Pairing up with a new crew
Gold at the 2020 Olympics left 49er helm Dylan Fletcher hungry for more, and he has since teamed up with new crew Rhos Hawes. What has he learned?
“It’s always dicult to know when you start sailing together if it is going to be right, so give it time; people are quite dierent. I sailed with a couple of others, but Rhos is the right physical size for me as I am quite a small helm, and he has the right level of professionalism in the way he operates.
“As I’ve got older I’ve realised the importance of that. At Olympic level, everyone has talent and works hard; it’s about how you use that and how you balance talent and motivation.
“The key is in your mindset; you both need to be willing to learn together and want to progress. If you’ve got weaknesses in the same area, it can make it harder, but the flip side is you’ll have a super strength in that area.
“The quickest way to progress a new partnership is to work on boat handling and communication. You need to know what the other person means when they say something mid-manoeuvre - that’s the stage we are now at. You don’t have to be on the water: you can talk your way around the race course, and discuss what you would normally say and agree exactly what a call like 'maxed on main' means. On the water, we are putting time into the basics like tacking and gybing.
“The 49er has a new mast and sails for this cycle, so there is a big technical learning curve. It’s very dierent from when Stu (Bithell) and I started sailing together (for 2020); he was already an Olympic silver medallist. Rhos and I are on a much steeper trajectory in aiming for gold in Paris, so our goal setting has to be very dierent this time.”
“I have learnt that you must both be honest about your goals; have an open conversation at the start so you can avoid arguments later on. There needs to be trust and respect, so you can talk through issues. Agree clear roles - boat work, admin, etc - and split them fairly to avoid imbalance. Above all, have fun together.”
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