Sustaining Success: Qualifying for the World Championships in three of the last four years!

By winning the San Francisco J/24 Fleet 17 2008 Championship Series we’ve qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Annapolis, MD in the first week of May. Over the eight (8) months that we raced last year we had a phenomenal series as we ended up with twenty-seven (27) first, twelve (12) second and two (2) third place finishes in the forty-one (41) race series.

As it stands our local Fleet 17 record is as follows:

2004 – Fleet 17 Championship – 2nd Place
           “Rookie of the Year” Award
2005 – “Sportsmanship of the Year” Award
2006 – Fleet 17 Season Champion
2007 – Fleet 17 Season Championship – 2nd Place
2008 – Fleet 17 Season Champion

In fact this is the third (3rd) time we’ve qualified for the Worlds in the last four (4) years. We won the 2005 Western Regional Championships in Marina del Rey which qualified us for the 2006 World Championships in Melbourne , Australia . Our twenty-fifth (25th) place finish in the 2006 National Championships in Galveston Bay qualified us for the 2007 World Championships in Puerto Vallarta , Mexico .

As we are preparing to leave for Annapolis it provides an opportunity to reflect back on all the regattas we’ve sailed, all the success we’ve had and the great many friends we’ve made along the way. Most important of all is how our group has evolved, grown and matured into a top-flight team – dedicated, enthusiastic, and inspired!

Over time we’ve seen five (5) “Key Factors for Success” that continue to play out and they are:

1. The Quality of the people you choose to hang-out with is directly proportional to the quality of your life experience! Find, recruit and retain the smartest and very best people you can - as they will continue to deliver results vastly beyond your expectations.

2. Relationships Determine Results – to be in relationship with someone you have to work together, break bread together and recreate together. It is imperative that to get the very best effort and results from your people that you know them personally – their families, their careers and their lives. It is through this process that real trust is developed, which is the foundation for success.

3. Success breeds more success. Success is built over time by setting appropriate stretch goals and achieving them over and over again. Hence, the comment that it is not the destination that is important but the journey is right on point. Each of the successive small wins builds competence, confidence and the expectation of more success. Each of these steps roll-up to greater overall success for the team!

4. Celebrate the Wins! It is an integral part of team success to recognize each person, their contribution and their uniqueness! An open “Round Table Appreciation” is an extremely effective way for the whole team to share in this experience. The sub-text here is to praise publicly and provide feedback privately. As we always coach our folks – good news on Fridays and bad news on Mondays.

5. Training is the bow that wraps up the whole package! Organize and deliver the very best training that money can buy as it is the investment that will return dividends time and time again. Training is the key to retaining the best people you have, and by making them better at what they do, it is what sustains the highest level of success.

As we move forward, TMC Racing will be one of eighty one (81) teams from eighteen countries that will compete in the 2009 J/24 World Championships in Annapolis, MD. We’re excited to be going back to the Worlds again as we’re better trained, prepared and motivated than ever before and have high expectations about how well we’re going to do this time around! As I keep telling the team, “Always remember that every dog has his day in the sun!”

Follow our progress as we travel to the East Coast, race in the Annapolis NOOD Regatta on April 24th – 26th and then go on to the World Championship Regatta May 4th – 8th. We’ll be posting updates!

How Do You Build Success?

When we started our program in April of 2004 we put together a new team of folks to launch our racing campaign. Early on we struggled with the whole issue of “How do you build success?”

Now that we have kicked off our 5th season, we are able to look back and see what we’ve down that worked and what missed the mark. Here are our Five Key Factors for Success:

1. Always have a stretch goal – when it’s all said and done you’ll find you’ve achieved more with a stretch goal in mind than if you just go out and compete haphazardly. We all know that goal has always been powerful.
2. Equipment preparation is foundational – it’s easier to succeed when you know your machine is optimized for maximum performance and maintained to perfection. Unnecessary gear failures and breakdowns robs the team of success. The confidence the team experiences from using the best equipment available breeds more success!
3. Training, training and more training – in the 2007 Worlds we raced against the World Champion Brazilian team who, after racing in the 2005 Worlds in England, trained six (6) days a week for four (4) months to win the 2006 Australian Worlds. Admittedly these guys are pro sailors, and the training example they set shows us all what it takes to win at the highest level of competition. Our training goal for the team is to be able to execute all of our maneuvers without having to think about them – and we still have a ways to go to get there. It’s important for the entire team to be committed to continuous improvement!
4. Set a series of small challenges to use as intermediate steps to your main goal – there is nothing more motivating than winning, and a series of “small” wins builds the momentum that leads to “big” wins. As a team, we’ve been working on the goal of always finishing in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. Every time we go racing we’re committed to our goal of Win, Place or Show! Consistency of results is what wins regattas.
5. Celebrating every win is important – in support of the understanding that every win counts, celebrating your success recognizes all of the team’s individual contributions and provides another way for the team to bond and grow. We know that to be “in relationship” with someone you need to work together, recreate together and break bread together. At the very bottom line of the success equation we’ve found that; “Relationships Determine Results!”

When you utilize these principles, as we have, you’ll see your team’s level of efficacy grow and you’ll experience the satisfaction of achievement as you evolve the level of success in your program. All the best to your future success!