Roy Exum: VW’s Primer In Disaster

  • Wednesday, October 7, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

Volkswagen America has gotten into a real bad “tight,” causing their red-faced leaders to huddle with spin doctors, crisis consultants and countless priests in confessional booths. Conversely, I suspect I have found a solution that would get them out of the mud and hasten their return as one of the top automotive providers in the world. You see, on Aug. 14, 1979, the playbook on terrible disasters was eloquently written.

On that day, 303 sailing yachts, carrying about 2,500 crew, were taking part in the world-renowned Fastnet race that is regarded as one of the most difficult and demanding sailing tests in the world.

The race combines inshore and offshore expertise, but the biggest unknown is the weather. This is when the wind, known as Westerlies, can slam in from the North Atlantic and cause all manner of chaos. Thus, navigators almost have to have a degree in meteorology to study the ever-changing low-pressure systems that change the winds and the climate constantly.

In 1979, a weak weather system over the Great Lakes was formed by the heat from America’s Midwest as it met cold air from Canada. By the next day it had spawned strong thunderstorms that killed two people and caused heavy damage in New England before racing seaward.

As the storm sped east, by midday on Monday the storm mass - now identified as “low Y” by scientists - was centered about 250 miles to the southeast of Ireland. The Fastnet race goes 608 nautical miles from the Isle of Wright down the southern coastline of England into the English Channel. From there the boats cross the Celtic Sea, round Ireland’s legendary Fastnet Rock and race back to Plymouth, England.

In 1979 nobody would have predicted “low Y” was every bit as dangerous as misguided Volkswagen engineers tampering with diesel emissions. You see, the Westerlies usually come down from the north – this freakish depression came up from the southeast. By Monday afternoon every sailor was aware a funny-looking sky warned of a storm. The French figured a Force 10, but British experts predicted Force 8. Into the darkness the race went and, with no warning, the barometer fell to its second-worst low in 150 years. Then the storm struck with a fury like no other anyone could ever remember.

Only a chosen few know that with it came 10 easy lessons to overcome disaster:

* * *

Ted Turner was skippering his boat “Tenacious” in the race and, as the weather alarms began to get worse on the ship’s radio, the former McCallie School student who learned sailing on Lake Chickamauga under the beloved Huston Patterson, turned to sailing guru Gary Jobson and told him above the winds, “I believe 20 people may die tonight. I wouldn’t want to be in a small boat.”

To further interrupt, the thing you have to know about Ted Turner is that there is a reason his 1977 World Cup winner – a 61-footer with lead in the keel -- is called “Tenacious.” This becomes VW’s No. 1 lesson: “I never quit. Winners never quit, Quitters never win. My boat is Tenacious because we don’t quit. I’ve got a bunch of flags on the boat but there ain’t no white flag. I don’t surrender and that’s the story of my life.” (VW Lesson No. 2 – Never, ever surrender, or let the “Legion of the Miserable” dare pull you down.)

* * *

So into the very teeth of the storm flew “Tenacious,” with Turner himself lashed to the helm from midnight until 4 a.m. There were actually walls of water three stories high on either side of every slough, the Force 11 winds scattered boats like sticks in a white-water river. During the storm 25 boats sank, almost 200 suffered heavy damage and 19 sailors were killed.

As the winds screamed and three-to-four feet of sea water poured constantly across the “Tenacious” helm, Turner made sure every man about was roped (which proved fatal for some other crew when their boats “turtled”) and yelled these instructions. “Do not panic. No matter what, do not panic. If you panic you lose control. You lose control and you die.” (That would be VW’s lesson No. 3 – Don’t panic. Stay in control.)

As his crew stayed below decks for safety, one crew member was catapulted off the top bunk into the starboard wall, landing in a filthy mixture of seawater, vomit and blood. As others leapt to his aid, he succinctly asked this as new blood bathed his face, “Do you know what a set of golf clubs might cost?’ (Lesson No. 4 – Things are never as bad as you think they are and never quite as good either. Leaders are best at foxhole humor.)

One of the crew, veteran Rives Potts, recalled, “A huge wave hit us and covered the boat … The mainsail took on a huge amount of water. We saw this, scrambled to the rail but didn’t know what to do. The storm was getting worse and we were afraid the boom might break. I took out my knife and decided to slit that sail. Then I remember [Turner] popped his head out of the hatch.

“He said people were drowning, dying, and the wind was going to be dropping below 60 knots soon. With that, we shook out the reef (miraculously stowing the sail below) and never stopped racing.” (Lesson No. 6 ----It is always darkest just before first light.  When things get their worse, use your head and you’ll find the very same circumstances will turn your way. Above all, keep racing.)

What else does Potts remember? “Of course, the whole thing was very intense … but it was also a lot of fun. Because of (Turner), his charisma or whatever you want to call it, he made it a lot of fun. He had a way about him. He didn’t do things like other skippers.” (Lesson No. 6 – Make those you have harmed happy. Allow Volkswagen owners all across the world to be part of the solution – their loyalty is legendary. Above all, don’t be like other cars companies. Ever)

When the “low Y” storm finally began to let go of the Fastnet boats, the greatest rescue effort since World War II took place off the South England coast. Over 4,000 responders, from ships flying foreign flags to Dutch Navy Rescue helicopters to Royal Navy lifeboats with divers, and the entire Irish Navy fleet, the rescuers saved 80 vessels and 136 crew. (Lesson No. 7 – Accept people’s help. Better yet, ask for help. Chattanooga will stand with VW if only you’ll ask,) and, (Lesson No. 8 – Never forget your friends in times of trouble, for when their bleak day may come, make sure VW is first as a responder.)

And the race itself? The good ship “Tenacious” crossed the line by over three hours on corrected time as an easy champion. Said Turner at the time: “It was like winning a basketball game by 60 points.” (Lesson No. 9 – Great ships are never found in harbors but in conquering the very worst of seas. Moral: Before the VW tragedy occurred, VW had briefly passed Toyota as the No. 1 automobile manufacturer in the world. Do it again.”

Finally, just this: At the Newport News Ship Yards – the largest in the United States – there is a huge sign that cannot be seen from the outside, yet every day when those who build ships leave the yard it is in their eye. It reads, “We build good ships. At a profit when we can, at a loss when we must but, always, good ships.” (Lesson No. 10 – Do not be content to build good cars, make it a company mandate to build better cars. Since the history of time, this has never failed – Pursue excellence and success will follow every time.)

Now, set your sail, for it is the set of the sail – not the direction of the wind – that determines where you will go. You can overcome this.

royexum@aol.com

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