Greetings Sailors,
I am sure that most of you watched the amazing comeback of Oracle Team in the America’s Cup. I was not sure how match racing AC 72’s was going to work out, but once the boats were fairly evenly matched I thought the racing was spectacular! Now I can say that I have the honor of having coached three PSU (Portland State University) sailors that later become involved in the America’s Cup. The first sailor was Nikki Glass who went to work in the office for Dawn Riley’s America True campaign. The second sailor was Caleb Borchers who sailed on the Aloha Racing Team and then with Stars and Stripes. The last sailor was Jeff Causey who worked with Oracle.
One thing these sailors each had in common was that they did not wait around for opportunities to come to them — they went out and worked hard and made their own opportunities. Jeff also knew that in order for him to become a better sailor we had to raise the skills of others on the team, and he worked hard to help the other PSU sailors improve. Keep reading below to learn more about Jeff’s experience on Oracle Team.
Kerry Poe, North Sails Oregon
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Portland Sailor Jeff Causey on Oracle Team USA
Jeff Causey sailed in Portland from 2002-2007. Interview questions by LauraLee Symes. Originally printed in the WSC (Willamette Sailing Club) Telltales. Reprinted with permission.
Background:
Age? 31
Where did you go to school? Portland State University
Where did you grow up? Olympia, WA
LL: When did you sail at Willamette Sailing Club?
JC: I moved to Portland from the Seattle area in 2002 to attend school at PSU. I was active in the club between 2002 and 2007 sailing mostly Thistles, Lasers and Tasars in addition to the college team.
LL: There are a lot of sailors in the world. How does one end up getting hired on with the Oracle Team USA?
JC: Honestly, the opportunity came as a surprise. After I finished school I had been working my way through the circus of professional and semi-professional yachting, mostly in IRC and TP52 fleets. In the winter of 2010, I was spending a lot of time around Miami racing Etchells and Melges 32s. During the Miami Grand Prix event that year I was asked to come up to West Palm Beach to help out for a couple of weeks with the Speedboat team, who were finishing a refit and preparing the 100’ maxi for another Transatlantic record attempt during the upcoming summer. I didn’t know it at the time, but the rigger for that project, Andrew Henderson, was fresh off an America’s Cup win with the Oracle trimaran. Oracle was regrouping for its defense campaign and Hendo was recruiting talent for the rigging department. After a couple weeks working alongside him on the Speedboat, he asked if I would go on tour with Oracle in the Louis Vuitton Series and try out for the team. Of course I was excited to be asked and though I felt reasonably comfortable with my skill set, I also felt that I may be stepping in over my head. I told them I was interested if there was room at the outset for me to learn. They replied that no one yet knew how to do what we were about to do, and they just needed good people to come help them figure it out. A year later I was back in San Francisco working for them full-time, sailing AC45s and developing systems for the AC72s.
LL: Do you have any advice for aspiring future Americas Cup sailors?
JC: Unfortunately there is no clear road map for this career and there is almost always an element of being in the right place at the right time. That said, I also believe you make your own luck. I didn’t grow up in a strong sailing family or even a strong sailing community, so I have always felt like I was trying to catch up. The only way I have found to bridge that gap is to work for it like nothing else in life matters (this will come at a price to your loved ones!). No matter how good you think you are or how much experience you have accrued, in a sport as diverse as ours the learning curve will always be as steep as you’re willing to make it. I think that truth makes room for people who are determined enough to succeed. One important skill I have not enjoyed learning is the ability to gracefully break crewing commitments. It is not fun and not easy but it is an inevitability if you are trying to climb the ladder quickly. Never turn down an opportunity to sail with (or against) better sailors! Lastly, learn a trade. Rigging and sailmaking are popular choices, but I think the field which offers the most opportunity right now is electronics. Guys who are good with both the hardware and software sides of navigational equipment and racing electronics are in high demand.
LL: What was your role as a member of the Oracle team?
JC: Initially I started as one in a team of five riggers who covered all aspects of the program together. As we began to delve more specifically into the AC72 systems and divide up responsibilities for them, I moved into a position as project manager for the rigging and control systems for the wings. I was responsible for producing, installing and maintaining the standing and running rigging around the wings. I also worked closely with the the wing design team to develop and refine the control systems. All five of us in the rigging department were also reserve sailors for the AC45 and AC72 programs.
LL: Tell us a little bit about your experience and how it felt to be on the team.
JC: It’s an extraordinary thing to work so hard for so long for something and to be rewarded in the end with the kind of result we achieved. The day in and day out of this campaign was very trying and very isolating. For years we worked 6 and often 7 days a week and that left very little time for team members to maintain themselves and their families. In the end of course, not only did we win, but people are now calling this America’s Cup the greatest in the history of the event and the greatest comeback in all of sports. I think the difficulty with which this victory was achieved has intensified its reward. For two days after we won I was a total wreck. I was completely overwhelmed and it often took great effort to keep my emotions in check at random times through the day, like standing in line for a coffee. I am also left with a big impression from many of the people I worked with this campaign. Several generations of America’s Cup talent comprised our team. I grew up reading books about Grant Simmer and watching Russell Coutts on tv, and then one day I am sitting down in meetings or at lunch with them on a regular basis. That’s kind of a trip. I feel particularly privileged to have worked closely this campaign with Dirk DeRidder. Dirk is one of the hardest working men in the industry and he brings an extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience with him into a team. He has competed in the Olympics. He has competed in several Volvo Ocean Races, and won. He has won the Med Cup. He’s won the America’s Cup. And yet he is very open to new ideas and eager to sit down and hash them out with someone like me who was just navigating his first Cup campaign.
LL: What was your personal best speed sailing onboard the AC72s?
JC: 43.6 knots
LL: What are your plans now?
JC: In the immediate future, I am going to focus on family and try to catch up on house projects that have been piling up over the summer. Like most sailors, I will be anxiously awaiting announcements on the protocol for the 35th Cup, but in the meantime I am looking forward to getting back on the water with some different projects. I got into the A-class during this campaign and I’m excited to race more actively this season (hopefully some momentum from this last summer in San Francisco will trickle down to the Vancouver Lake fleet!). I’m also looking forward to doing some offshore racing with a couple of programs that are coming together, and I would love to come down to WSC for some Monday nights in 2014!!
