02/09/2026
MICKEY. ONE WORD WAS ENOUGH.
For years, Mickey was simply one of the code words we used in match racing.
If I called it, nobody on board needed an explanation. The crew already knew what I was trying to do, what the next few seconds might look like and what each of them had to be ready for.
But the name itself had a story.
Michael Guntsch, Mickey, was an umpire I met many times over the years. He had been a very successful Korsar sailor himself and came from the generation of my older brothers.
We also had quite a few conversations after races.
Usually after a penalty against us.
Of course I knew that a decision made on the water could not be changed afterwards. That was never really the point.
It was probably a small part of my own version of ugly winning.
I liked discussing those situations, sometimes in detail, and somewhere in the back of my mind there was probably also the hope that, after enough conversations with me, an umpire might hesitate for half a second before raising the flag against us the next time.
Whether that ever worked, I have no idea.
What I do know is that Mickey and I had many good, very knowledgeable conversations about racing, rules and decisions on the water.
He has sadly passed away, but I still think of those encounters with a smile.
And somehow, his name eventually found its way into our playbook.
Years later, I realised that the interesting thing was not the word Mickey.
It was what had to exist before I could say it.
Shared experience.
Trust.
Expectation.
A common picture of what might happen next.
The word was only the trigger.
Everything important had already been built before it was spoken.
That thought has stayed with me and is now becoming part of something new I am writing:
THE SYSTEM ON BOARD
What sailing can teach us about leadership, communication and decision-making.
TheSystemOnBoard
