Let's go racing!
Written by Hannah Diamond | 20 March 2013
After three months’ worth of camps in Murcia, the boats have now been packed up and relocated to Palma, Mallorca for the first World Cup event of 2013.
The March camp saw seven days of training in 15+ knots every day which was great, allowing us to get a lot of time on the water and make progress just before the racing season kicks off. We know there is still a lot to learn about the Nacras and how to sail them but Ben and I both feel a lot more at home in a multihull now and are looking forward to coming up against some international competition.
On landing in Murcia, we were a little disappointed to be greeted by rain and cold and when we arrived in the boat park for sailing the next day, the boats were covered in sand from the Sahara that had been picked up from Africa! After an hour of washing every block and cleat on the boat it began to look like new again!
It was great to get some decent hours on the water as well as the land based training and now we are really excited to get into racing after spending so long training. We did some short course racing with 4 boats, which was pretty exciting at the windward mark so we are expecting some carnage in a fleet of 40 boats!
At the moment we are back at home for a few days, getting everything sorted for the middle of the season and we both have a fitness test on Friday to check on how we have progressed through the winter before heading out to Palma at the weekend.
We have a few days of training out there to become familiar with the conditions-hoping for some big waves!
Follow our Facebook page www.facebook.com/teamsaxtondiamond for updates throughout the event.