SPECIAL REPORT: MARK CHISNELL ON PROBLEM SOLVING AT SEA

On his new book, Knowledge 2.0, author Mark Chisnell - who has been published on a wide range of topics and is also a former professional sailor, navigator, and most recently a rules advisor for the British America's Cup challenge INEOS Britannia - offers a 'user's guide to knowledge'.

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The book tackles tricky questions such as: how much is survival in extreme situations down to chance? How much self-confidence is too much... and can lead to disaster? Each area of knowledge is illustrated with examples from sailing.

"Competing in sailing's elite events - the Olympics, the America's Cup or professional ocean racing requires high-level knowledge across many disciplines. It demands knowledge of science, engineering, data analytics, computer science, simulation and modelling, deal making, - finance, human resources, management, marketing and communications - and that's before anyone gets in a boat," explains Chisnell.

In the following extract, he reveals how legendary sailor Michel Desjoyeaux's extreme problem-solving abilities helped him win the Vendée Globe.

FINDING A SOLUTION

There are many times when the problem is not the sifting of knowledge, not the sorting through it looking for information we can trust - sometimes the problem is the absence of knowledge, the lack of a solution to a problem.

What is probably my favourite story in the book turns on an inspired piece of thinking. However, it's not the brilliance of the solution that's the point (dazzling though it is): the point is that this kind of thinking can be learnt, can be practised and can be improved.

"It was the last day of 2000 and, when I started the engine the previous day, I'd heard a bad noise, but I didn't care. The day after, I wanted to start it again to charge the battery and nothing happened when I switched on the contact and pushed on the start button... So, my first job was to remove the starter to understand why it didn't switch on. I removed it from the engine and then I opened it, and I found out all the brushes are more or less dust, nothing repairable."