5
The Ramblers—Run-Up to the Race
The crew in the ’98 race included two relative newcomers to the Midnight Rambler team—Chris Rockell and Gordon Livingstone. Chris was the resident “Kiwi.” He was untested, but New Zealanders came equipped with reputations for being superb sailors.
This would be Chris’ second Hobart race. Chris’ boat had pulled out the previous year, retiring with damage. Not only was Chris a sailor, he also played front row on a provincial New Zealand rugby team. And he was the picture of what people might imagine a rugby player would look like—or maybe a Marine on a recruiting poster.
Behind his rugged good looks, Chris exuded toughness. He was strong and dependable, and he followed orders without question. Although not an experienced sailor, what Chris lacked in technical ability he made up in determination, strength, and reliability.
Chris was warm and friendly at the bar, but his tough-guy demeanor was not an act. Over drinks, he matter-of-factly shared a school-day story of being bullied by an older classmate. Years later, in a New Zealand rugby game, Chris encountered the same boy who had bullied him as a child. This time, however, Chris was all grown up and the odds were even. As he reflected on that game, he looked pensively at a scar on his knuckle. With a slight grin he noted, “I've still got the scar where his tooth got stuck in my fist.”
Gordon Livingstone—“Gordo”—was the second new member of the team. He had known Arthur from their workdays at Coopers & Lybrand, and was eager to join the crew. In his first sail on the Midnight Rambler, however, Gordo was intimidated by Ed's singular focus and passion.
Gordo's baptism by fire took place several years before the ’98 race. His initiation came during a short race off the Sydney Heads—the high cliffs that mark the entrance to the harbor. As a rank amateur, Gordo was given a relatively simple job at the back of the boat near Ed. Unfortunately for Gordo, he kept making mistakes with his relatively straightforward assignment. And Ed, who confesses to a heightened level of excitability during races, shouted at Gordo nonstop for hours.
In spite of this rough start, Ed saw in Gordo a desire to learn, and he invited him back. Others might have balked at the invitation, but Gordo was not a quitter. He wanted to give it another go, and he was drawn to Ed's passion. Gordo was also attracted by the strength of the bonds that held the team together and by their staunch commitment to getting things right. Gordo liked what he saw, and he was willing to do whatever it took to become a part of the AFR Midnight Rambler crew.
Though both Gordo and Chris were new kids on the block, there were no inner and outer circles. There were “no Hollywood boys,” as Ed put it. Everyone was respected, and all seven crew members were treated as equals.
Everyone brought a unique combination of skills. Gordo was a witty guy who could break the ice by cracking a joke. Sometimes his jokes were told at the expense of others, but he delivered the punch lines in a way that took the edge off difficult situations. Chris brought his strength and determination, and both he and Gordo believed in the cause—the team's commitment to teamwork and excellence.
Their assimilation into the team was accelerated by Mix, who brought his own unique style. Mix's formal role on the boat was in the Pit. Stationed in the cockpit, he was responsible for organizing the halyards—ropes that are fed in from the mast to raise and lower the sails. Without organization, the halyards and the backstays supporting the mast could easily become a tangled mess. Not only would the snarl interfere with performance. It could also become a dangerous trap for sailors trying to move around the boat in heavy weather.
Mix was a great pitman, but his informal role was equally important. Mix patiently translated Ed's sometimes frantic instructions to new members of the crew. He was a buffer between Ed—who could get so carried away that he would yell obscenities—and the rookies, who were eager to perform but confused about what they were supposed to be doing.
With Mix as an intermediary, Chris and Gordo came to understand that Ed's outbursts were nothing personal. It was simply that Ed was extraordinarily focused and emotional about sailing. Once that became clear, Ed's intensity took on a different light. Instead of a liability, it became a huge asset. It was one of the reasons people loved sailing with Ed as a skipper.
Polishing the Stove
The crew also came to appreciate Ed's methodical approach to preparing for the Hobart. The routine never changed. Before each race, Ed created an extensive checklist that inevitably ran to many pages. Each item was assigned to a crew member, and everything had to be checked before the start of the race.
Ed's wife, Sue, matter-of-factly describes him as obsessive about making sure that all the items on the list are in place and done properly. Sue was responsible for rounding up first aid kits, fire extinguishers, and other safety equipment. She was as devoted as Ed to flawless preparation. If something was missing, it needed to be replaced. If something had expired, it needed to be changed. Nothing was left to chance.
The crew went through AFR Midnight Rambler with a fine-tooth comb. They got to know every inch of the boat, inside and out. And as always, they stripped out every ounce of excess weight. At one point, Ed instructed Bob to count the number of bolts. Even an extra screwdriver in the toolbox required special permission.
Bob understood Ed's zealous devotion to eliminating extra weight, but Ed's determination also amused him. Flawless preparation was functional, but it was one of the skipper's idiosyncrasies.
Bob delights in recounting one occasion on which Ed was allegedly caught violating his own rule. On a previous voyage, Ed had given Bob considerable grief in a dispute about a plastic sextant. Bob wanted to take the sextant as a backup for navigation in case their electronic instruments failed. The sextant weighed all of 2 ounces. But Ed complained about the unnecessary weight, and he was so insistent that Bob finally acquiesced and left the sextant behind.
Later, according to Bob, he discovered a men's magazine in Ed's sailing pack. Bob took great pains to point out that the magazine weighed three times as much as the sextant. Ed denies ownership of the magazine, insisting that it was part of a “goody bag” given to each boat. Whatever the truth of the matter, the incident provides ammunition for ongoing banter between Bob and Ed.
Part of the crew's preparation involved cleaning everything that they could get their hands on, and one of Gordo's assignments was polishing the boat's kerosene stove. The task involved taking the stove out of its storage spot in the cabin and polishing the stainless steel until it glistened.
The task was clear-cut, and Gordo had no question about what was expected: The stove had to look like it was just out of the box from the store. Gordo dutifully took on the assignment, but he thought the task was somewhat odd. He had enough sailing experience with Ed to know food preparation is a low priority during a race, and he doubted that the stove would ever be used.
Puzzled, Gordo kept wondering why he had been assigned the task. He finally came to realize that polishing the stove was simply an icon. It was part of the mental preparation, and an integral part of Ed's conditioning program.
The Hobart would be tough on both the crew and the equipment, and Ed's goal was to instill confidence. Before an important race, they needed to be sure that the boat was prepared. They needed to know that every nook and cranny on the boat was as tight and shipshape as it could possibly be. Nothing could be ignored, and the gleaming stove was a symbol of their devotion to preparation. At the time, no one knew that their lives would soon depend on this meticulous attention to detail.
Getting the equipment ready was important, but preparation involved more than just the boat and its gear. Team members had to be ready as well, both physically and mentally. Each crew member engaged in a personalized program of physical training. They ran, they swam, and they lifted weights. Anticipating the demands of the race, they pushed themselves to increase their strength and stamina.
Seamless Teamwork
Along with individual preparation, the crew worked to develop their capacity for seamless teamwork. Some of their training took place in the relative protection of Sydney Harbour, but much of it occurred outside Sydney Heads and far offshore.
They spent time on tasks that were very basic. They practiced, for example, reefing the mainsails. Reefing involves using short pieces of rope to pull down the bottom of the sail and reduce the area exposed to the wind. The job of reefing isn't technically complicated, and it is unnecessary in light winds and sunshine. But in heavy weather and rough seas, their ability to reef the sails could be critical.
Onlookers who saw the team performing these maneuvers in good weather were often amused. Many wondered, Why bother? But each time the crew went through the process, the steps became more familiar. The Ramblers practiced these routines repeatedly until they could hardly stand them. Then they would go through the steps again, making sure that the patterns were completely ingrained.
As a result of their exhaustive preparation, the crew learned to work with seamless precision under all conditions. It was tedious, uncomfortable, and boring. But the time would come when they would be thankful for their effort.