Exclusive Interview/Torben Grael, skipper, Ericsson 4
He is not called ‘Turbine’ for fun. Torben Grael is the Brazilian with the highest number of Olympic medals. With five Olympic medals, including golds in Atlanta and Athens, he is the Olympian with the highest number of medals in sailing. Grael skippered Brasil 1 which came third in the 2006 VOR and this time he is out to secure yachting’s Holy Grail.
Torben and his boys won both Cape Town and Kochi legs, scored 26 out of 28 points and broke the record for the farthest distance sailed in 24 hours. The Grael family and ace sailor Marcelo Ferreira founded the Projeto Grael, which teaches underprivileged children to sail. Dockside rumours say Grael is paid around € 16 million to skipper the Ericsson 4. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
What special preparation did you take to break the record?
[Laughs] If you set out with the sole aim of breaking a record, it’s already difficult. When you plan to break a record, you wait for perfect conditions. But this is impossible in a race. Luckily, we had good conditions on our route. Our aim was to win the leg; the record was a bonus.
In terms of the record, what edge did you have that other teams didn’t?
Well, nothing. We followed a wind system that took us straight to Cape Town. If you see the graph, many other teams had to go south to find wind and then come up. Our training base in Lanzarote, Spain, has both light winds and very strong ones. So the crew was prepared, unlike others who trained in places with moderate winds.
Wasn’t it tough on the crew?
Very. More speed means more water coming on board; more spray. When you change a sail, you usually need the whole crew. The sleeping guys have to get out of bed, dress, come up, change sail, undress and go back to bed—very frustrating! But they did it without complaining.
How do you feel about the effort, now that it is over?
Feels great. It’s like running. [Laughs] I hate running, but I do it because the feeling afterwards is great.
Olympic winner Marcelo Ferreira is your favoured sailing partner and your brother, Lars Grael, has two Olympic medals, too. Why don’t they sail in VOR?
Marcelo seems to be satisfied with his experience onboard Brasil 1 in 2006 [laughs]. Lars loves offshore sailing, but he lost a leg in a sailing accident a few years back. During a regatta, his Tornado-class yacht was run over by a motorboat and the propeller severed his leg. He still sails offshore races in Brazil, but the VOR…
How is the Projeto Grael doing?
It’s doing very well. Lars, Marcelo and I started it in 1996 as a sailing school, but most kids who came did not know swimming. So we first taught them to swim and then to sail! All of them were from ordinary families and it was frustrating for them to have learnt sailing and to have no access to yachts. So now the project trains them in nautical craft like sail-making, fibreglass working, carpentry and navigation. This helps them earn and sail. Many of them have won competitions; some work as referees and race officials. All courses are taught free.
We started with a tent and two containers on the beach. Recently I purchased a waterfront property for the project. It is an old hotel in disrepair, so I could afford it [laughs].
How does your family feel about you being at sea?
I started with my grandfather when I was seven years old. My wife, Andrea, sails and my children Marco, 19, and Martine, 17, are Optimist class sailors. If VOR is the F1 of sailing, Optimists are the go-karts.
We don’t have much of a yachting culture in India. How good are Kochi’s yachting conditions?
It’s good, you have a good sea breeze for local offshore sailing; the climate is warm and the winds moderate. Isn’t that much better that learning to sail in Nordic countries?
By Mathew T. George and published in THE WEEK dated December 21.
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