Ahead of the iconic Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, tech millionaire Christian Beck, who skippered maxi yacht LawConnect to line honours glory last year, speaks about his on-deck sailing passion.
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On-shore, Christian Beck is CEO and founder of LEAP and free legal help platform LawConnect. In his downtime, Beck sails Sydney Harbour – pursuing the passion to be on deck that has gripped him since he was a kid. In December, Beck’s supermaxi ‘LawConnect’ will defend the line honours it won in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht race.
What is it about Twilight Sailing that you love?
I love Twilights because it’s relaxed, easy, and fun, and it connects me to a lot of social contacts that I don’t usually have time to see. We do it midweek, and I have my kids along. Sometimes, we have clients along, and it’s about an hour and a half of hand-to-hand combat and then dinner and drinks afterwards.
You grew up sailing on Sydney Harbour, and your kids are doing the same. What do you hope they will learn from it?
Getting out there and being with people and being out on the water. There is a lot of banter and fun on the boat. I’m not super worried about the discipline of it, but I do like that it’s getting them off computer games.
What clubs do you sail with?
I’m part of the Cruising Yacht Club and Greenwich Flying Squadron.
You took up sailing in your mid-40s. Was it always a passion?
Sailing is easy to do late in life. It makes you feel like a sportsman, even though, you know, I’m not a sportsman.
Your first Sydney to Hobart was in 2017. Was it a long-held ambition to compete at that level?
I watched the Sydney to Hobart as a kid. There are three big events that I have always watched – the start of Sydney to Hobart, the Bathurst car race, and the Melbourne Cup. When you think about all those races, the only one I could ever be involved in is sailing. I couldn’t ride a horse and I was too old for car racing by the time I had the money to do it. But I was able to jump into sailing at around 47.
What role do you take on board during the race?
I used to try to help, but I realised later that the best thing I could do was just leave it to them. And that’s probably where I have been helpful – because some people who own the boats do things like steer it and get involved, and that actually makes it worse. Last year, we had a very bad boat, but we won, and it’s partly because I did nothing. I get on there on Boxing Day and get off two days later, and I spend time with the crew leading up to the race. I like the team – Tony Mutter is a sailing master.
Are there crossovers between leadership in sailing and leadership in business?
If you’re chairman of a company and have a good CEO, the best thing you can do is nothing. You you have to support the CEO. But largely, the best thing to do is nothing, and most people struggle with that, because when it’s going well, you want to be involved.
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