Countdown to Weymouth
Written by Stephen Park | 27 July 2010
We’ve just over a fortnight until the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta gets
underway at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, and the
team are chomping at the bit for racing to start.When they’re not
abroad competing the sailors spend a lot of time at the venue
familiarising themselves with every condition Weymouth Bay and Portland
Harbour can throw at them while also making the most of the team’s
superb land facilities at Portland Marina
Skandia Sail for Gold is the biggie for the majority of the team this year and although everyone will have their own individual regatta goals, as a team we obviously want to stamp our authority on the 2012 Olympic waters two years out from the Games.Some sailors will be looking to continue the excellent medal-winning form they’ve displayed so far this season, some will want to start transforming top 10 finishes into podium finishes and others will be looking to make gains in areas of their campaigns where they feel improvements can be made.After their recent showing at the IFDS Worlds, our Paralympic sailors should be a force to be reckoned with at Sail for Gold. It’s always said winning a title is easy, coming back and doing it time after time is the hardest thing so Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell deserve huge credit for winning their second consecutive SKUD World title, and with a race to spare. They’ve been working with a new coach, Ian Clingan, since April and he’s done a great job in helping them continue developing the obvious potential they’ve always shown as a pairing. John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas showed a lot of character to bounce back from an indifferent start to take silver in the Sonar with a mature display that almost won them gold. It was also great to see Megan Pascoe pick up her first ever Worlds medal, a bronze in the 2.4mR. Helena Lucas was disappointed with her performance but I’m sure she will bounce back and will be giving it everything at Sail for Gold.
Britain also has new 49er European champions in Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh. There is so much strength in depth and experience in the 49er fleet the drive for them all to want to be the top British boat is very powerful. Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also took bronze , so, as a team, to finish with two medals and three crews in total inside the top six is big credit to them all. The only downer from the Europeans was the knee injury sustained by Paul Brotherton that will definitely keep he and Mark Asquith out of Sail for Gold. They’ve been gearing up for our home event all year and are very disappointed to be missing out, but there is still plenty of time for them to come back and re-establish themselves before thoughts turn to 2012 selections.
The 470 Worlds also showed how much promise there is in both the men’s and women’s fleets. We may have not have won a medal but if gear failure hadn’t grounded Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell on the penultimate day they could have been looking at their second Worlds podium finish while Nic Asher and Elliot Willis demonstrated good boat speed in certain conditions to finish fourth but now need to make sure they can be competitive across the whole range of conditions. Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark’s fifth was also really pleasing; having only sailed together for seven months they’re playing down their regatta chances but there’s huge and exciting progress being made in that boat. Penny Clark and Katrina Hughes have endured a disrupted year and in finishing eighth also showed there is more to come.
Of course Skandia Sail for Gold will have the added spice of Ben Ainslie returning to the Finn for the first time since Beijing. Ben is another one keen to play down his chances having spent the past two years concentrating on the America’s Cup, but everyone knows Ben’s talent and his presence alone will guarantee a fascinating Finn competition. So in less than two weeks and the sailing world's attention will turn to Weymouth and the culmination of the ISAF Sailing World Cup series.
It's going to be a fantastic event - the sailing will be fiercely competitive, and you will be able to follow the event remotely through the live animation, radio and TV on the event website www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk .
There is also the unique opportunity to come along to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, experience a major world class event and support our sailors doing what they do best. There will be activities running all week and a spectator day for the medal racing on Saturday 14th August. The whole team at Skandia Team GBR looks forward to seeing you there!