{"id":81758,"date":"2025-05-21T10:18:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T14:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=81758"},"modified":"2025-05-27T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:08:23","slug":"a-crew-bosss-guide-to-team-chemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/how-to\/a-crew-bosss-guide-to-team-chemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"A Crew Boss&#8217;s Guide to Team Chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"high-tech raceboat with active crew sailing through splashing water at the ORC World Championships in Newport Rhode Island\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/teamwork.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Veteran crew boss Mike Toppa helped align the crew on Art Santry\u2019s <i>Temptation-Oakcliff<\/i> to improve its results at the 2024 ORC World Championship hosted by the New York YC.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Paul Todd\/Outside Images\/NYYC<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<p>A few days after I raced with Mike Toppa for the first time, I found myself still marveling at his quiet impact on board. Over two light-air days, he\u2019d managed to strengthen and improve an already strong team of a dozen sailors\u2014even though he\u2019d raced on that particular boat only a few times before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe id=\"x8aa2rgac1\" src=\"https:\/\/Sailingworld.dragonforms.com\/x8aa2rgac1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, this is a guy who\u2019s spent the past five decades making a variety of sailboats go faster, so all of us were quite ready to listen. But still I wondered: How does he step into what is basically a new \u201coffice\u201d every regatta and instantly improve the team\u2019s \u00adperformance? Most of our lively conversation during a sit-down focused on superyacht racing because big crews are Toppa\u2019s biggest team-building challenge. But his approach can definitely help improve a team of any size and\/or ability. Here\u2019s how he goes about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Get a ride<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe owners are our customers, and that\u2019s where it all starts,\u201d Toppa says, when we sit down in his office for a chat. Almost 50 years at North Sails confirms the claim that he\u2019s only ever had one job, but Toppa\u2019s responsibilities have definitely evolved. These days, he helps clients make choices about their sails and crew\u2014and then works to optimize both. As he puts it, \u201cThere\u2019s always a way to make a boat go faster, so that\u2019s the fun of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says that most invitations start with a specific regatta, and \u201cthat leads to a discussion.\u201d For each option, he unfurls one finger on his left hand: \u201cThey might say, \u2018We\u2019ll just go and see how we do.\u2019 Or they might ask, \u2018Tell me what I need: How many people?\u2019\u201d Most superyachts race with as many as 30 on board, including a full-time crew of six to eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third finger extends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf they say, \u2018Let\u2019s really try to win this and be as competitive as we can,\u2019 I try to get a read on how much they want to put into it\u2014and how much they want their boat invaded by a bunch of strangers.\u201d Superyachts, he explains, are cruising boats at heart. \u201cThese boats travel all over the world. They\u2019ll decide to race, and then they might go cruising for two years, and then race again. It\u2019s really taking a hotel and getting it ready to race against other hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why he encourages all of his customers to bring friends, even if they\u2019ve never raced before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2: Meld strangers into a cohesive team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before a regatta, Toppa researches the crew list. \u201cEvery boat\u2019s collective skillset is at a certain level, and then within that group, individual skill levels are different, so I\u2019ll do some homework\u2014who I know, who I don\u2019t know, what their background is\u2014just to get a sense of what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even the captain\u2019s and crew\u2019s abilities might range from novice to expert, and \u201cthey\u2019re about to get invaded by 15 sailors who want things done in a certain way, which may not be the way they usually do things. So there has to be a balance there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve that balance, Toppa says that he tries to explain the reasons behind doing things differently, \u201chow it affects performance and how it\u2019s a good thing.\u201d That takes time, so \u201cyou can\u2019t do it in the middle of a race. You gotta try to anticipate the things that might cause conflict, and try to figure that out. And that, as I said, requires homework to understand who\u2019s there and what their experience is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personalities are another big factor, he continues. \u201cThere are a lot of good sailors out there, but too many professional sailors step into every program and act as if they\u2019re on a grand prix boat with grand prix sailors saying, \u2018This is how we\u2019re going to do it, and you\u2019re an idiot if you can\u2019t do it that way.\u2019 That just ruins everything,\u201d Toppa says. \u201cBut some people just can\u2019t read the room and figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When he\u2019s asked to suggest teammates, he says: \u201cI\u2019m always looking at personalities first. Because if you can get people who enjoy what they do and interact with people well, you\u2019re way ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Set achievable goals.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once he steps aboard, Toppa tries to align expectations with experience by stating one simple goal: to improve as a team. \u201cI\u2019ll tell everybody on the first day of practice: \u2018Take the results of every day and how we do things, and put it in the bank; learn and do better the next day. Just every day, incrementally get better and better. And by the end of the regatta, we\u2019re going to be the best team on the water.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The surefire way to improve, of course, is practice. Without it, Toppa warns, \u201cespecially when you\u2019re bringing people in who are new to the boat, something or somebody is going to break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But just like any one-design program, it\u2019s rare to get enough time before a regatta to really gel as a team. \u201cSo when there\u2019s a new crew together, I tend to look for the easy things: What are the areas where the gains are biggest? Typically, that\u2019s efficiency. If you can\u2019t tack the boat or get the spinnaker up and down efficiently, you\u2019re just giving away seconds and minutes on the racecourse. No rating is going to make up for that, so getting those basics down is really, really important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the sails do go up, Toppa calls for a bit of time sailing upwind so that he can tweak things. \u201cWhat I really enjoy is getting on a boat for the first time and making sure that the sails are doing as well as they can, that they\u2019re set up the right way and trimmed the right way, and everybody has an understanding of their range.\u201d His smile widens. \u201cThat\u2019s a fun challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fun as it is, sail tweaking is only a bit player in Toppa\u2019s overall goal: \u201cDoing as well as we can and everybody having a good time, because that means they\u2019ll come back again. If you turn them off, it\u2019s just not good for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Challenge of&nbsp;Temptation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When Art Santry acquired use of the 2007 J\/V 66 that became <em>Temptation-Oakcliff<\/em> for \u00adsummer 2024, he asked Toppa to get involved\u2014and it turned into the perfect test of his \u00ad\u00ad<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>team-building skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cArt had a group of people from his previous <em>Temptation<\/em>s, and because Oakcliff Sailing owns the boat, there were kids on board too. So it was a real mix of people who hadn\u2019t sailed together before, and hadn\u2019t sailed that boat before. And a revolving door of crew\u2014not just for each regatta, but sometimes each day. It was a challenge to get everybody going off the same playbook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toppa spent a lot of time chatting with each day\u2019s foredeck team, cracking jokes to \u201cget a little bond going, so they\u2019d find it easier to work together when things got hard; little things like that make a difference.\u201d The boat doesn\u2019t have a lot of room for error, he explains. \u201cIf you don\u2019t do things a certain way, it\u2019s going to show up fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asked for an example, he describes the cockpit coordination needed for an efficient windy-mark rounding. \u201cAs you are approaching the leeward mark, all three pedestals are linked to the pit winch with the spinnaker takedown line. Then you tap out of that and punch into the mainsheet winch to get the main in, and then [as you head up,] your mainsheet guy taps out, and he keeps going on the main while the two forward pedestals trim the jib. It all has to happen sequentially and without any pause, or else you\u2019re going to go around the leeward mark with the spinnaker halfway up or in the water\u2014and the main out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>\u201cI\u2019m always looking at personalities first. Because if you can get people who enjoy what they do and interact with people well, you\u2019re way&nbsp;ahead.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<cite>\u2014 Mike Toppa<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Doing things a certain way requires \u201ca sense of awareness, a lot of sailing talent, and a lot of&nbsp;practice. We didn\u2019t have a lot&nbsp;of time on Temptation, so each race was a practice; we learned every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After racing, Toppa again checked in with specific crewmembers to \u201cbreak down what they do on board and what happened that day.\u201d First, he talked to them individually: \u201c\u2018What do you think? How can it be improved?\u2019 Then I\u2019d get the other people in that area together and talk it through again collectively, to see how the group can improve. It takes a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And because of that \u00adrevolving crew door, \u201cthe next day, another group of people would come on board. So, every race we were starting maybe half a step ahead instead of a full step ahead. It was always, \u2018Let\u2019s see what we can do and make the most of it.\u2019\u201d And even without Toppa on board, Temptation-Oakcliff went on to post a race win at their final regatta of the season, the ORC Worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only one team hoists the trophy at the end of a regatta, so Toppa chooses a different way to \u201cwin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t remember a regatta I\u2019ve walked away from that wasn\u2019t a success,\u201d he tells me, again sporting the wide grin of a guy who really loves the only job he\u2019s ever had. \u201cAnd what I mean by that is everyone had a great time, and the boat did better than it\u2019s ever done before. To me, that\u2019s a success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two months after my first sail with Toppa, I\u2019m really hoping it was not also my last. His unique, sunny approach\u2014enriched by five decades of taking racing very, very seriously\u2014makes it hard to end our conversation. \u201cI can\u2019t think of many events that went really poorly,\u201d he says. \u201cThey probably happen\u2026so maybe I\u2019ve destroyed them from memory. But usually it\u2019s a good experience and everybody enjoys it. And you end up meeting cool people and having new friends; a lot of good things come out of it if it\u2019s done \u00adcorrectly. That\u2019s probably why I\u2019m still doing it\u2014because it works.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With decades of experience working with teams big and small, a veteran sailmaker shares advice on putting the \u201cteam\u201d in \u201cteamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":81793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Carol Cronin","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[2996,2812,177,178],"class_list":["post-81758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-crew","tag-how-to-2","tag-racing","tag-sailboat-racing"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}