Jonny Malbon playing catch up

Immediately after that Malbon’s first solo sail with the powerful new machine was a blustery North Atlantic qualifying passage was a salutary reminder of how much he has to learn with the relatively untested boat. He was, he openly admitted afterwards, as scared as he has been on any boat.
Malbon is no stranger to IMOCA Open 60’s. He served three years with Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher, has twice skippered Open 60’s in Round Britain races in 2003 with Team 888 in the Calais Round Britain Race and in 2006 not long after he was promoted from Boat Captain to skipper of Artemis Ocean Racing. His step up may mirror that of reigning Vendee Globe champion Vincent Riou, but Malbon’s challenge is much greater. He has a new boat to master and the Vendee Globe will be their first serious race together.

His goal, with his exceptional team, in the final days have been to get out and gain some miles in strong winds to push the boat, to learn the limits before he has to do that himself, for real: " The one thing we had not done as a team is go out with the big sails, fully ballasted and try and unlock the power that we know is available in the boat so we need to be able to tick all the boxes but I also have to learn how use that power with just me." Malbon confirms, " The big thing is it is all well and good to push the boat as a team but we are going to have to use the pilot the whole time because that is how the boat is going be sailing for the Vendee Globe, and determining how much ‘grunt’ you can us will be what the pilots can handle. How quickly I can fix or rectify a situation if it gets a bit ‘sticky‘, a bit ‘hairy‘, likegetting rid of the big sails in a hurry is I am sure something I have to work on."

But while time has been short he would rather be getting on with the race, than fretting over the ’what if’s’ and variable he can’t control: " I just want to get on with it. I am extremely excited and getting more and more nervous as time gets closer, but I have a level of confidence in the boat now that I am happy with, as far as the rig, goes and the key elements - the keel, the hydraulics - but I am fully aware that it is going to be a bit of a learning on the hop, that my learning curve is going to be vertical."
He has a clear game plan for the first few days, but an unpwind opening to the race would be his preference: "The first few days will, of course, be totally weather dependent. In some respects it will be more comfortable for me if it is upwind, heavy upwind because that is mostly what I have sailed on the boat, that would give you
a chance to get settled in, get your body into the routine, eating and drinking the right amounts for example, before you hit the trades.." The pressure of simply getting himself and the boat to the starting line has required careful prioritisation: " So far I have not had much chance to do much physical training, because there have been so many major milestones that we have been trying to hit, but I have a good level of fitness from squash, certainly the Qualifier did highlight a few areas that I needed to work on, just joints - I hadn’t done much before the qualifying sail - and so suddenly just twisting and winding constantly - so I’ll be doing as much as I can before the start, even if it is just press ups, sit ups and some weights at home when I can. That is pretty much all I will be doing before the start. And also food is something I learned a lot about on the qualifier. I just did not eat enough and drink enough. I was just very scared for the first few days, so for quite a few days I just snacked, I think when I got more comfortable I then got into three and four meals a day."

Malbon worked up their previous Open 60 Artemis (formerly Pindar) in the Caribbean and achieved some solo miles. But his need for more were scuppered when he and Graham Tourrell had to retire from the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre race when their mast came down. So his qualifying passage was a vital learning experience: " I also learned I need a lot more variation. We have got freeze dried from four different suppliers. I am taking some boil in the bag stuff, I have always poo-pooed that as too heavy - but it is a different feel to and it it does taste like real food. And so overall I think we have freeze dried or boil in the bag from seven different suppliers so that should ensure sufficient variety. There is nothing worse. I remember looking through the bag before and taking out endless Paellaas. The reason was that I had tasted all the foods and that tasted quite nice and so I had thirty of them. Also stuff like mint, garlic, salt pepper and things like that I have never taken before, and I have changed the layout of the galley, so that we have a bigger burner. What we have is a new jet boil which we can put on a pan and that creates almost a real meal, which is almost a bit of a luxury. And I guess the more time you have doing that kind of thing then the more you refine your special needs, what makes you tick. But once again we have been restricted by time, and I have changed massively from what I believed I would take."

The prolonged solitude will also be a big challenge for him: " Three weeks is the longest I have been on my own on a boat. I did 12 days on the old boat and then 12 days on the new boat. The first time I went out on my own I was hearing voices clearly which was eerie. I could hear key phrases constantly at the back of the boat, ‘Roger’ and ‘Ready’ and found myself talking to myself constantly, and responding out loud to things that I had not said, which was a bit disconcerting. And when I got back I was not any more mad. This time I heard a lot less and said a lot less. But at one point I did say out load, unprompted ‘I don’t think so mate’. That was tiredness and stress. This time I was scared and more relaxed. Also this time I did not have the feeling there was someone with me the whole time which I did the last time. There was a point when I would go on deck and say ‘right we are going to gybe now’."

He is also planning to try and minimise his appetite for outside information, trying to maintain a level approach: " I remember phoning up my girlfriend when I was pounding away late at night in a really shitty sea state when she was on holiday in Brasil, basking away on a beach reading a book, and….bless her….she asked me…’what are you doing tonight?’ like I would be able to go and do something else. I said……’well I might go and stand on the bow for a while for a bit of a change’ and you put the phone down a bit deflated, and similarly I won’t be phoning the boys in the pub on a Friday night, when they are on the ‘Turps’ and there is a big cheer in the background ‘For Jonny’ but when you put the phone down it really just increases your solitude so much more. That may well change. But I prefer to read, say, an e-mail update on what is going on in the outside world, than sort of hear people have a great time."
In his distant past Malbon was a DJ and music and entertainment is still a big part of his daily life. He will not be cutting himself off from the essential needs relax and de stress from time to time: " Music should be important to be but the last time I was too busy listening to the boat, but I only listened to two things, one was The Flight of the Conchords which kept me so amused, and the other things was The Kooks and I did not listen to it very much. When I was completely relaxed doing 20-25 knots in 35 knots of breeze with the pilot on and I was sat downstairs listening to music, and out of oilskins. To me that was relaxed and that was a big thing. Before I was in the cuddy in the cockpit, ready, itching and waiting almost anticipating the autopilot crapping out, and not sleeping, but than I suddenly thought to myself that I could spend
the next three weeks sitting watching the pilot but not having touched it and not sleeping and that really pushed me to go down below. I am going to take some DVD’s and I have a lot of music anyway and I am going to take some books. I was actually surprised how easy it is to read in the cuddy. Yes, books are heavy, but you have to balance state of mind against weight. I read lads fiction Andy McNab type stuff, all the Stephen Clarke books, Year in the Merde, Merde Actually. I never thought I would take a DVD, never books, too heavy, but I am going to do that. It is so easy to take a huge amount of data on a hard drive.

These have been stressful months and he admits there was a time when it was ‘touch and go’: "I generally deal with stress OK. The amount that we have been through this year has been very stressful on every level. I think going out on the boat having had very little time on it, with either myself or the boys on board,
was probably the most stressful way of approaching any kind of commissioning or sailing. "When we were waiting for the new mast to be made, set and measured that was a worrying time. Idon’t think I ever felt that this was not going to happen. That, for me, was the turning point. As soon as we had measured, we had a certificate and were an IMOCA 60, but that was only a few days before the Artemis Challenge, we did that then, then a few days later I left for the qualifier. Up until that point of actually measuring it was touch and go, but as soon as we got a certificate it was clearly ‘game on’.

But when he looks at the competition, at the race itself and knowing his ability better than anyone, how does Jonny expect to do: " It is hard for me to gauge how I will do. I want to do as well as I can, I would not set myself up to do this if you didn’t think you could do well. But also I don’t want to set my own expectation level too high. For sure I have a massive, massive mountain to climb which is just the same as anyone, but for me in particular it is safe to say I have the least experience with the least tested boat, so I am quite realistic that it would be a major coup for me to get round. What I think I will be good at doing is sailing the boat safely and I think I am not going to be frightened to step off the gas, and with an attrition rate which could potentially be 50%, that is not a stupid way to sail. As I get more confident as the race go I am not going to go out there and take a 24 hour record. My goal is to be prudent and to get round, and whatever scalps I can take in the process is well and good."