An early announcement of the decision
to enter the race – without the need to find co-sponsors – provided more time to hire the most sought-after sailors before they were snapped up by other teams and then give them sufficient time to prepare. ‘This time our project is only driven by
performance. Starting earlier was essential. We said to Dongfeng, if you want to do better we have to start earlier,’ Semblat explained. ‘It is not something to try to negotiate. The major decisions were to begin early, try to attract the best sailors, keep a mixed crew with Chinese sailors and women, and keep the best people – at sea and on shore – from the last race. ‘Last time we were very short of people
in the shore team to prepare the boat properly between legs – and allow the sailors the time they needed to recover and prepare for the next leg… particularly in the critical areas of navigation and meteo. ‘If you want sailors to be healthy and
training well you need a lot of people to follow them around to support them. So we ramped up our approach dramatically; we also hired more top sailors this time. ‘We started a story with the first race
and we wanted to progress that story with a better result. We were a good team before but now we needed to add new skills to become much stronger,’ said Semblat. ‘The organisational challenges of work-
ing with Dongfeng include the company being completely new to even the concept of ocean racing. Dongfeng also has a rela- tively high turnover of senior management – often necessitating the repeat of briefings about progress. The flipside was that incoming management feel less disposed to risk interfering in something that is already operating quite well… ‘Now they no longer interfere with the
team or how we run it,’ Semblat empha- sises. ‘But being Chinese they are patient. Yes, they aspire to one day having a
48 SEAHORSE
Above: OC Sport chief executive Guillaume Semblat is very choosy about where he goes to keep on top of his game. Top: helm/trimmer Marie Riou, skipper Charles Caudrelier and helm/trimmer Carolijn Brouwer. Riou is a two-time Olympian and four-time Nacra 17 World Champion, Brouwer is a three-time Olympian and former ISAF World Sailor of the Year who is now on her third Volvo and Charles Caudrelier is a Figaro Race champion who won the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race with Franck Cammas on Groupama. No room for dummies then…
Chinese sailor skipper the winning VOR entry but they know this will take a very long time. So they quietly absorb the lessons as we move forward together.’ Like other teams Dongfeng lease their
VO65. ‘Similarly all the race village mater- ial does not belong to us. We rent it, just as we rent the workshop. Shipping is done by VOR who provide logistics and mainte- nance,’ Semblat explains. ‘For a team that is relatively new this “one-stop” arrange- ment makes things a lot easier – it certainly lowered the barriers to entry, particularly
from the point of view of our sponsor.’ But Dongfeng are a commercial racing
operation and there are inherent problems with the event in its current form. One of these is factoring into a commercial pro- gramme a race that takes place only every three years – meaning there is a full year off between the finish of one race and signing contracts, hiring staff and the start of train- ing for the next one. Promises don’t pay bills, and even with
reassurances over the continuity of a pro- gramme it is understandable that many sailors and support staff are tempted away by other more immediate opportunities. ‘It’s quite difficult,’ Semblat admits
freely. ‘We’ve got an empty year between races. During one year all we do is renew contracts. So from August 2015 to August 2016 we just had negotiations. Dongfeng is a famous Chinese industrial brand with enormous legal and administrative support but the negotiations were still very long…’ Although he is primarily immersed in
the commercial side of the Dongfeng race programme, Semblat’s own experience with other sports means he places great value on keeping those same commercial and business aspects of the event grounded in the roots of the sailing. ‘Volvo took over as sponsors in 1997, investing to develop a successful existing race. It’s a very long event. But it’s still a fantastic event. ‘However, it’s critical that we do not
make this event too “artificial”. For the sailing community and for the wider world this is still one of the most desirable sport- ing trophies to win. But sailing is not For- mula One… nothing like it. Sailing is a way of life. We are a small community. You travel the world together and share many incredible experiences. ‘If you market something like this race
too heavily – if it becomes like a car – then you lose your soul. Eventually you will lose the event itself. That is inevitable.’ q
TOM MULLEN
VINCENT CURUTCHET/DONGFENG
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