Four-time racer Mason to be port supremo<\/p>\n
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IAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
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IAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
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Andr\u00e9s Soriano\/Team Sanya\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
Richard Mason, four-time Volvo Ocean Race sailor and the man who led the shore crew for Team SCA women\u2019s team in the last edition, has been appointed the event’s Head of Port Operations (full story below).<\/p>\n
– The love affair continues for Aussie Richard<\/p>\n
– Newcomer to head up ports operations<\/p>\n
– Volvo Ocean Race ‘a life sentence’, he jokes<\/p>\n
ALICANTE, Spain, November 25 \u2013 Richard Mason, four-time Volvo Ocean Race sailor and the man who led the shore crew for Team SCA women\u2019s team in the last edition, has been appointed the event’s Head of Port Operations.<\/p>\n
Mason, 41, will be responsible from the race\u2019s side for the running of all the ports for the next edition in 2017-18 and be personally overseeing half of them, with Adolfo Rodriguez taking care of the others.<\/p>\n
Many fans from 2014-15 will remember the Sydney-born sailor as part of the popular TV commentary team. He summed up his new challenge in one word: \u2018Huge\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll very much run an engaged, flat management,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll get the right people for the right roles and run a very tight team, where everyone is very much empowered to run their areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no different from a team taking part in the race \u2013 you\u2019ve got to get the right people,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
For the ever-smiling Mason, this will also be a real labour of love. \u201cThe harsh brutality of the Volvo Ocean Race is that it\u2019s a life sentence,\u201d he said, only half-joking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no two ways to approach or look at it any other way. When you\u2019re in it, you\u2019re fully in. It\u2019s a crime of passion and that\u2019s what makes it unique.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt\u2019s bizarre, it\u2019s mad \u2013 but it\u2019s brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
That love affair, which took in competing in four races prior to 2014-15 onboard Assa Abloy (2001-02), Ericsson 1 (2005-06), Ericsson 3 (2008-09) and Team Sanya (2011-12), began for Mason as a youngster in Auckland during the 1981-82 race.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family was closely associated with some of the crew of Ceramco (New Zealand) and Lion (New Zealand), and as a young boy at the ripe old age of about seven, I have photos of me hanging off the wheel on Ceramco in Auckland. I was hooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ve had a fascination and a connection to the race for as long as I can remember. It was just something I wanted to do from a very young age.”<\/p>\n
As a youngster eager to learn, he was given the opportunity to sail with some of the New Zealand\u2019s all-time greats like Russell Coutts, Ray Davies, Chris Dixon and Ross Field.<\/p>\n
The latter introduced him into professional sailing via the Round Europe Race in 1997, onboard a Grand Mistral. Then he was introduced to the late Magnus Olsson through various Swedish connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cMagnus invited me to come and trial with Assa Abloy for the 2001-02 race and they were nice enough to give me a spot and off we went. I\u2019ve never looked back since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the age old story of it getting into your blood and you\u2019re in a world of trouble,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n
Mason plans to continue working as a commentator for the Race after making his debut in the 12th edition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thrown in the deep end sitting there next to our producer, who was looking wild-eyed, and saying to himself: \u2018God, I know what he\u2019s thinking \u2013 he\u2019d better not say it!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Typically, Mason took on the new challenge in his stride but, make no mistake, his heart will be always be with the sailors on the water.<\/p>\n
He summed himself up: \u201cThere\u2019s enough drive for sailing left there to keep a firm engagement with the roots of the race.”<\/p>\n
via Four-time racer Mason to be port supremo| Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four-time racer Mason to be port supremo Download IAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race Download IAN ROMAN\/Volvo Ocean Race Download Andr\u00e9s Soriano\/Team Sanya\/Volvo Ocean Race Richard Mason, four-time Volvo Ocean Race sailor and the man who led the shore crew for Team … Continue reading