olympic selection in a winner-takes-all trial won by Peter Evans and Sean Reeves. One senses how the deep disappointment of that anomalous result still hurts.


Although he never sailed in the Olympics Willcox has coached at Olympic level for New Zealand in 1992, 1996 and 2012 and Great Britain during its halcyon rise with Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Shirley Robertson from 1997 to 2008. He has worked in four America’s Cup campaigns, twice with Luna Rossa (2000 and 2007), once with OneWorld (2003) and once with Oracle (2010), primarily in the weather programmes, but also doing afterguard roles for in-house racing and training. For Burling and Tuke the twin demands of Olympic and America’s Cup campaigns might seem daunting, but Willcox believes their ability to compartmentalise various activities is helpful and that with the correct order of priorities the two cam- paigns are complementary.


The priority, though, must be the Olympics – and that is the way it has been set up with ETNZ: after Rio, it is all about the Cup; before Rio, it is Olympics first. In this respect the ETNZ structure is well considered, with the experienced Glenn Ashby as skipper and taking on the many off-the-water burdens that go with the role. That leaves Burling to do what he does so well at the helm and Tuke to fulfil his role in the crew.


The advent of foiling catamarans in the Cup has made skiff, Moth and multihull sailors a favoured breed and campaigns have swept up the cream. But Willcox believes strongly that the ETNZ model of leaving Burling and Tuke free to continue their Olympic campaign as first priority is a shrewd move that will pay dividends. ‘An interesting thing that has come out of this, that probably wasn’t foreseen, is that the best training ground for a crew in the one-design 45s is the Olympic arena. Peter and Blair have demonstrated that clearly. ‘With so little time in the catamarans relative to other Cup crews who have been training full-time, they just jumped straight in and are currently leading the World Cup series. They might have reinvented the ideal America’s Cup programme.’


Burling himself says he has become comfortable making the switch from 49er to AC cats and back again. ‘You definitely get more used to it the more you do it, even though the boats are quite different. Growing up in New Zealand you seem to do a lot of sailing in different classes, from Optimists to P-Class to Starlings and then later from dinghies to keelboats. You get used to it from a young age.’


Of course, time will tell and even Willcox admits a hard slap in the face may yet come along, but he is adamant that the Olympic training is more beneficial to the America’s Cup campaign than the other way around: ‘I have always believed that the best sailors come out of the Olympic


34 SEAHORSE


From the sailors’ point of view, it is a relationship that works well. ‘Hamish is a massive part of our campaign now,’ says Burling. ‘He brings a lot of experience into the mix. We have a lot of our own ideas and ways of doing things. It is a really busy schedule but he is good about recognising when we need to take time out. ‘He is solid and relaxed and definitely on top of the weather side of the equation with his background in the America’s Cup. He is also good when we are away at regattas – easy-going. He doesn’t buckle under pressure.’


A sailor and a multi-generational sailing family… the Laurie Davidson 46-footer on which Willcox and wife Ulrika will shortly set off on the family’s next big adventure


arena. If you are sailing a dinghy that weighs the same as you, you develop an intuitive skill about how to make that boat go faster. The highest sailing skill relates to the weight of the boat, in my view. If you take the most competitive arena for that skillset, it is the Olympics.’


Discounting the Moth for the moment as it is not an Olympic class, he selects the RS:X as the most extreme example of what he is talking about. ‘You cannot possibly win a medal in the RS:X class without campaigning for six to eight years, and even then you may not get it. ‘If you look at a keelboat, a talented sailor can jump in and get a medal in six months. You just don’t develop that amaz- ing feel and intuition you get in a dinghy, where you move 2cm forward in a Laser at the wrong time and you are going to be slow. Or with an RS:X, if you are not weighting your feet exactly right, so that the back foot is lifting half a newton more than the front foot, you are not going to be fast. ‘You bring that level of feel and intuition into a pro-sailing world and you are going to be so rewarded for it and that is what we are seeing.’


Out of this conviction comes an aston- ishing and provocative assertion: ‘Every hour you spend sailing in the professional arena and away from high-performance dinghies you are regressing as a sailor. Your skillset is diminishing.’


For Willcox then the mission is to preserve and build that skillset to a peak for Rio. The workload is prodigious. The year is divided up into blocks of time, with the New Zealand blocks devoted to speed building through training and technical development and the European blocks to competing, developing tactical and strategic skills and analysing weather.


At the time of this conversation the group had packed up their boats and travelled north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands. It was more of the same, sailing, training, improving, constantly seeking those minute, almost imperceptible jumps in performance that might make all the difference, but with a change of scene to mix things up and banish tedium. The relentless drive for excellence goes on and, with their various roles and responsibilities, that extraordinary ability to separate and focus on one obligation at a time is in constant demand. That includes fitting in time to enjoy life, have fun and do the things young men do, but everything slots into the context of the ultimate goal. Even time away from sailing is often taken up with activities that ultimately serve the cause in terms of fitness, agility, balance or strength. Their days often begin at 5.30am and may involve surfing in the morning, sailing during the day, later on mountain biking or paddling SUP boards. Willcox joins them in some or all of these high-action adventures, keeping it fresh on the long march to Rio.


After Rio, though, their paths will diverge. Burling and Tuke will turn their same steely focus and work ethic towards winning the America’s Cup, while Willcox and his wife, Ulrika, head offshore in a robust 46ft Laurie Davidson sloop. Their plan is for a five-year cruise that will begin with a circumnavigation of New Zealand and then who knows… an extensive cruise of the Pacific, or maybe even a full circum- navigation via the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. A long-suppressed wanderlust waits to be fulfilled. Willcox may not have won the prized Halberg coaching award, but his career in sailing, both as a competitor and as a coach, has earned him great respect for his decency and generosity and the passion he brings to the sport.


Last word, perhaps, to the man who did win the coaching prize: All Black maestro Steve Hansen defined the art of coaching as creating an environment to inspire already highly motivated athletes to improve performance ‘by having the right balance of stimulation and fun’. It sounds exactly like the formula Hamish Willcox is applying as he pours heart and soul and most of his waking hours into helping Peter Burling and Blair Tuke fulfil their Olympic goal.


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