The event gets underway!
Written by Stephen Park | 09 August 2010
Today saw a solid start for Skandia Team GBR, I am pleased to have the regatta underway now so that we can shake off any pre-regatta nerves and finally get into racing after a lot of preparation by the sailors and the team that support them on and off the water. Today’s conditions were quite tricky and shifty and as Nick Dempsey has said on his earlier blog, not very Weymouth like. However we are pleased that we have sailable conditions today, reflecting on last year where it was blowing 20 knots plus for a lot of the regatta and we spent quite a lot of time sitting ashore postponed.
You can check out all of the results on the event website – www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk so I won’t go into too much details on that aspect, but overall we had some good results and a few disappointing moments. Iain and Bart broke their forestay in the first race, meaning they had to be towed to shore for some quick maintenance. Peter Bentley our Technical Projects Manager and some other staff were able to help get them back out for the second race although they were still a minute late.
Ben Ainslie was the top finishing GBR boat in the Finn today and it is great to see him back amongst the team. He’s not in ideal Finn sailing condition, a little light and lacking his hiking physique but I think everyone agrees that he is a formidable force on the water and it is good to see him out there sailing. Fourth after day one is really not too shabby for someone who hasn’t been in a Finn for two years! I think we will see him challenging for a medal by the end of the week – may be even gold…
Our 49er boats as are always a great class to follow with so much talent across the squad. This class in particular is one where there is not one definite best performing boat and this regatta will be an important event for all of them. We have a few boats in the top ten, but in this class with up to 16 races it is not even worth talking about the results for a couple of days yet. You may have noticed in some of the photos and footage that you have seen that the 49er class have adopted national flags at the top of their main sail, in my opinion this is a great move, really helping distinguish the countries and adds to the element of national competitiveness at what is a hugely international event.
Back in HQ the team are just settling down for dinner, our chef Craig is as always cooking up a storm for the troops . Tonight everyone is getting excited about his bread & butter pudding! We’ve got the movie The Green Zone to watch later, a bit of R&R for everyone after day 1.
Sparky