Meet Gustav, who was one of the organization’s 14 team skippers who worked onboard the team’s safety boats. He was assigned Team 8 – Australia, who finished in second place after 49 hours race. The team skippers worked in shifts of about 8 hours with the task to follow the teams through the race, to guarantee their safety.
What were your duties during the One Water Race?
My responsibility during OWR was to act as Team skipper on one of the Safety boats that followed the teams during the course of the race, in order to be able to guarantee their safety. Onboard with me was the Team’s support crew, who was responsible for the team’s navigation and logistics.
What was the biggest challenge during the race?
The biggest challenge was finding a balance and ensuring that the team completed the race safely, without necessarily slowing their progress. For example, at well-trafficked passages, something we solved by constantly creating a situational awareness of our surroundings and trying to stay one step ahead.
What was the greatest experience/memory you take with you?
The strongest and best memory I have of the race is one that I think demonstrates the incredible ability of the Teams. It was the first night and we had just entered dark mode and made all the necessary preparations that entailed. We disembarked our team on an island that was known as the “Hell Island”, as it was extremely hard to navigate, and it had just started to rain. The team solved it in a way that seemed completely unproblematic and appeared on the other side of the island completely according to plan, in the light of their headlamps in the darkness of the night.
What do you do when not being part of the OWR-organization?
I have previous experience as a combat boat driver at the Stockholm’s Amphibious Regiment and have spent a lot of time as a navigator and boat driver in the archipelago.
Today, I am studying third year on the Real Estate and Finance program at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Alongside my studies, I also work as a part-time analyst at Outpoint and do a lot of running, but at an amateur level compared to this.
