Quietly confident

From Auckland Ed Gorman reports on the positive atmosphere within Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge

Ian Walker - comfortable in his leadership role

The GBR Challenge for the America's Cup continues to go from strength-to-strength. More than half way through the team's New Zealand summer training schedule, the mood continues to be positive, enthusiastic and increasingly ambitious.

Not having seen Peter Harrison's syndicate since its days in Cowes just after the America's Cup Jubilee, one of the first things you notice in Auckland is how much more comfortable Ian Walker seems in his leadership role. The clear impression one gets is that he is both popular and respected and has become adept at man-management.

Those working alongside him say initially, when he tried to adopt a slightly back-seatish role as far as taking the wheel on the water was concerned, it was harder for him to settle. But once he had stepped up to the plate on the water, his overall team leader role has come much more easily to him.

Walker is a hard-driving perfectionist and there is no doubt that the team's rigorous 12-14 hour daily schedule which runs for 11 out of every 14 days, has his imprint on it. However he seems aware that there is a fine line between pushing people too hard and burning them out and, so far, this has not been a problem.

His style is that he likes people to come and tell him their problems rather than grumble behind his back. It is noteworthy that one key difference spotted by Chris Mason, one of the veterans of the team, when comparing the GBR Challenge with past British Cup outfits, is that this one is more of what he called "a caring and sharing" set-up than before. Rather than being ordered around, there is more open discussion about what to do and more input from all the team members.

So Walker is setting the pace and making things happen. Indeed several team members remarked that when he left Auckland recently for a brief visit to the London Boat Show, the whole thing went a bit flat for a day before they picked up the momentum again in his absence.

Among his bigger upcoming challenges in the leadership role is to manage expectations so that when it comes to picking the dreaded 'A-team' for the first races in the Louis Vuitton Cup, those who do not make it are not going to feel like they have been wasting their time. Walker and the other key managers have been discussing this intensively and he sees few problems ahead.

In his view the top team is largely selecting itself and most people are realistic about their prospects. He emphasises that some of the younger team members know that their contribution now may well stand them in good stead for the future and continuity between this challenge and what Walker hopes will be future British challenges is very important to him. Walker also believes there will be significant rotation as the series develops, so many of the team will get their chance.

The syndicate has made a smooth transition between Cowes and Auckland with the logistical hurdles neatly vaulted and the sailing and training regime running effectively. Only the rotten New Zealand summer weather, which has seen many days lost to gales, has held up progress. Two key players in this area have been Ed Danby who runs the shore side and Paul Standbridge who is playing an effective role alongside Walker, helping to share the considerable load of organising the sailing side.

Not everyone is happy and inevitably so. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made by a syndicate feeling its way to some extent in a brave new world. But it would be hard to spot a big one. On this score general manager David Barnes's contribution cannot be under-estimated, bringing as he does, a wealth of Cup experience both on shore and off it. If you are in any doubt about that, just ask Walker.