Multi-tasking

Wednesday 30 September 11:30 GMT

Jason Carrington is rare indeed. Not only does he have worldwide recognition as one of the finest boat builders over the past two decades but he has also competed as sailing crew in no less than four Volvo races.

Carrington is a self-confessed ocean racing addict and was bitten by the bug from a very early age.

"Ever since I was a child I have wanted to race around the world," he says. "My parents are good friends with Clare Francis and as a family we used to sail with Clare on ADC Accutrac, the Swan 65 with which she raced the Whitbread Race in 1977-78. From the first time I met Clare I wanted to do the round the world race and tailored my life towards that goal.

"I took an apprenticeship as a boat builder, building the Whitbread maxi British Defender at Green Marine. During that time I met Magnus Olsson, who was looking after the build of Intrum Justitia, one of the first Whitbread 60s built for the 1993-94 Whitbread.

"Magnus was a significant influence on my early ocean racing. I pestered him daily and managed to get on board Intrum for the Round Europe Race. I was offered a spot on Intrum Justitia for the round the world race itself, but I had already accepted a position with Lawrie Smith on the maxi Fortuna.

"Of course, the Fortuna campaign was a well-publicised disaster, we broke both masts and just about everything else. But while it was a huge disappointment at the start of my round the world sailing career it did at least get me in the loop.

"Shortly after the 1993-94 race I got a call from Magnus, who now had the EF project up and running for the 1997-98 race. I didn't hesitate to join him in Sweden and started work with Team EF.

"However, after a year in Sweden EF's initial skipper, Lawrie Smith, who had left to start his own programme asked me to join him on his British Silk Cut team. It was a difficult decision ... but I am fairly patriotic and the opportunity to sail for Lawrie was hard to turn down so I headed back to the UK.

"We had a mixed race, breaking the 24hr record and winning a leg being the highlights, as well as dropping the rig in the middle of the Southern Ocean and limping into Brazil in last place.

"After the 1997-98 race I joined illbruck for a year before again joining Magnus on the Assa Abloy project in 2001-02. As well as sailing, my role was to look after the build at Green Marine where I had first been apprenticed. Assa was a fantastic project and on the sailing side we had a great race with Neal McDonald as skipper, ending up a close second to John Kostecki on illbruck.

"The 2001-02 edition was fantastic. illbruck had the jump at the start with more preparation and a superior sail wardrobe but by midway through the race there were four boats capable of winning a leg. The boats were so similar in terms of design that it made for brilliant racing.

"My last involvement with the Volvo with the first Ericsson campaign was, to be frank, a disaster. It's easy to get addicted to the Volvo. You just want to do it at any cost. There were a lot of difficulties - technical and political.

"But the Volvo is like a drug, it becomes a way of life, despite all the compromises we just couldn't say no. We worked very hard on the build of Ericsson but despite having a bulb some 400kg heavier than Pirates of The Caribbean, it just didn't matter, we were still weak in too many key areas.

"In the 2005-06 race ABN AMRO ONE was the class act with a boat that was a hell of a lot faster than all the others.

"They, like everyone else in that race, had their issues with reliability but the race was really won before it began. Paul Cayard's Pirates for me were the most impressive team, finishing second despite launching barely a few weeks before the start. A remarkable performance that reeked of professionalism and absolute focus.

"I love the technical side of this race. I see it very much as a competition when building the boat from the start ... heaviest bulb, lightest structure and attention to detail. All are essential to ultimate success. And then from a sailing point of view, it is simply the best sailing that you will ever do.

"It is tough both physically and mentally - a monumental challenge, but just wonderful. You have great times and hard times. When you have been doing the Volvo for a while, it becomes very tough to not be involved. There is life elsewhere ... but the Volvo always calls you back.

"I remained with the Ericsson team after 2005-06 before joining Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine campaign. De Ridder put together a very strong team, but subsequently he was forced to take the correct decision to withdraw when funding was not forthcoming... unfortunately leaving me aground with too little time to move elsewhere.

"Despite not being involved in 2008-09, I followed it closely. It was good to see so many different designers involved. Actually, I don't think it's that easy to pick a 'best boat' from the last race. Ericsson 4 was obviously the class act, but they clearly had an advantage in terms of budget and personnel - and time.

"Telefonica looked good in terms of design but I don't believe they reached their full potential. I liked their rig and deck layout and believe they had technically the most interesting boat. Clearly if it had been an inshore regatta they would have cleaned up, sadly for them it wasn't.

"PUMA must have been pleased with their overall result. They didn't have the luxury of a two-boat campaign but managed to push Ericsson 4 hard towards the end.

"It is difficult to know where the Irish might have gone with more stability. They kind of turned up at a gun fight without any ammunition. If ever there has been an example of not taking enough care with the build of your boat this must be it.

"When the second edition of the Volvo 70 Rule came out it was crystal clear that you needed to be at least at maximum fin and bulb weight, even if the division between these two elements was not ideal. In this regard Telefonica Blue impressed me the most, weighing in at under the 14,000kg minimum weight with maximum appendage mass.

"Finally, on a personal note, it was great to see Magnus and Ericsson 3 do so well. Winning the leg to Brazil was to me, the achievement of the race. If there was ever a man of the match then this time it clearly must be Magnus."

Interview: Louay Habib. Full article appears in latest issue of Seahorse magazine.