Ericsson Racing Team’s desire for a purely Nordic crew in one of the team’s two boats in the Volvo Ocean Race was not at all in line with Martin Krite’s plans in life.

“I’m newly married and have just become a father,” he says. “And I’d just decided to stop sailing and start studying theology to become a priest. Now I’ll have to put my studies off.” 

His plans are not the only thing that separates Martin from most of his sailing friends who are about the same age. His sailing background is also a little different. He does not have a stack of Swedish dinghy-sailing championship medals at home in his drawer. And when his mother put him in a sailing school on the Swedish west coast’s sailing metropolis of Marstrand, Martin did not enjoy it one bit.

“I loved ball sports when I was young,” he says. “But when I was about 12, I realized that I’d never be an ice hockey star. That was when I decided to concentrate fully on sailing because I love to compete and wanted so much to be good at one sport. But things didn’t go very well there either. I was actually really bad as a sailor too.”

His lack of success may have been partly due to a lack of self-confidence. And he did not do himself any favors when he christened his first optimist dinghy "wait for me" and his second boat "wait for me too."

But unlike many young guys who lack the talent for sport, Martin never gave up. Although he never won anything, he chose to study at the sailing high school in Lerum, southwest Sweden, and he eventually found his role.

“I’m not a helmsman or a skipper – and I never will be either,” he says. “I do the heavy work. I have to take the strenuous and tough jobs onboard, but I’ve no problem with that. On the contrary, I enjoy my role.”

However, Martin almost never applied for the Ericsson Racing Team.

“It wasn’t until after Gotland Runt at the beginning of July that I heard that Anders Lewander was right in the middle of the selection process for picking the crew,” he says. “But I still got the chance of a trial, and I was soon offered a place. I have to admit that I was rather surprised at the invitation.”

Despite the unexpected decision, Martin never had a doubt that he would accept.

“Once I’d applied, I was completely sure that I wanted to be involved,” Martin says. “I may have had some doubt at an early stage, but when I got everything to work with the family there was no longer any doubt.”

Martin thinks that the Nordic boat will be an outsider, while Ericsson’s international crew will command more respect due to its crew’s many achievements.

“Experience is all well and good, but you don’t sail on previous merits,” he says. “And I promise that none of us on the Nordic boat will sail around the world and be satisfied just with being there. I believe that with good team spirit and the right attitude we could surprise a lot of people.”