Bronze at the Worlds in Weymouth
Written by Helena Lucas | 12 July 2011
Wow what a week! It certainly joins the list of toughest weeks, but was well worth it for the result!
Ian Barker stepped in as my coach for the week due to Rob [Wilson] having prior commitments to the Youth team, who were competing at their Worlds in Croatia. Ian did an amazing job getting me back on form in only three weeks, and continued the good work throughout the regatta.
As Thierry put it, I was in a race within a race, the Worlds being the second regatta in our trials. After a poor Sail For Gold Regatta the pressure was certainly on and I needed to put in a good performance It was the largest entry ever for an IFDS Worlds, with 46 entries in the 2.4mR class, proving for some exciting close racing, (sometimes a little too close for my liking).
The week started in light airs, probably my strongest condition, and after day one I found myself leading the regatta. Not a bad start, but still a long way to go! As Ian said “you can’t win the regatta on the first day but you can certainly lose it!”
I then remained consistently in the top three apart from Monday when I dropped to fourth but the points were so tight I was not concerned. As the week progressed the winds picked up and on Wednesday we were treated to a blustery 18 knots gusting 20.
I was keeping it solid although had a couple of races where I got caught out on the wrong side of a shift on the second beat and went from 2nd to 6th! It was incredibly frustrating as I knew those points would have been really handy and given me some breathing space from behind.
I think Thursday was the toughest day of the regatta for me and was my worst day in terms of results. Going into the day I knew it was imperative to remain in the medals by the end of the day as the forecast for Friday was for 30 knots and there was every chance we might not get racing. I fought hard for every point that day and remained in bronze.
My prediction was right! Despite the best efforts of the race committee to get us out for a final race, the decision was made that it was too windy and the sea state too dangerous to send us and racing was abandoned. I can’t deny that I was relieved, silver was out of reach and I was defending bronze against at least 3 boats snapping at my heels.
I said in an interview before the regatta started that I believed the top ten in the 2.4mR class have the same talent and level of skill the difference between winning and coming tenth would come down to mindset and mental toughness.
From my own experience this week I believe that won me the bronze.