Confined to shore for Sail for Gold...
Written by Paul Brotherton | 08 August 2010
It’s the eve of the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta – the biggest ISAF World Cup event so far, and certainly the biggest sailing event yet seen at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.
It looks set to be a fantastic regatta – almost 1,000 sailors from 57 countries, and a 63-boat 49er fleet with all the biggest names preparing to race on the Olympic waters, where they will hope return for the Games itself in two years’ time.
That’s where Mark and I had hoped to be as well, and where we would be now had a knee injury, picked up at the European Championships, not seen me confined to shore for what we’d earmarked as the most important event of our year.
We were just heading into the first day of the final series of the Europeans in Gdynia, Poland, last month when I strained my medial knee ligament and we were forced to pull out of the event. Further scans showed that I also have some tears to the medial meniscus cartilage, possibly already there through wear and tear of years of dinghy sailing but exacerbated by the ligament strain.
R&R has helped, but the knee is still locking up once or twice a day and I can’t straighten my leg. With a bit of gentle persuasion the cartilage clicks back into place after a minute or two and goes back to normal strength. The RYA’s physio team has arranged for me to see a surgeon in Cheadle this week, and after that I will need to make a final decision about giving it more time or committing to surgery. I am hoping he will be able to give me an easy choice and not be left with a big grey area to swim around in!
I can’t tell you how gutted we are to not be at Sail for Gold this week, the event that we have been working hard towards all year long. It’s a big setback for us, but a long way from terminal and we’re grateful for the support and expertise of the Skandia Team GBR management and medical teams, our primary sponsor Link Oil and Gas Professionals, and also Orange Mountain Bikes, Steve Hopper at EITS and Ian Cleaver of Highland Heritage.
The goodwill messages we’ve received have been touching, and rest assured I’ll be doing what I can to get back fit and on the water again just as soon as possible.
In the meantime, we wish the rest of Skandia Team GBR all the best at their home World Cup regatta and hope it’s a great event.