I met Jim the first time after The Card project was launched 1988. He had just competed and was on the top boat in the Admiral’s cup, Jamarella a 50ft racing yacht, in which he was the sailmaker, a sail trimmer and a helmsman for the offshore races.
I felt, in spite of his modest age, that he would fit well into our team. His enthusiasm and motivation to do the Whitbread round the world race, was contagious. On top of that he was an excellent sailmaker and a very good sailor. Not to miss out on joining our team …Initially Jim was a bit loose with the facts about his age, as he had added a few years to it… even then he was still the youngest of our crew.
After the tragic loss of our crew member Janne Gustavsson, who died in a motorbike accident in the first stopover, Punta del Este, in Uruguay, Jim was asked to take his place as the primary foredeck crew. In that role he saved the life of another crewmember, Etienne, when he was about to be lost overboard, half unconscious with a complex fracture on his forearm. I will be forever deeply thankful to Jim for his quick and brave action to grab the hair and shoulder of Etienne as he was about to slip into the cold ocean deep in the South Atlantic. How it happened is well told by Etienne himself in his contribution to this collection of stories.
Before the start the whole crew were having a checkup including meeting a dentist. Jim had a wisdom tooth not growing in a healthy way and was advised to have it removed. He did not agree and later, during the WRTWR he most likely regretted his decision. On the leg from Fremantle to Auckland the tooth decided to cause him severe pain which needed heavy drugs to keep the pain in control. This condition would have kept many of us not standing our watches but not Jim, he did his work as always. In Auckland he had all four wisdom teeth removed in one go and the next day he was out sailing as if nothing had happened. Most of us would have stayed at home feeling a bit sorry for ourselves.
After we lost our mizzen mast in a dramatic way just after the start in Auckland a jury mizzen mast was built from two spare spinnaker poles and other materials. Jim put in a massive effort re-cutting our trysail to fit the new mizzen mast. He also recut an asymmetric mizzen spinnaker to become the mizzen staysail. Fitting perfectly to fly between the two masts. The whole set up worked fine, gaining downwind speed, until a few days later. Jim recalls the moment: “Not the best helmsman came on deck with a coffee cup and a cigarette in his hand and fucked up badly. He took the wheel and a minute later he broached the boat and over the side went the new mizzen with both new sails. It was a very frustrating moment for me and the team, after all that work on building the mast, boom, sails….”
Jim had his own innovative ways of dealing with things onboard. One member of his watch was consistently late on deck when the watch started. Instead of telling me about this issue Jim decided to lure his watch mate into our well sized drying locker, pull the zipper and lock him in there for a full watch. After this “treatment” our late crew member was always on deck in time for the start of his watch.
Another creative move from Jim when in the deep South. As snow was loading up the bottom part of the spinnaker and risked ripping the sail apart he was fast to act. He climbed out to the end of the spinnaker pole, with a batten in hand and resolutely reach out and flip the foot of the sail inside out, emptying all the heavy snow. We were all in awe in his resolute way of acting in this situation as in many others. Throughout the race he showed strong courage, determination and resolute action in the complex situations you inevitably end up in during this kind of race. I´m forever thankful for how Jim contributed to the team spirit on The Card, he made a great difference with his skills, honesty, creativity, humor and constant attitude of never giving up.
The Stitch-Up:
One time in big seas, we were preparing to change headsails, from a No. 2 genoa to a No. 2 jib-top, as the wind had backed, and we started reaching. Jim was up on the bow, pulling the starboard 14mm wire halyard around to the weather side. The forestay on the boat was around 120 feet long, so as we went over the waves, we had to time it perfectly with the pit-man to take the slack out of the halyard, as the boat launched up the waves, so the heavy halyard would flip to the windward side of the forestay.
Unfortunately, this time the timing was out of sync, as the pit-man didn’t manage to pull up enough slack. As the halyard swung around on a massive wave, Bill stood up right behind Jim on the bow and copped a full face-plant from the wire halyard right into the top of his head.
There was a great deal of blood, and immediate action was taken by Jim. He quickly secured the halyard and took Bill down below to evaluate and check out the head injury.
I looked at Jim and said, “You’re the sailmaker, so you’re going to help stitch him up. You’ve done it before, right?”…Jim replyed. “Yes I’ll have a F ..ing Go…” Of course I was evaluating the situation and supervised Jim’s stitch-up work.
After much debate down in the cabin, Bill flat-out refused to take any pain medication. He insisted that because we were only two days into the heinous 8,000-nautical-mile Southern Ocean leg. We might need the meds for worse injuries later on. He was right about that… so we finally gave in to his request.
Jim got to work stitching him up. Bill was one tough bastard, he didn’t even flinch. It took 20 stitches for Jim & myself to put Bill’s head back together after getting face-planted by that 14mm wire genoa halyard, but he took it like an absolute champ.
Years after telling this story, Jim found out that there is hardly any feeling in the top of your head, and stitching without a local anesthetic in that specific area is quite common practice in emergency situations.
In Hamble at the crew dinner after the race had finished, I presented Jim with a special award a Swedish traditional “Viking” style hunting knife, for being the most skilled and hardest-working crew member on the boat. He certainly earned it, on deck and below.
I have a lot of respect for how Jim and his family are now handling the enormous challenge they are facing fighting his cancer. It is deeply touching to follow him doing everything to keep his family and himself positive, keeping his humor in this very difficult situation. He is continuing to keep up his quality of life in all possible ways.
Although I’m not with him physically, I’m with him in spirit. Maybe I should say I’m with you Jim, spiritually and from the bottom of my heart. Lots of love to you and your family.
Roger Nilson
Roger has been a great friend and mentor to me over the years. I admire his “Never give up” attitude. He has an internal steadfast belief, that if you try hard enough, you can achieve anything, regardless of what others may say.
Nilson’s first round the world race was in 1981-82, onboard “Alaska Eagle”, winner of The Whitbread Round the world race in 1977-78 as “Flyer”. His second race was also a notable one, sailing with Duran Duran front man Simon Le Bon, in the 1985-86 Whitbread Round the world race, onboard “Drum”, which finished third in the Maxi class.
Although more readily known as a world-class navigator, Nilson has also been the skipper of two Whitbread round the world raceboats: First with the Maxi yacht “The Card”, and second with the Whitbread 60 “Intrum Justitia”* for leg 1 only (due to injury).
Roger’s round the world sailing exploits:
● 1981-82 Whitbread Round the world race “Alaska Eagle”
● 1985-86 Whitbread Round the world race “Drum”
● 1989-90 Whitbread Round the world race “The Card” Skipper
● 1992-93 Whitbread Round the world race “Intrum Justitia” Skipper leg 1
● 1997-98 Volvo Ocean Race VOR “Swedish Match”
● 2000 The Race “Innovation Explorer” on 110ft maxi catamaran a non-stop around the world race.
● 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race VOR “Amer Sports One”
● 2005 “Trophy Jules Verne” TJV a non-stop around the world record attempt. “Orange 2″ a 140ft maxi catamaran. They broke the record with a time of 50 days and 16 hours.
● 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race VOR “Telefonica Black“
Roger has competed in eight (8) around the world races. Wow..a staggering 8 laps of the planet of racing in total.
Nilson is also a medical doctor and his skills have often come into play while at sea. He set the broken arm of a crew member onboard “The Card”, making a cast as best he could in the rough circumstances. Onboard “Amer Sports One”, he saved the life of one of the crew when an intestinal blockage became serious.
Photo Rick Tomlinson
