Relaxed For The Worlds
Written by Bryony Shaw | 27 August 2010
When you have had a bit of time away from the board it’s always a little pain painful getting your body used to windsurfing again.
After Sail for Gold I took a bit of time off sailing just to chill out at home in Kent and mentally and physically recover from what was a really demanding regatta with intense preparation. When I got back on the board on Thursday I got bad forearm cramp, and was getting quite cross about it, but my coach Dom was like ‘Well, what can you do? You have been there before you have just to get on with it.’ He’s right, it’s something you know happens and I am glad I have got it out of the way. It can also happen when we’ve had a spell of windy weather and then you have to start pumping again, it is never nice but you have to grit your teeth and get through it.
I was pleased to finish on the podium at Sail for Gold, I picked up a couple of high scores during the week where I had gambled and didn’t sail the way I normally do conservatively, and it didn’t work out. I was disappointed with that but pleased with how I was able to recover and keep chipping away at the points to be in a position to still win a medal on the final day.
Getting the result at Sail for Gold means I can be a bit more relaxed at the Worlds; for some of the teams over here the Worlds are the be-all-and-end-all in terms of funding and it being a 2012 qualification event. Hopefully that can go in my favour and I can stay relaxed in my approach throughout the week to sail well and pick up a good result.
I am sure that if I start getting too stressed about things in the week, and the intensity is heightened too much, Dom will really try to reflect the relaxed attitude we are going for in our debriefs. It is a bit of a change but it will be fun.
I loved being back amongst the whole Skandia Team GBR Team at Sail for Gold and seeing the likes of Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, I really feel I thrive in that kind of atmosphere. Sail for Gold was always my main focus for the year and the Worlds was going to be a second chance to put right anything that didn’t got to plan at Weymouth and Portland. Saying that you only get to go very few World Championship events in your career and it is coveted thing to be World Champion so of course it would be great to win here.
The venue conditions in many ways are also quite similar to Weymouth and Portland so to win a Worlds in a venue that is quite like the Olympic venue would also be a big statement about my capabilities of sailing in these types of conditions.
Bryony