Mark Rudiger interview - part 1

Former EF Language navigator talks to James Boyd about his job in the Volvo Ocean Race

Mark Rudiger was navigator for Paul Cayard's EF Language in the last Whitbread Round the World Race. It was the tall Californian's first Whitbread yet he put all the established navigators such as Marcel van Triest, Andrew Cape and Mike Quilter to shame. After the race Rudiger set up his own campaign for the Volvo Ocean Race, but when he was unable to secure sponsorship signed up with Assa Abloy.
Rudiger says his role with Assa Abloy is different to that on EF. "I wanted to use what I learned last time in more of a management position. Basically I've signed on as co-skipper but my role is still heavily in the navigational strategy area." For this race he believes it will be necessary to take two navigators on board. This way it is possible to have a navigator permanently on duty as the boat is racing.

With two navigators on board there is also a better chance of having the wide range of skills needed for this increasingly complex job. Today navigators must be skilled in boat-to-boat tactics, on-board weather forecasting, long term strategy using both these facets as well as developing polars for the boat and running the telemetry system which the two boat teams are using to aid their sail development programs.

Rudiger, whose background is mainly in offshore racing, says that Assa Abloy's skipper has skills that very much complement his own. Dutch skipper Roy Heiner, apart from helming the Dutch entry Brunel Sunergy in the last Whitbread, is best known as an Olympic sailor. He won a Bronze medal in Atlanta in the Finns and came fourth in the Solings in Sydney. His skill is much more in close, boat for boat tactics.

Assa Abloy’s second navigator has yet to be decided but, says Rudiger, they will have to be good with computers as using the various software - from routing programs such as MaxSea and KiwiTech, to weather satellite receivers and other performance analysis software - has become central to the navigator's job. "We need a heads-down navigator who can work on information gathering and presentation. I prefer to be more of a heads-up navigator. I have strategic knowledge and know what to look for in the weather outside. I know what the crew can do and what the weather can do and I apply that to how the boat goes."

Rudiger says that the additional short legs will not make a big difference to the race. The closer competition between the boats will. "It's going to be hard and may also mean that no boats will be able to run away with the points like we did with EF."

With the weighting system for each leg removed the shorter sprints are just as important as the longer Southern Ocean legs this time round. Rudiger says that there is prestige attached to winning the long legs and psychologically this can lift the team. Although crews will undoubtedly still be keeping kites up in 40 knots (for many Whitbread vets this the drug for which they return again and again to get a fix) Rudiger says they are likely to be more prudent on the Southern Ocean legs. "If you break down on a long leg it is going to be hard. You have to finish these legs intact." Although it is a radical thought - one advantage of having two boats is that in the event of the team losing their race boat through a collision or another mishap, under the rules they could still continue with their second boat.

Part 2 of this article will be posted on the site tomorrow...