For those of you that followed the T500 this year, you might have seen an interview with Alli on the beach at Jupiter. She was the one that Trey and I put in charge of the Velocity circus while he and I were off on the high seas.

She managed to make the whole thing work like a well oiled machine.

At the initial skippers meeting, Judy was asking the teams about how many boats, personnel, chase vehicles and RV's each team had. Team Royal had 20 people, 3 cars or so... Seacats had 9 people, 2 cars... TVS: 6 boats, 27 people, 4 cars and an RV.

I'm not trying to brag about the size of our involvement this year - I'm just trying to relate to the general public just how much responsibilty we put on Allison's shoulders, and she handled it like a seasoned veteran. Not only that but she did it with a smile, she did it with an air of authority that the ground crew respected yet didn't resent, and she made it come in at and just under budget. It was the ultimate "herding cats" scenario.

I wanted EVERYONE TO SEE how much Trey and I appreciate her doing this for us (un-paid, at that!) and if your business needs a no-nonsense manager who gets things done before they're due, takes it on herself to pickup extra duties when available, and makes sure that things get done - then Allison is your woman.

I'd also be lynched by Derek if I didn't thank him and the rest of the ground crew. Derek's now 4 years of ground crew experience surely shined through this year for us. Every morning the boat was rigged when I walked out to the beach, and every night it was washed down, re-taped and re-stocked with supplies. Perfect. Ryan Boyle also proved his prowess on the ground crew for TVS1/Anarchy Challenge. "Freight Train Ryan" is simply one of the best pushers out there (The son of Naked Santa, aka Evinrude?) James Boicourt also came along and offered his inspirational advice to all the racers, and provided our much needed fiberglass expertise. Kirk Spicer, newcomer to the ground crew thing, handled the blue wombat for Brad and Don, and managed to keep the boat together all the way up the coast so they could finish (even ahead of me the last day, grrr!)

Mario Noya did the ground crew responsibilities for JC and Carrie - and I'll tell you what, this kid is the next Darryl in the making. I was worried about putting him with our marquis team - as a newcomer he possibly wouldn't have the expertise to support them. However, Mario's hard work and enthusiasm outshined any lack of experience he might have had. Everytime I spoke to JC about whether or not Mario was doing well or not, JC simply said "dude he's great!"

The girls, oh my where do I start with the girls... Jen, Annie, Stef, Dana, Erin and my lovely wife Kate. They were the "team Moms" (I know I'm going to get kicked in the shin for that one - but its the best description) They lugged all our stinky, wet, sweaty crap from the boats, washed it, refilled the powerbars, refilled the hydration packs and basically any other task that needed to get done. Kate was our resident medical expert - making sure all the sailors stayed together, stayed hydrated. She says next year that she's going to bring IV bags along. Love you sweetheart.

I just wanted to heap praise on the people behind the scenes who made this crazy week happen for us. A lot of these guys are students who JUST graduated and are looking for jobs. If they conduct themselves in the professional world as they did this past week, they will have no problems being successful in life.

Thank You so much Guys and Gals

(feel free to use this thread to heap praise on your ground crew!)

Good onya Allison, I was waiting for you to have a breakdown and kill somebody, but I don't recall ever seeing you mad and rarely recall seeing you without a smile on your face. You handled a job that you couldn't have paid me to do. Congratulations. I hope someone in need of an excellent employee takes notice, I'd kill to have workers with the dedication you showed.
Now you just need to ditch that dork of a boyfriend you've got(or get him to propose).
Todd Hart
Team Cat Fever

Pictures?

Of... the ground crew?



There are some of them.

Also, Adam Domanski handled the ground crew responsiblilties for TVS6/Pirates. By all accounts, he did an excellent job as well. He's currently preparing a huge 50' lead-hauler for a circumnavigation with Alan Stewart. Fun stuff!

As a rep for the RC, I would like to say that it was a pleasure working with your team - they were professional, no-nonsense and understanding. It was a well-run program and you're to be commended for putting together such a compatible group. If there were the typical melt-downs going on, we never saw them. Allison clearly makes a good ring-leader, but she obviously had good material to work with, too.

I can't say enough about the TV experience. When Alec and I made our final decision to do this year's race we were faced with the task of trying to round up our support personnel. We found lots of people will offer, but in the end they either don't have the experience or the actual time off to do it. News of the Velocity program arrived right on time! I initially had concerns that with so many boats and people to look after, we might need to have a plan B in case things got crazy. Silly to have that concern, Alli and the crews had it all under control from day one through to the end.

Alli and Adam made the difference for us putting our effort together. We didn't have to mess with the rooms, and any time I had a question that the team manager should have the answer for the answer was there. Sweet.

Ryan put a few hours in our boat too. When we needed a doubler for the spin sheet Adam and Ryan worked into the night doing it, getting parts from my van and from Rick Bliss, taking the old stuff off and getting the new stuff put together, and I go out to see them meticulously whipping the ends of the sheet to make sure a professional job was done when most would have hit it with a lighter and a cheesy knot. Awesome work and very much appreciated to have that level being applied. And for this we made Adam drink lousy rum at the end of each leg!

So cheers to Alli, Adam, Ryan, and the rest for sure, and cheers to Trey and Tad and the rest of Velocity for putting the program together in the first place.

Speaking of Adam's round the world trek, visit the site - Eye of the World

Thanks JW and Keith. We really appreciate the kind words and I'm sure Ryan and Adam appreciate your praise Keith.

We put together the program for logistics because we felt that it would have been a good way to bring in some European teams. Since this was the first year, we understand if people were anxious to do business with us, but since Keith is a more than reputable pleased customer, we can maybe expand it. In the end, it was all about getting people involved in the race that otherwise wouldn't or couldn't have done it.

Fixed that for you. He is, after all, a Pirate.

Arrrrgh, yes, that be more to me liking! Got me a reputation to keep up you be knowing. Arrrrrrgh!

Never one to miss out on some self-promotion too, visit John Casey Worldwide

I can't explain how well this team on the ground did this year. From biscuits to gudgeons this team rocked! I only wish we had more time to spend with everyone during the race. Since it starts at 8 AM on the last leg, maybe there should be an organized party in the end. Thanks everyone!