Yachting: Team NZ skipper conquers seasickness to tackle fourth ocean race

Chris Nicholson. Photo / Getty Images

It was a blustery day in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, in 1999 when Chris Nicholson first came to the attention of Grant Dalton, now Team New Zealand boss.

Dalton had finished his race in the masters laser world championship and sat on the sea wall to watch the action in the 49er fleet. One boat was easily recognisable - it was the only one that carried sponsorship. But as it limped around the top mark in about 20th place, Dalton couldn't help but wonder why.

"He had a terrible beat, but then he just carved the fleet up downwind, he was about third round the bottom mark. He just blasted them and I thought, 'Holy crap, who is this guy?'," said Dalton.

That guy was Nicholson, the man who in three weeks will be at the helm as Emirates Team New Zealand set off from Alicante, Spain, on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

So impressed was Dalton with the Australian dinghy sailor that when he decided to put a campaign together for the 2001/02 race, the veteran yachtsman went looking for Nicholson to join him on the round-the-world adventure.

At that stage Nicholson, a six-time world championship winner in the 49er and 505 class, had no experience in offshore sailing and no real ambition to do the race. Why?

"Mainly because I knew I got a bit seasick," said Nicholson. "I'd literally only sailed one night offshore before I joined the programme with Dalts."

But after the Sydney Olympics Nicholson decided it was time to take a break from high-performance dinghies and saw the gruelling 38,000-nautical-mile race as the ideal challenge to throw himself into, seasickness or not. He took on the role as watch captain on Amer Sports 1, which was skippered by Dalton.

As Dalton recalled, Nicholson "chundered a fair bit", but in between leaning over the side of the boat he made enough of an impression to convince Dalton that the Aussie had a real future in offshore sailing.

He didn't get an opportunity to call on Nicholson's skills again until 2010, when, with the America's Cup stalled after years of legal wrangles, Dalton decided to expand Team New Zealand's operations to include offshore sailing - and Nicholson was the man to lead the challenge.

Nicholson had done two more Volvo campaigns, albeit ill-fated. His 2008/09 race was cut short after a serious knee injury in heavy seas on board Puma, while his 2005/06 campaign with Movistar also struck disaster when the boat sank after ongoing problems with the keel.

But he accepts the past setbacks as part and parcel of a challenge and says he's always had a strong motivation to win the race.

Also part of that Movistar crew was New Zealander Stu Bannatyne, who will be Nicholson's co-skipper on board Camper. Bannatyne is one of just three sailors to have won the famous race three times.

Dalton believes Bannatyne is just as important to Team New Zealand's success as Nicholson.

"They're more like brothers-in-arms. They're totally different personalities, couldn't be more different, and that's probably an advantage," he said. "Stu's a laid-back, big, loping guy. Nico's a fiery little man - he's a terrier."

A terrier with a weak constitution perhaps, but a terrier nonetheless.

At the helm

Chris Nicholson - skipper, Team New Zealand with Camper
Nationality: Australian
Born: June 18, 1969
Hometown: Belmont, Lake Macquarie
Previous Volvo campaigns: 2001/02 (Amer Sports 1), 2005/06 (Movistar), 2008/09 (Puma)

Volvo Ocean Race

Starts: Alicante, Spain - November 5
Finishes: Galway, Ireland - July 2012
Stopovers: Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Miami (US), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France)