Stuart Walker’s Talk on Competition.
November, 2005 Annapolis MD US Sailing One Design symposium.

Belonging to a group is genetic. Small packs equaled survival
Jeffery Weld, a Brit spit fire pilot…. Reminisced…. Fear…, fight’s, drinking, dinner, Formed a very tight bond.

So, belonging to a group matters.
The trick is to you must make sure that all of the group matters.

There is always a hierarchy within this group.

Competition will draw people out.

Why do we compete? …
We compete to dare. … To test … Put your best out there and have it evaluated…. Fail and you Fail yourself.

This is tough!

So, competing is a fragile psychic thing.

So when you are competing within your GROUP you are dealing with your friends.

You are also dealing with your opponents.

So, as you advance in the ranks… your winning is resented.

Resentment is important.
It’s built into the nature of a competitor… You especially resent the guy who in public willingly shows his superiority. (Me for instance)

Now it’s human to deny this behavior and the feelings.
But Resentment is the engine of a competitor ...
Resentment drives competition.. It’s certainly not love of the sport.

Denial is important to maintain competition in the group.
You deny in both directions… You deny winning and loosing are important.
You deny that you resent X for winning and yourself for loosing.
This is just a pretense. There is not a world free of resentment!

So, we as humans are ambivalent about competition and groups. … it’s a fragile environment that we live in here.

I suggest you respect this feeling!
Eg. Women dropping out of sailing is fueled by resentment.

Solution is to emphasize Respect within the group and deal with resentment by recognizing its importance (fuels competition) and it’s downside (undermines respect for your friends)

It’s NOT important to bring everyone up to the top… eg “make everyone a winner:
It IS important to belong to a group .. be part of the group … and take your part in the group. Groups must recognize that this is their foremost goal

It’s not important to just have parties. The Party is not causally related to sailing
However Parties are part of sailing experience.

A fleet leader is very important. You die or thrive based on their leadership

Leaders set an example
Leaders Imply and Not Demand “we need you on Sunday” to make people part of the group.

If you as a leader are a “true believer:… People will naturally follow.
Well… If Stuart is racing… then it must be worth while… I’m going.
EG…. Do you have crew??? We need you …. Make those phone calls.

Fleet’s (Groups) free of resentment are not possible
Public Anger though is a big turn off.
This must be recognized and crushed immediately.

Walker interviewed the fleet after a recent world championship. Only three people were satisfied with their performance. MOST were unhappy with performance…. It fueled the drive to do better the next time.

Buddy Melges HATES to loose…. So… you Must recognize that resentment exists
But you have to avoid expressing this resentment and the conditions that would bring this up.

Emphasize the LAST boat. If you loose the last boat in your fleet … You have a NEW last boat… etc etc and your group will decline.

So you manage the game itself… and make sure each event is planned to work

Ritual is needed.

In New Zealand… after racing you were EXPECTED to be in the club house. They had a ritual of 3rd bought the beer, 2nd served the beer and 1st did something. (I think thanked the RC)

Annual events with historical records are important. EG the Soling race on the Severn on New Years Day.

Trophy’s and Trophy presentation. You must recognize the hierarchy and announce it.
Don’t half butt the trophies.

B fleets are not good. It detracts from the larger event… You win the xx fleet… BS!

Fast guys helping the slow guys will ALWAYS bring resentment.
Nobody wants to hear what they should have done when they are competitors.

One solution was Walker and Merrit who were equally good Soling racers would debate the race at the bar and the fleet would listen in. Everyone attended.

NOW…. The fleet does not want to hear S Walker telling them what they should have done…. And why he was great today.

Personal handicaps are a big winner … Line honors for a one design fleet gets one trophy… Handicap winners get three deep in trophies.

Note added… Personal handicaps takes a Portsmouth rating for your boat and now applies it to you. Your personal rating is now adjusted… If you sail well… you beat your rating… if you sail poorly you loose. In practical terms… you collect times on all boats in a one design fleet. The time differences becomes the basis for a personal rating. You are scored on finish position…. Personal handicap, Overall on handicap... across fleets, and Overall on personal handicap. LOTS of trophies are given and the number match what the group says about competition, resentment and belonging to a group.

Food for thought

Mark Schneider