Tim Powell

Ed Gorman spoke to the Tyco watch leader before he left Southampton

Shoeb is a very well respected name in the sport with a superb career CV. What is he like as skipper?

He's slotted straight in there. He's got the respect of everyone on the boat because he's a very good sailor. Having worked with Team New Zealand a lot, he's very much into the team ethos and the whole team aspect of it. So although he has the final say, we do operate as a team and that's how most of the decisions are made.

What is your role on Tyco ?

I am a watch leader on the boat and my onshore responsibilities are looking after the safety gear and clothing.

Presumably you will be doing much of the driving?

Yes. That's one of my specialist skills. The other drivers include Jono Swain, Rob Salthouse, Brad Jackson, Gerard Mitchell and Jim Close.

You've got Steve Hayles navigating - how's he getting on? Is he working with Shoeb or more on his own?

We've had a back-up navigator during testing to help him. We also have Mike Quilter on shore helping with the meteorology. On the boat, Shoeb and Steve work together. As watch leaders, before we go on watch we go and have a chat at the back of the boat with Steve and find out what the game plan is.

Do you think Steve is feeling any residual pressure left over from what happened on Silk Cut?

No, I think Steve's come a long way actually. Steve's problems on Silk Cut were probably more to do with personalities than dealing with pressure or his own ability. In this campaign Shoeb definitely trusts him 100% and Steve has come into his own with this group of people and this campaign. I think he's improved in the last four years in his personality and also in the way that he does things.

It must be a rather interestingly different environment that Shoeb has created for you Silk Cut veterans than the boat you were last on in this race?

It's very different for me because I'm a bit higher up in this campaign, being a watch leader, but it is very different. It's two different ways of running a campaign. Lawrie's a very good sailor and a very good skipper in his own right, but the way he manages people is different to the way Shoeb does it.

Are you happy in this set-up then?

Yes, it's good. It is very much built around the team rather than individuals - very much like Barlo Plastics in the Admiral's Cup.

People are saying this is going to be the closest ever race. What do you think it's going to take to win it?

It will come down to consistency - who is consistently banging the results in. You get half way round the world and you've actually only done two legs and only scored two points out of nine. For the campaigns that have started late, the penalty isn't as big as it has been in past races.

Paul Cayard turned it into a round-the-cans race and revolutionised it.

Yes, you can tell that in most of the boats here. You can see it in the deck layouts and in the way people have built the boats - working much more towards the round-the-cans type of racing. The short legs at the end will be very critical - there are three legs in the space of two-to-three weeks where it could all be decided.

What are the pitfalls for a campaign like yours?

Weaknesses - maybe a weakness in our crew is not doing enough racing in the last year. I don't know. We've got a good tactician coming in for the shorter legs (Rick Dodson formerly of Team New Zealand, now with OneWorld). Hopefully he will give us that extra bit that we'll need on the shorter legs. You just hope that you've done everything you can in respect to your sails and boat. We are sitting here and we can't think of anything else that we can really do, but then you never know until you are two days into that first leg.

Thanks a lot Tim and best of luck.