Explaining how he came about to manage a top team, Phil Allen goes back eight years when he first became involved with Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Ian Walker and the Green Dragon team.
“Ian Walker, a neighbour of mine, came to me back in 2008. Ian was going to be skipper of the team and he needed somebody to run things so he could focus on the sporting side of things”, recalls Phil.
“We agreed to work together, and on a freelance basis, I spent two years with the team. Eight years later, the rest is history or rather a lot of water has gone under the boat.”
But what does it take to ensure success and manage a winning team?
“We try to secure funding as it can take a very long time. Eventually you find somebody who has the same ambition as we have. I’m not typically involved on the commercial side, but as soon as that side of things is secured, the management is shared between Ian and myself.”
Explaining the intricacies of participating in the Volvo Ocean Race, Phil says that the project is usually funded only for the duration of the race and “unless you have an amazing sponsor, you usually say goodbye to people within days of the race ending.”
He continues: “The last race finished in June 2015. It takes about three to four months to wrap up the project. We were sponsored by Abu Dhabi, so we had to account for every penny with the government before signing off.
“We kind of wait for the next phone call and that is the phase we are currently in. I would love to say that Abu Dhabi is going to do it again, but I can’t. We keep all our options open until funding is secured.”
Which raised the question why they have not signed up already with the team having won the last race?
“That would happen in a perfect world, but we can’t move forward until they give us the guarantee. They want to look at the numbers, the return. It takes a long time, up to six months from the end of the previous race for us to present a cohesive argument.”
News of sponsorship is due shortly, but in the meantime, all potential investors will have been studying a book produced at the end of every race to convince potential investors that the race does make sense.
“Most sponsorship in sport is two or three to one. You put in 20 million and you look to get back 40 or 60. The Volvo delivers that for sure”, argues Phil.
The values presented to potential sponsors and investors do vary though.
“We give them a range. Do you want to win or just participate? Volvo will tell you that you need €10 million to be among the starters. I won’t lie to you, it’s hard. If you want to win and bring in the best people, you need to bring in 15 to 18 million euros including the boat. Four or five years ago, the numbers were much bigger. We were designing boats - we were spending 25 million euros to go around the world. That’s the difference between the new Volvo 65 and the previous Volvo 70. The costs are controlled now - it’s a different race now. It’s about the best sailors on the water and not as much about the technology.”
To illustrate this point he recalls a time a few years back when technology played a significant role.
“In the era of the Volvo 70 there was nothing more frustrating than finding out in the first leg of a nine-month race your boat is not as fast as some of your competitors’. It’s a bit like Formula 1. Hence the reduction in the number of competitors since and it would not have survived had it not transitioned to the Volvo 65.
“I take my hat off to Volvo, it received a lot of negative press in the beginning, but they delivered, we had a very successful race, perhaps the most successful in the modern era and I think the next race will be even better. A lot of people have seen that it is possible to compete with a smaller budget”, the Abu Dhabi team manager says, revealing how Team Brunel, who came second, was in his opinion probably on the lowest budget of all teams in the last race.
Phil then went on to explain the role of a General Manager during a race, and the challenges faced by him and the team as they spend weeks out at sea in a confined space.
“Behind the scenes during a leg of the race is probably a lot more than people think. We take a huge range of skills with us, chefs, accountants, boat-builders. I am in contact with the boat and their families. Bad things can happen - people have died doing the Volvo Ocean Race.
“I receive daily updates. E-mails, which are very short, and equally I communicate with the boat, but I can’t tell them a team has crashed or there is a massive storm ahead. The only things we can really talk about are football, rugby scores, jokes and what girlfriends and wives want me to pass on. But I also have to vet information. If there’s a personal issue going on between a couple and if I don’t think the email is appropriate, I have to decide not to pass it on it.”
Then there is also the constant test of having a group of committed men facing new obstacles on a daily basis.
“We have nine men on our boat, 11, 12 on the girl’s boat. You can be best mates on shore, but when you’re soaking wet, up every four hours. It’s difficult. We have had one or two occasions where it was clear the team had to be changed. Then, suddenly you have a logistical challenge. To compete in the race, you have to complete an ocean survival course, clothes which fit exactly. It can’t just be leftovers from the other sailor. We have to juggle what we have, and also to look at who are the best candidates. We have reserves on our phone list. But if they were busy with something else or said no, which they have every right to do as we weren’t paying them, then of course we have to find somebody else.”
He remembers one occasion when a last-minute replacement was required.
“We were leaving China, which is probably the most bureaucratic. We had a sailor who was ill. Alex Higby, who we had done some training with, had the opportunity of the lifetime to sail a leg of the race. Was he the best sailor we had? No, but he stood up to the plate. Anybody who wants to participate, you have to be out there.”
Phil Allen was then asked about the prospects of having a Portuguese racing team participate in this premier sailing event, especially given the country’s long-standing sea-faring tradition and with Lisbon being one of the stops.
“There’s a lot of talent in Portugal, it’s just giving them the tools and experience. But ultimately it’s about the sponsorship. I hope it happens, I love Portugal. The Lisbon stopover is one of the best. It’s one of the nicest and one of the best organised. Everything is in place. Basically, it’s easy here in Portugal.”
He continues to sing the praises of the Portuguese capital as a venue: “Lisbon is a great location and facilities are first class. It has an amazing marina which is not used much during the year, a wonderful back drop. Auckland, which is the home of sailing, is amazing, everyone is geared towards sailing. But it is very tight. If the race were to expand to 12 boats, I don’t think it could cope, whereas Lisbon has the capacity.”
Continuing on the theme of Portugal, Phil Allen remembers how Lisbon and Cascais were chosen as the location to prepare for what was ultimately a winning race.
“Abu Dhabi had committed to the race and we had to find the best possible place to train. It had to be in Europe so we could be close to Alicante where the start was. It needs to be easy logistically, it needs to have space and be cost-effective. We visited a few places and I came over two or three times, met with the people in charge at the Cascais Marina. It made sense. Here was the perfect venue for training for the Volvo Ocean Race. We have now been here twice and I know that other teams are now considering Lisbon to use it as a base. There’s not a lot of space for many teams there and we feel like it’s ours. Personally I fell in love with Portugal and I came looking for a property and bought a home”, concludes the 2014-15 Abu Dhabi Ocean Race winning team’s general manager.
For footage of the full interview, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB58dwZ5EaU or search ‘V Talks Phil Allen’ on Youtube.