There’s something scarily primal about the sea. It’s vast, unforgiving, and utterly unimpressed by either the car you drive or how many pairs of Jimmy Choos you own.
Seven years ago, I watched “Mutiny”, a Channel 4 series where Ant Middleton (from the series “SAS, Who Dares Wins”) and a crew of men attempted to recreate Captain Bligh’s infamous 4,000-mile open-boat voyage following the mutiny on the Bounty. At the time, I was hooked, binge-watching it over a single weekend.
Yesterday, I revisited it. Older, marginally wiser, and now armed with some fascinating knowledge picked up from the founder of a Clipper ship project, it was like watching the movie “Gladiator” after intensive courses in Roman history, engineering, military strategy and philosophy – essentially giving me new perspectives.
When you start to understand wind, rigging, hull dynamics, and just how maddeningly difficult it is to keep ships upright, let alone moving in the right direction, “Mutiny” stops being a jolly seafaring lark with a former Special Forces operative and becomes a masterclass in human resilience against nature’s most relentless force: the ocean.
Thanks to my maritime founder, I’ve come to appreciate the staggering complexity behind sailing a “simple” traditional longboat, let alone designing and building it. Every sail angle, every line, every creak of timber carries weight, literally and metaphorically. I now understand how the maritime safety regulations have come about and the importance of seawater in keeping wooden boats safe from drying out and rotting.
Watching “Mutiny” again, I no longer see just a bunch of blokes battling waves; I see them trying to navigate as well as survive alongside wind patterns that never read the filmscript. It’s so much easier to admire their grit, because I now understand what it must be like to sail through treacherous reefs in a crosswind while praying the boom doesn’t knock you unconscious. These men weren’t just tough, they were committed, even if one of them found following orders more of a loose suggestion than a rule.
The original voyage by Bligh? That was practically a superhuman effort, albeit they didn’t have much choice about it. “Mutiny” is a humbling reminder that the sea is servant to no one, and your best bet is to make friends with the wind as best you can whilst appreciating she will ghost you from time to time, just like an avoidant friend.
Sailors feared the doldrums because of the absence of anything. No wind. No movement. Just blistering heat, still air, and the creeping madness of waiting for something, just anything, to change.
In business, we hit the doldrums too from time to time; those maddening, flat periods where progress stalls, investors go quiet, customers vanish like they’ve boarded a rival ship, and every effort feels like rowing through an Irish bog. You adjust your compass. Fiddle with your sails. Still nothing moves.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can’t force the wind. You can try to row when you’re becalmed, but more often than not, you’ll exhaust yourself getting nowhere and run the risk of dehydration. It’s in these moments that old mariner wisdom rings true: don’t fight the stillness, learn from it. Use the pause. Take stock. Repair the rigging. Ration the biscuits, metaphorically or otherwise. Because eventually, the wind does return.
These moments don’t just test our business plans. They test our patience, our perspective, and our ability to relinquish control. Markets shift. Partners pull out. Algorithms change. Pandemics pop up. And while we can’t direct the breeze, we can adjust our sails and learn to be patient.
So, if you’re in the doldrums right now, take heart. It’s not failure. It’s just a lull between gusts. Sit tight. Breathe. And when the wind changes, and it will, you’ll be ready to catch it.
For those who don’t know Ant Middleton, he’s a former Special Forces operative, famously hard as nails. Watching him now, squaring up to nature’s original personal trainer (the ocean), feels like a bizarre mash-up of “SAS: Who Dares Wins”, “Nanny 911”, and “Come Dine With Me: Mariners’ Edition”. Love him or loathe him, there’s no denying his magnetism. He’s one of those rare figures people instinctively follow, and that’s powerful. The kind of presence that, if channelled the right way, could genuinely inspire young people, maybe even help shift the tide on issues like knife crime. There’s a strength there that speaks directly to teenagers – not just biceps-and-barking-orders strength, but the kind that says, “I see you. I’ve been there. Now let’s move forward.”
Those piercing blue eyes? They’re not just for show. They look straight through bravado, ego, or excuses. And if you ever get the chance to meet him, you’ll understand, he doesn’t just see people. He reads them, cover to cover, and in particular the ones with their spine slightly cracked. It’s unnerving. It’s impressive. And it’s probably why he’s just as at home facing a storm as he is facing someone’s emotional baggage at 4am on a beach.
Rewatching “Mutiny” after learning more about windship design and sailing has made me realise how much many of us take for granted these days. We once crossed oceans using nothing but ropes, canvas, a sextent and that one bloke who could tie knots in his sleep. Now some of us can barely parallel park a bicycle without an app warning that we’re too close to the car behind…
Through my new lens, “Mutiny” became more than a TV drama. It’s a strangely motivating ode to resilience, ingenuity, and the sheer refusal to accept “you can’t go that way, the wind’s not in your favour.” It’s easy to admire stoicism from a safe distance, central heating on, cuppa in your hand. But strip away the sea spray and soggy clothing, and you’re left with lessons deeply relevant to both modern life and business alike. My three take aways would be:
First: Resilience. Not the social media motivational quotes with filters and hashtags. “Mutiny” shows us real resilience, the kind that keeps you going when you’re soaked, shattered, the drinking water’s gone bad and you’ve got trench foot.
Second: Adaptability. When the wind shifts, you don’t sulk. You trim the sails, shift your weight, and try not to capsize. It’s the same with parenting, business, or surviving Monday morning’s stand up. The sea teaches you to adjust course, not to give up.
Third: Teamwork. Those men in “Mutiny” survived because they figured out how to rely on each other. There is no room for egos in a wooden dinghy with three inches of personal space. In business, just like in that boat, success often hinges not on who shouts the loudest, but on who listens, collaborates, and doesn’t throw someone overboard after three days of rowing.
We’re all in some kind of “boat”, and the wind, as ever, doesn’t care what you had planned or even hoped for. We could all do with a more of that old-world sailor spirit in our boardrooms, projects and homes alike. Which brings me back to the people around you; your crew. Whether it’s the partner you choose in life or work, the friends you celebrate a long bank holiday with, or the trusted few you reach out to when a new marketing idea strikes, they’re the ones who help you steer. There are no road maps; we will create the map of our life by the course we navigate and people we select to come onboard.
Do you need any help? Message us. We’ll be here, biscuit tin at the ready.
Photo by Michel Stockman
