Interview with technical director, Joff Brown
“I prefer to look after boats, not people.” Joff Brown has a wealth of experience in race support and refits for IMOCA 60s and he’s worked on multiple Vendee Globe campaigns.
As the technical director for Pip’s #VG2020 campaign, he’s worked closely with the team to get Medallia race-ready. He shares an insight into the work the team has done and his hopes for this year’s event.
How did you get into this as a career?
I had a very specific interest in doing this as a career - when I was 16 and at school I had to write what I was aiming for, and I used to say I wanted to be a project manager in ocean racing. It’s a fairly niche career path. I went to Southampton Institute to study Yacht Manufacturing Management and when I was there I built up a useful network of contacts and became really involved in the Solent racing scene. When I finished studying I built my Dad a boat, fitting out the mouldings of a 32ft cruising catamaran, and then was introduced to Mike Golding and started working in the IMOCA class. That’s where it all started.
Why project management as opposed to being on the water?
I wanted to work in this industry. I was fascinated by the Whitbread races in the 80s and 90s but I soon realised the tech side suited me better. We sailed as a family and went cruising a lot on holidays along the east coast. I like being on the water, it’s a fairly wholesome way to holiday and I’d like to think I’ll take my own family out cruising - it’s a good way to get away from the screens, get outdoors in nature and it can be a relaxing sport.
What’s your experience been like since you started out?
I’ve worked in a few different roles. I got a job in Mike Golding’s team in 2000, I then worked on some inshore projects, was a race boat build project manager and also worked with Conrad Humphries in 2004 before going on to manage the build for Hugo Boss on their IMOCAs in 2006. Then I went to New Zealand and managed the build of Dee Caffari’s boat for the 2008 Vendee Globe and 2010 Barcelona around the world race. I did a few other refits and projects (managing boats for five successful round the world races and project managing the build of three new IMOCAs) before joining Pip’s team in 2019.
How did you get started on Pip’s campaign?
I started working with Pip last year, working in a small team (which often means you can make a bigger impact). We took the boat apart to see what we could do with it and make decisions within the budget that would improve performance and make Pip’s life easier when sailing. We went to local suppliers from her business syndicate, but then COVID came along and delayed all of the work. So, like everyone else, we haven’t had as much time as we would have liked. Most of these campaigns are run over years. Everything on an IMOCA like this is largely custom built, the pieces that go on it take a lot of design time, pieces come from all over the world and building them is complicated so putting that all together in a short amount of time and when the world has been shut down has been a challenge...
What has been the ambition for Medallia and preparing the boat for the race?
At the end of last year the plan was reliability. We had modest expectations of improving the performance, the main objectives were making sure the boat gets round safely and making Pip’s life easier onboard. We’ve been able to do more of that work while also working on performance because at the end of the day it’s a race.
What upgrades have you made to Medallia?
We’ve installed new sails, new rigging, put the boat through servicing and a lot of replacement equipment, we’ve made some electronic upgrades too, including lithium batteries and upgrading the autopilot to a more modern system. We've added bigger winches to make the sails more efficient, and added hydrogenerators and solar panels so Pip isn’t just reliant on the engine for power. The boat uses 12/13 amps an hour and we can almost get to that with solar power. The boat used to be fully reliant on the engine but if there’s a problem with power and you can’t run the pilots, then you can’t really go around the world. Pip now has a few charging options so if there’s a problem with one or the other there’s another one to keep the boat going.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
Apart from the world situation, it’s also challenging working with a boat when you don’t really know its history. This is a 20-year old boat with not a lot of records, the boat came with barely any information so that makes it difficult to know what’s old and what’s not, so anything we haven’t been sure of we’ve changed for peace of mind.
What’s it been like in the build-up to the Vendee Globe and how do you think the boat will perform?
Pip’s got a great attitude and work ethic. It’s also been excellent to work with a British team - in 2008 seven out of eight teams were British and that’s dwindled, so it’s great to be part of a campaign that will inspire the next generation.
It’s really interesting - the race has such a diverse range of boats on the same start line with the same rules. Medallia is one of the oldest in the fleet, it’s racing against the latest foiling boats with no handicap system so in many ways it’s a knife to a gunfight. But the boat, built by Bernard Stamm, has already gone round the world four times. My hope is that the boat and Pip make it round safely, anything else would be a bonus.
How do you extract every possible knot of boat speed?
It’s working on a bit of everything. My tips for anyone trying to improve performance would be; get the best sails you can get, make the boat as light as you can and keep the weight as low down as possible, look at the surface finish on the bottom of the boat too.
How do you deal with problems while the boat’s at sea and you’re on dry land?
When a boat is in the dock it’s my favourite place for it to be because you can do anything, fix anything. But suddenly when they go out to sea the only things they’ve got with them is what you’ve put on them. You’re always trying to anticipate problems before the boat heads out to give the skipper as much support as possible.
When a boat is in the middle of the sea and the only person onboard is a skipper who’s in a sodden, damp environment, then it’s not conducive to doing much in terms of maintenance and repair. If something does go wrong, then Pip would call up and most of the time we’ll advise to go to the spare and fit it, if it’s a small problem then she might be able to live with it and if not hopefully the spare would fix the issue. But obviously bigger things can go wrong - for example if the watermaker packed up it would be difficult to continue racing. I have worked with other skippers and overcome challenges like this though; Conrad Humphries had problems with his bearings so his keel was moving all over the show for three weeks which was pretty unnerving, and in the 2008 Vendee Globe Dee Caffari’s sails fell apart - she phoned us when she was in the middle of the Pacific with a small tear to the mainsail. In a situation like that you advise as much as possible, but it’s frustrating for us on the shore as there's only so much you can do to help. Skippers like Pip are incredibly capable people though. In my experience they never really panic on the phone if something goes wrong and they stay quite calm. Ultimately the technical team’s job is to speak to them, speak to suppliers and try to give them the solutions they need to fix whatever problem they have.
Will you be there at the start line this year?
It will be very different - there are usually tens of thousands of people lining the dock and the entire team involved, but the reality this year is that only a few of us will be on the boat before Pip departs. We’ll do some final checks before Medallia sets sail. I’ve no doubt it will be a really special event - my motivation to do what I do is the people, when you go to something like this you see how much of a massive moment it is for the skipper, it’s usually a very teary and emotional send off and then when you get them back again at the end that’s a great moment. It’s been great working in such a small dedicated team and I’m looking forward to being on that start line.