The first family event
Written by Nick Dempsey | 28 April 2010
Needless to say that our flight out to Hyeres was cancelled so Sarah, our son Thomas, his nanny Peggy and Saskia piled into the XC90 and made our way across the channel and down to Hyeres. DVD’s kept the passengers entertained most of the way and Thomas was a little legend for the entire trip, he chilled out in the back chatting away and being his usual happy little self.
My coach Barrie managed to make it out before some of the other windsurfing lads who were stuck in the UK. We spent a few really focused days on the water, just the two of us which was really useful. Having one to one coaching with Baz allowed me to specifically target some areas of my training, so pleased with that.
The last event I attended was Princess Sofia in Palma which was a really hard event for me. I went into the regatta still recovering from a virus so was far from my usual form and struggled as I felt pretty rough!
Hyeres however has been completely different; I’m not back to 100% but definitely feeling better after Palma where I was chasing the fleet. The conditions have been really tough though with light winds, so for windsurfing that involves a huge amount of pumping the sail to get round. Our sails on the RSX are 9.5 square meters, so aerobically the event has been massively challenging as you have to pump the sail back and forth to increase your speed. It does make all those hours in the gym and on the bike well worth it as I have been really pleased with my results and the light winds have been something that I have handled well. Conditions aren’t looking much different for the rest of the week, but it would be nice if we got some better breeze so we can get some more races in.
This event is the first where both Sarah and I have come away with Thomas and so far, so good! Thomas is pretty easy going anyway and we have bought out our nanny Peggy who has been looking after him whilst we’ve been racing. We’ve kept his routine the same as at home so he stays with us in the morning until about 9am then Peggy has him during the day. He’s had a great week, whilst there’s no wind, there certainly is some sun so he’s been enjoying swimming in the hotel pool most days, and yesterday went for his first swim in the sea! Not long and I’ll have him on a board.
Quite relieved that it has gone so well, as in the future Thomas is going to be coming along to a lot of events where Sarah and I are both competing. It’s been easier than we thought to be honest, a lot of that is him being such an easy going baby but it is nice to know that we can balance our windsurfing and sailing with being parents.
Sarah’s doing well, frustrated like the rest of us on lack of racing this week. She’s happy with how she’s going but as she hasn’t sailed a 470 for so long and is still fine tuning the whole thing she is desperate to be a dab hand at it straight away.
Off to Holland at the end of the month, then will be focusing on Weymouth training as Skandia Sail for Gold is my priority this year.
Cheers
Nick