#justinslattery – Born in Cork, grew up in Ireland, Justin Slattery learnt to sail in Cork Harbour with Eddie English writes Marcus Hutchinson. By signing up to sail on board Abu Dhabi in this year's Volvo Ocean Race and sail his fifth Volvo Ocean Race Slattery has passed both of Ireland's other round the world veterans Gordon Maguire (with four races) and Damian Foxall (with three Volvos, a Jules Verne and a Barcelona World Race).
My First Race
I joined the 60-footer Newscorp in the 2001 Whitbread race. I had already been sailing Maxis on the professional circuit for over five years by then, racing either with or against most of the crews that would have been involved in the round the world scene at the time. In some ways it was almost a natural progression for me to get involved with the round the world race. It was something that I had been looking forward to getting into from the first day I heard about it.
The Moment
The moment when it clicked that this was something I wanted to do a lot of came I think when we set off from Southampton heading for Cape Town in 2001 and I thought, wow, I'm finally here racing with all these guys I've been reading about for years, my dream has finally come true, an amazing feeling. In some ways I'd made it to the start but I had yet to prove that I could actually do it.
The Southern Ocean
Leg 2 heading down into the Southern Ocean from South Africa. You've read about it, you've heard the stories, now you've got to get through it. I can tell you it lived up to everything it was supposed to be. One of the most frightening places in the world to be but also some of the most fun and exhilarating sailing you could ever do.
Race-end euphoria
There is always a massive anticlimax at the end of the race. The first time I finished it I realised I'd completed the race that I'd been thinking about for years and years. I asked myself, "what's next?" Finishing it was one thing but it was became an obvious decision to go back out there again and try and win it next time. Following finishing my first race I spent a year racing everything from TPs to Maxis, anything that was relevant. And then I got the call to go and sail on ABN Amro. I got the call. I didn't make the call. For the previous race I had kicked just about every door down in an attempt to get a spot on board, but this time the offers came to me. This was great and I felt privileged.
Why did they call me?
In my opinion people called me because they know me for having done so much for my experience. I'd worked all my life towards this. I had made the investment in time and energy but it is still a huge privilege to get that call. All the names on board ABN Amro were A-listers of the offshore world and now I was there too. To win the race was also a lifetime ambition achieved.
Never again
I probably said never again at the end of that amazing race on ABN Amro but it doesn't take long before you realise that you just can't touch that kind of fully crewed sailing in any other place and I'm back now for edition five. It is still untouchable. It is the highest level of offshore racing you can do in the world, bar none. In 2008 I was called to join the Irish Green Dragon team and the skipper of that boat, Ian Walker, was my skipper again for Abu Dhabi last time in 2011 and again this time.
Why I went back to Abu Dhabi
It was natural for me to go with Abu Dhabi again this time. I raced with them three years ago in the previous race and we didn't have a great race last time, the boat was really slow. The opportunity came again and this time I knew it was going to be very different with the one design boats. I knew we weren't going to have a boat speed deficit like last time. I know it would be only up to us. It is still going to be a really tough time though.
10 years from now
I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing in 10 years time. I'll probably be racing somewhere or other but probably not doing the Volvo Ocean Race. The more I've been involved in this scene the more I realise there are other opportunities out there too, especially in the commercial side attached to it. I do a lot of rigging for new projects and builds. I do a lot of consultancy on racing projects. There is a lot of work out there aside from the racing itself.
Advice for young people
Do as many offshore races as you possibly can. There are some great offshore races around the place, and around Ireland there are plenty. People are always looking for crew and you need to just put the miles in. Not everyone on board can be an expert or a professional but if you are keen and show the right attitude you'll get on board and then its up to you how you go from there. Keep trying to be the best at what you do. Never give up!
Skills
You need a secondary skill in life no matter how good you are. You can race non-stop but it is really useful to have a secondary skill-set, especially in the world we live in. When we leave the dock we have just the skills that are in our heads and its amazing what you can fix at anytime in any part of the world with the group of people that are the crew of a Volvo boat and without outside assistance. On our boat we have a sailmaker, an engineer, a rigger and a boatbuilder, and a guy who can fix any electronic system. Anyone who wants to get deeper into offshore racing needs to have at least one other serious skill.
One Design
The boats are really close. Volvo have done an incredible job to get seven boats built to such exacting standards. I was more than pleasantly surprised by how good a job had been done. Except for their colours schemes the boats could not be more One Design. You'll see the fleet swarming together all the time. All boats in the fleet will have a piece of the podium at some stage. To win this race you will have to be consistently there and maybe get a fist full of bullets too. A big challenge!
