I am sitting in my room in the village in Beijing, reflecting over events that have happened in the last month. It seems like years ago that we arrived in Qingdao full of confidence and determination to follow in the footsteps of the Olympic team. We certainly had a few curve balls thrown at us along the way, but checked in to the village in high spirits and full of anticipation for the start of the regatta.
I knew things were going to be tough in the 2.4mR, being such a competitive fleet and everyone ramping up their training in the months before. Unfortunately my training had not gone quite according to plan due to some issues with the boat, but I went out for the first race with the confidence, if I sailed well I would be in the medals.

It was a tough week, with such close racing that one mistake could cost you 5 places not the normal one or two. It was also evident that some of the other countries initially not considered to be in the medal zone had really raised their Game and were very much in the mix.

All week I stayed within contention of the medals and still had a good chance going into the last day. Unfortunately it did not go my way. However I am really pleased for Paul Tingley from Canda who won Gold putting in a fantastic performance on the water and John Ruff from the USA who won the Bronze. Both sailors rose to the occasion and probably sailed the best regattas of their lives. Damien Seguin from France just clinched the silver in the last race.

It has taken a few days for the disappointment to really sink in as we have been so busy, but I must admit it’s hard now that I am in Beijing reunited with the rest of the British Paralympic team who have had a great Games and know that I did not manage to contribute to it. But I have learnt some valuable lessons from my experience in China which I will certainly take with me to 2012 where hopefully I will be standing on the podium in front of my home crowd!

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We got through measurement safe and sound yesteday with no hiccups, which was a relief as it was a very thourough measurement this time. Today we finished off afew jobs on the boat and got out for a few hours sailing this afternoon.
Tomorrow will be nuch of the same with hopefully a bit of racing against the foreigners.

It seems like an age since we stepped off the plane at Qingdao airport to our phones beeping with Kirsty’s text that the Star boys had won Gold!
We timed our arrival on the 21st of August to perfection, just in time for the big team GBR Party. It seemed to do the trick with getting over the jet lag and we spent the next couple of days catching up with everyone and congratulating them on such a great performance.
But it was soon down to business when they disappeared off to Beijing for the closing ceremony. After a long day in the dinghy park we all met up in the Sea View Gardens hotel to get a glimpse of the Olympic team on TV and watch Beckham kick his ball atop a Red London Bus.
The next couple of days were spent down at Yinhai marina, sometimes in the compound some times not, depending on whether the manager refused the British team entry or not over a minor financial matter. Adam and I spent a morning on the picket line planning the worst case scenario of a possible night raid to get our boats out, luckily it never amounted to that and the problem was solved
Since then its been productive days on the water and trying out the new lycra sailing fashion. The lycra leggings have been a huge hit with Sonar Steve who passed the comment “why do I always look like a gimp at the Paralympics”
Adam and I had been fortunate enough to be able use Annie Lush for a few days. Annie had come out to watch the Olympics and yngling racing and stayed on to do some 2.4 sailing. She took to the 2.4 like a duck to water and was right on the pace in the tuning, enjoying being in control and responsible for everything on the boat. However things changed a little when we started racing and she turned to me and said “the tactician and trimmer on board are awesome but I am having a little problem with the helmsman”
We moved into the village on the 30th and into our luxury 5 star hotel. We had been staying in the team house, having to fend for ourselves and put up with the boys toilet habits, So Sue and I embraced the Hotel with open arms. It also makes the whole training regime so much easier having a gym on sight, the boats in walking distance and the awesome work shop container where small miracles can be produced.
So it time to capture the dream and follow in the foot steps of the Olympic team.

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It’s only 31 days now until the start of the Paralympics! With the opening Ceramony for the Olympics tomorrow ,the excitement is starting to set in.

It has been a tricky few weeks. We feel as though we have been dodging one curve ball after another, but the boat has gone and we feel we have left no stone unturned and can cope with anything thrown at us, even the kitchen sink!

We traveled up to Birmingham the other weekend to collect our kit and attend a Paralympic team dinner, it was a great day meeting all the other athletes going to China and trying on our team clothing. I think that’s when it really sank in that the Games are just around the corner and that I am going to be representing my country on the big stage!

This week we have been training hard in Weymouth making sure we have crossed all the T’s and dotted all the I’s. I am off to Turkey on Saturday for a bit of down time with my partner Steve who is working out there, before flying out on the 20th August to Beijing.

Qingdao Test Regatta

We went out to to China for some more training in the venue, and what we thought was a low key test regatta, but were amazed at the scale of the event before us. The organisers decided to make it a trial run of the paralympics. Our first experience of what they have in mind was when we walked into the event village and moved into our on site accomodation. We were expecting something along the lines of an Etap hotel, but instead were presented with a brand new 5 star hotel, opened only a few days ago, complete with swimming pool, gym, sauna, and steam room. You could even watch the telly from the bath!

Leaving the Marina each day, also gave a little taste of what to expect at the Games. There were crowds of people waving from the wall to the sound of drums beating out over the water, it sent a shiver up my spine every time, especially as this was just a little test regatta.

I had shipped out an old training boat a year ago which was going to have to be my regatta boat for the event. We spent a couple of days pimping her up the best we could, but she is 16 years old and rather on the heavy side. Most of my major competitors had sent their Games boats out, so it was quite amusing when the old girl won a race against them.

The first coupls of days were a bit of a struggle as I experienced a few problems with her. The major one being the pumps not working, which in 20 knots of breeze is a bit of an issue. I ended up having to try and bail out with my drinks bottle praying I would not sink. It was really frustrating as normally I am quick in a breeze, so to be lying 9th overall after 4 windy races was not a position I was used to being in. But I kept reminding myself the purpose of being here, to learn more about the venue and not to let the issues with the boat get me down.

The Wind dropped, I fixed the pumps and things started to look up. So much so that going into the last race I was lying fourth, one point away from bronze! It was a last race show down and whoever beat who would take the bronze! It was all looking great up the first beat. I was lying 2nd coming up to the windward mark ahead of my rivals, but then underestimated the strength of the tide and hit the mark, which allowed Heiko to get pass and claim the bronze.

Although I was dissapointed not to medal, and to be 4th again, all in all it was not a bad result considering the circumstances and we have come away having learnt a lot about the venue and feeling very positive for September. It was a successful trip for the rest of the team with the Sonar guys winning Gold as well as Nikki and Alex claiming Gold in the Skud. The team bonded really well and I can’t wait to go back to China for the real thing and come back with a medal next time!

It was one of the best attended Hyeres, I have seen with 18 boats on the start line and a few new faces among the usual regulars. All the top sailors were present, as expected being Paralympic year and with few regattas left now until the Games in September everyone is keen to get as much racing practice as possible.

It was the first regatta for my new boat “The Charles Russell” kindly bought by Charles Russell legal advisers. I was keen to test her against my major rivals after a good spell of tuning against my trials boat in the U.K

The start of the regatta was windy and wet with 18-22knots of breeze and some big waves. The boat showed great pace in theses conditions and after the first two days I was lying 3rd, even though I was a little rusty on my tactics having not raced since the trials in Miami in January. Damien Seguin (France) was leading with Thierry Schmitter (Holland) in second.

Tuesday was called off with an average wind speed of 35 knots, so we decided to have a bit of fun and went Go Karting with the Dutch team.

By Wednesday things had calmed down and we have two races in a nice 10-15knot breeze. Again I showed great pace and was leading the first race, but slipped up on the 2nd beat to let Damien and Heiko through. The second race was really close and I ended up 4th. Unfortunately the 1st Discard kicked in and Heiko jumped ahead of me in to third knocking me into fourth place with Damien still leading but equal on points with Thierry.

I needed to put in a good performance the next day to get back in the medals. It was light sea breeze conditions and I won the first race and finished 3rd in the second, having the best scoring day on the water in the light fluky condition, (similar to what we expect in China). I was now equal 3rd with Heilko and only one point off second going into the last day.

There was only one race schedule for the last day, and it was down to who beat who to decide the medals. Damien had won with a race to spare, so it was a battle for silver and bronze between me Heiko and Thierry.
I had a good start and rounded the top mark 3rd just behind Thierry and ahead of Heiko. The places stayed the same until the last run. Heiko gybed off at the top and I shortly went to cover him along with Thierry who was trying to cover us both. We came together in the middle of the run and I gybed again to stay with him, but he immediately gybed off. I hooked in to a bit of pressure and decided to let him go. Unfortunately a big mistake he picked up a nice patch of pressure on the right and the three of us crossed the finish line together, but Heiko had gained the edge and beat us both across the line pushing Thierry into third place overall and me into 4th.

I was furious with myself at the time, I should have stuck to him like glue and not let him escape, also I probably would have beaten Thierry and clinched the silver. However with reflection it’s a good lesson to learn now and not in September, and even though my racing had got a bit rusty after the last few months I was still battling it out with them for the medals.

I only have four days now at home before we are off to China for the test regatta, which I am really looking forward to.

The last few weeks I’ve been working hard to get my new boat fitted out and ready for on the water and we have just launched her and had a really good week or so of training on the water.

I have been testing the performance between the two hulls – my trials boat versus the new boat. I’m learning loads, and Adam my coach has turned into my training partner too – on the water we switch between the two boats. I have a few more weeks in the UK before I need to drive down to the South of France, for the Hyeres Regatta which will be my first regatta since Miami so I’m really looking forward to that.

After my events in Miami, I flew back to the UK to briefly catch up with family and to see how the work on my house was progressing. In February, I spent a day coaching the ‘Team Volvo for life competition’ winner. It was a great day; the lady sailed a topper and I went out on the water to give her one to one coaching – she really enjoyed the day and it was rewarding to see her improving in such a short space of time.

Every day I am training – a 2 hour cardio fitness session usually running or cycling in the morning, and strength work in the gym mainly focusing on upper body strength.

At the weekend I went to the Dinghy Show in London. I had a full day of activities including a Skandia Team GBR ‘Road to Beijing’ question & answer session on the main stage; meetings young sailors; signing autographs and the highlight of the day – the Skandia GBR sail off in the model boat pool!!!

I have a busy schedule of training and events over the next couple of months. I am currently spending time rigging, testing and tuning my new boat and I will organise the boat branding for my sponsors such as Volvo. My old boat is in China so I can train on it out there when I go out there in June, whilst my Olympic boat is getting shipped out. I will be spending most of March sail training in Weymouth working on sailing development and continuing with my fitness training. In April I will be training in Hyere, followed by the Hyere Olympic class regatta. Then I will be training in between the UK and China, followed by training in Keil, Holland and the Holland Olympic Class Regatta. I certainly have an exciting couple of months lined up!

MIAMI SUCCESS!



I was beginning to feel as though Miami was my second home; I have been there for so long. It’s been over a month since I have been home, evident by the Christmas presents still sitting in the car when I picked it up from my parents on Tuesday. However it has been a great month and the hard work and training all paid off when I won the US Mid Winters and followed it up with a 4th place (3rd Paralympic sailor) in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.
These were two very important regattas as they formed our trials for selection to the Paralympic Games in September.
It was a very strong fleet of 25 boats, consisting of the top 10 Paralympic sailors from the Worlds in September and also the top able bodied sailors and five times Open World Champion Stellan Berlin.
I won the Mid Winters with Stellan Berlin in second and fellow team mate Megan Pascoe in the 3rd.
Damien Seguin (Athens Paralympics Gold Medallist) won the OCR with Stellan once again in Second, Paul Tingley from Canada in 3rd and me in 4th. Megan pushed me all the way and finished 7th

It was also the Canadian trials and Paul put together an impressive performance to take selection over team mate Bruce Millar. I would like to say a big thank you to Bruce, for pushing me hard in the training we did together in Miami before Christmas and for lending me his second boat.

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This regatta was a just a three day event over the weekend starting on Friday. The purpose of it was to use it as a warm up before the Mid Winters and OCR, starting next Friday.

After 5 races I was lying 3rd overall, with the Canadians (Paul Tingley and Bruce Millar) in 1st and 2nd.

The forecast for Sunday was 30 knots in the afternoon, so an earlier start time of 10:00 was posted in hope of getting some racing in before the breeze got up too much. Unfortunatley the race committte had their mind set not to send us out, even though the entire 2.4 fleet said they wanted to race, and went out anyway to compete in three races organised by the coaches. The wind never got above 20 knots and most of the time was around 16. I had a good day posting a 1st 2nd 2nd, which pulled me up to second overall, only a coulpe of points behind Bruce Millar in first.

I had good speed and if I iron out the silly mistakes, look to be in good shape for next week.

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The training over the last week has been great, with a real variety of wind strenghts and directions.

We took Tuesday off, and booked a trip to the Everglades, which was fantastic! I think I have been to Miami at least four times now and never made it out Coconut Grove, so it was great to actually be a tourist for a day. We also went to the American Airlines Basket Ball Arena last night to see the Miami Heats play the Chicago Bulls and got in the full spirit of the Game!

Tomorrow I have a 3 day regatta, hosted by Shake a Leg. It’s just a fun regatta, but will be good practice for the Mid Winters and OCR which start next week.

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Greetings from sunny Miami, although it wasn’t too warm when we first arrived on the 2nd, only 56 degrees!
Unfortunately our container has been held up in customs, so we have not got our boats yet ! Hopefully we should be able to unload either today or tomorrow.

I have not been effected by it too much as I have been able to use Bruce Millar’s (Canadian team) 2nd boat. I was out here for two weeks in December training with Bruce, so it was great when he offered me his boat again.
I have been able to get on the water straight away and have had some good training days already.

I took a day off yesterday and took the oportunity to explore Miami and go to South Beach. As you can see from the photo we got rained on! We decided it’s definately a place to go to at night, when things really kick off , the neon lights gae switched on, the flash cars pull up,and the rich and posh of Miami come out.

This is an important time for me as we have our trials at the end of the month, which consist of the Miami Mid Winters and OCR. I am happy with my prepartion so far and looking forward to jumping back in my boat, hopefully in the next couple of days

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In Bristol for a photo shoot with Volvo and the cars and a chance to catch up with the Volvo team and plans for next year.

It’s been a great day with some great shots of the team and the cars which will hopefully feature on my website. Some of the shots involve me hanging out of a sun roof luckily the cars not moving. Some great head shots too, we even had our own make up and hair stylist, all very glamourous.

Back down to earth tomorrow though as I am back to Weymouth for some more training in the cold

This year the Worlds were held on Lake Ontario in Rochester New York. It’s was the last time for countries to secure their place at the Paralympic Games next year, so there was a great turn out with 43 2.4mR from over 20 different countries.
I had a great start to the regatta with a 2nd and 3rd in light conditions similar to what we are expecting in China. However as soon as the breeze increased I found I was struggling for pace.
I had decided to send my new boat to Rochester, which we had been doing some development work on and were at the stage where we really needed to test it against some good competition. The Worlds were really our only opportunity and we knew it would be a strong fleet. Although I was disappointed with my result, we learnt more in those two weeks than we would have in 4 months testing at home. With the Games less than a year away, time is very precious.
It was also positive in that I had to change my style of tactics, which are normally based around me having good pace. By the last day I had managed to adapt to the lack of speed and put in a good performance. Both races I rounded the top mark inside the top 5, I was a little unlucky on the second beat when a big right hand shift came in, but still managed to hold on to 6th.

I finished the regatta 9th overall. Damien Seguin from France put in an excellent performance and won convincingly taking the Gold from Heiko Kroeger from Germany who won the Silver and Thierry Schmitter from Holland who took the Bronze.

It’s now straight back in to training, as time is precious and now is not the time to sit back.

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Have a look at my new video diary on the Volvo Sailing website! I have been filming through the past eight months of training and competing. You can see what it’s like sailing a 2.4 mR in Weymouth Bay during winter, when it’s like being in a washing machine!

I have been all over Europe racing at events like the Hyere Olympic Regatta, Helsinki Regatta and Kiel week as well as Miami Olympic Regatta back in January, in the run up to my Worlds Championships.

I am currently training out at the Worlds event location in Rochester, New York, USA before the regatta starts start on the 7th September with all the worlds best Paralympic sailors racing. Wish me luck!

To view my video diary please click the following link:
http://www.volvocars.co.uk/sailing/Sponsorship-Programme/Team-Volvo-For-Life/Helena-Lucas/video.htm

This year the Open Worlds were held on a Fjord in Kolding, Denmark. The Open Worlds is eligible for all 2.4mR sailors, making it the only class where able and disabled sailors can compete on an even footing. The only difference being that as a development class it allows for some different designs and highly optimised boats. However the Paralympic rules restrict us from developing our boats as much as the able bodied sailors, trying to keep the paralympic 2.4mR as near one design as possible.

We had an entry of 80 boats, which posed some difficulties for the race committee on such a small stretch of water. So he decided to race us in split fleets, with a qualifying series early on, followed by a Gold and Silver final.

The racing was really shifty with the windward mark positioned in the lee of the shore, making the top half of the beat very tricky in light and fluky winds. This was great practice for me as these conditions are ones I have often struggled in. Working on this area tied in nicely with my personal goals in the regatta.

I finished 15th overall, which could be easy to be disappointed with as it’s not as good as previous years. However I have come away feeling positive as so much has been learnt in the regatta.

I have now got two weeks before flying out to Rochester for the IFDS worlds which could form part of our trials for selection for the 2008 Paralympic Games.

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It’s been a really successful couple of weeks with lots of sailing and racing and a chance to get the new boat in commission.

It began in Helsinki at Brando Seglare, a small club just outside the city, built on a rock! (I thought I had arrived at the wrong place at first). The boats just about made it over the little wooden bridge, but there was no way the car would! I was hoping to get sailing the first couple of days, but instead spent some long cold hours working on the boat, whilst back home there was a heat wave! I eventually launched the boat on Friday and after pouring a bottle of beer over her (no champagne or wine in the supermarket) I went sailing. I had a few tweaks to make when I got in, but felt confident she was in good shape for racing the next day.
It was a good turn out with 30 boats entered and the top Finnish sailors racing. The Canadian Paralympic team had also come over as well as a couple of the American’s. After 4 hours freezing our toes off on the water, (I had every item of clothing I could find on), we had not managed to race. The wind was so light and fickle it was impossible to set a course. It was decided to abandon for the day and have an earlier start on Sunday to try and get 5 races in.
We did get 5 races, but in some crazy conditions. The last race was especially so, with 40 degree shifts every 30 seconds, I went from 4th to 20th to 4th again in one run.
It was all looking good with 2 bullets in the first two races and a 2nd and a couple of 6th. Unfortunately I was OCS in the first race which prevented me from winning the regatta and put me in 3rd. The boat seemed to be going well and I was often first to the windward mark so I was pleased with how things had gone for her first regatta.

I then jumped on the ferry to Stockholm, where I met up with Bjornar Erikstad (from Norway) and his coach Frank for some training. We really logged up the hours doing 5 hours on the water each day. A couple of Swedes had taken the week off work to join us, and Bruce one of the Canadian sailors had also come over from Helsinki. In the evening more sailors would arrive after work, so often there would be 14 of us out training.



On Friday we moved to KSSS the club hosting the regatta. This time there was an ever bigger entry list of 45 boats. Many of the Fins came over with the rest of the Canadian and American team.
We had four races the first day, again in some really shifty and tricky conditions. It didn’t help that the race committee set a really short course, so it was chaos at the top mark all 45 boats arriving together.
I didn’t really get going, struggling a little in the conditions and not having great starts. I was a little too preoccupied with the boat and speed, and it was not a day for that, it was all about the shifts and not speed!
The next day I was determined to get a handle on the conditions and to give myself half a chance by getting off the start line. I had a much better day and pulled myself up to 11th overall.
It was great practice for me as those conditions are not my strong point and it was good to have the chance to get a handle on the shifts in a really competitive.

I then drove down to Kiel, where I have left the boat for a week before flying back out in a weeks time for Kiel Regatta.

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Charles Russell LLP have been supporting my campaign for the last year, giving me advice on commercial and sponsorship agreements, but
have just increased their support by helping me purchase a new 2.4mR. This year is a particularly tricky year logistics wise, requiring boats to
be shipped to china, the States and Denmark and with the build up to Beijing, will only get trickier as I try and get as much race practice as
possible. Without the support from Charles Russell it would be very difficult for me to do the campaign I feel is necessary to win a medal in
China.

It was one of the best attended Hyeres, I have seen with 14 boats on the start line and a few new faces among the usual regulars. The Top 6 from the Worlds were all present including the Paralympic Gold medallist from Athens Damien Seguin, only Heiko Kroeger from Germany was missing.
I had gone out a couple of weeks early to try and rack up some hours on the water, after a busy winter fitting out my new boat. I saw a variety of conditions in training from the typical light sea breeze, to 25 knot easterly and huge waves. So I felt pretty certain some of those conditions would be present during the regatta.

Adam our long standing coach, could not be with us as he was heavily tied up with the action down in Valencia, working with the Swedish team, Victory Challenge, so Dave Cockerill (National youth coach for the toppers), stepped in to help out. I quickly realised after day one I had some serious pace and height on the rest of the fleet in the 6 knot sea breeze, which persisted for the next 4 days. Unfortunately, I was being a little conservative with my starting and not really capitalising on my speed edge and popping in the results to show it. However it did make some really close racing and after three days there were 4 of us in the running for medals with anyone of us capable of getting the Gold.

I was determined to address my starting issues and leave the rest of the fleet in my wake. Race 7 I nailed it and Thierry Schmitter and I had a great battle up the second beat, with the rest of the fleet a distance behind. He did not give me an inch though and no matter how I tried to get through and out tack him, he slammed a close cover on me, determined not give me a chance to escape and over take him. Thierry finished 1st and I was a close 2nd.

A 15-20 knot easterly had been forecast for the next 2 days, and I saw this as my opportunity to make my move up the results. I knew Thierry was strong in the breeze and Damien would probably find his pace, after having struggled in the light, but I fancied I could give Thierry a run for his money and thought I would have pace on Jens Andersen from Denmark currently lying in second.

The first race of the day was great, big seas and breeze, and the three of us, Damien, Thierry and me crossed the line with little than half a boat length between us. Damien won and Thierry just managed to hold me off to take 2nd. Jens finished 5th. Unfortunately in the second race I got a little over confident and decided to split from the fleet on the downwind leg and got caught out by a big left hand shift, which put me back in the pack. I couldn’t quite get passed them before the finish. Thierry sailed 2 great races and found some real pace to win the second. This sowed the regatta up for him, giving him the Gold, but I was now only a point off second and was pretty much guaranteed 3rd.
I needed to get one boat in between myself and Jens to take the silver. I sailed a great race, finished 3rd with Yens in 6th, had the Silver, to then discover I was OCS, putting me back in Bronze.

I must admit I was disappointed at the time, but I once again I had medalled and it’s always a great feeling to stand up on the podium!

Miami Olympic Classes is the first major regatta in 2007, and provides a useful test of progress made over the winter. It is also a great winter training base, allowing us to escape the Northern Hemisphere winter. A fact proven by entries of over 800 sailors from 49 different countries this year, the biggest turnout on record for Miami OCR which hosts all the Olympic and Paralympic classes.

We left the U.K on the 4th of January, with the intention of getting some quality training in before the regatta. My primary aim was to test the new sails we had been developing and also work on my starting. Although my coach Adam and I were ill for a portion of this, we managed a lot of time on the water learning much about the sails, and rig set-up in the light and choppy conditions experienced.

There was a good turn out for the 2.4 class with 25 entries and a fifty fifty split of disabled and able bodied sailors. We had a good variety of conditions, from the classic 6 knot Miami sea breeze, to a 20 knot north easterly gradient off the land that brought with it torrential rain and limited visibility.

It was a tough regatta for me. With 13 races and only one discard it was important to be consistently near the front, and not have any shockers. I had a rather average first day and struggled to fully get in tune with the shifty conditions experienced. I never quite settled into the regatta and find the form I know I am capable of. I did have my moments though, with a couple of seconds and a race win, which gave my results a boost and placed me in Bronze medal position overall. Stellan Berlin an able bodied sailor from Sweden won Gold and my fellow Skandia Team GBR team mate Megan Pascoe sailed an excellent regatta to finish in Silver.

Although I was disappointed in my sailing it is always great to make the podium, and it has been a useful regatta to highlight the areas I need to work on over the next few months before the sailing season really starts in the spring.

I’ve come away fired up for the season ahead, with a lot of very valuable lessons learnt, and another medal!

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Been out here now for 17 days and have managed to pack in the hours training, and compete in the 8 race series of the Mid Winters. It was a good turn out with 18 boats, numbers were boosted by it being an open event so the able bodied sailors were invited too. I finished 3rd overall, Bjornar Erikstad from Norway won and Allan Leibel was second.

The OCR starts tomorrow, again it’s an open event so expecting 25 boats out racing.

Arrived out here in Miami on the 4th of January after a rather luxury flight in first class (thanks Virgin). The idea was to unload the container the next day at 10:00 am, but after sitting around for an hour with no container in sight, we decided it was time to make some calls.
It’s the first time I think I have unloaded a container in the dark! We didn’t really have a choice, it was either 6:00pm on Friday or wait until Monday, so Adam (my coach) went in search of some head torches and we got stuck in. We did it in record time under an hour, to unload two RIBS two 2.4mR’s and an Yngling!

Greetings from snowy Austria at last! We came out to the BOA Ski Lodge last Tuesday to do some cross country skiing and snow walking, but there has been no snow! So instead we have been mountain biking, which has proved to be a little dangerous with two of the team ending up in A and E. It has been good fun though and a great way to really get the hours in and volume training. We have also been hiking and climbing up mountains as well.

Tomorrow is the big day though, with all to play for. It’s orientiering and the winning team gets a free dinner in the restaurant up the mountain, which in past years we have sledged down from. It’s apparantly snowing at the moment so fingers crossed there will be enough snow to do it tomorrow

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I would like to say a big thak you to Bellemoor staff and pupils for their kind donation to my campaign. They held an auction in September to help raise money to improve the sporting facilities at the school. It was a great success and from the procedes were able to offer support towards my goal of a medal in China. I am looking forward to working with the pupils and hopefully inspire them to get more involved in sport and reach their individual goals

It’s been a roller coaster of a year, in terms of results and achievements
It certainly got off to a good start in January with a silver medal at the IFDS Worlds in Perth Australia and continued to go well with another silver in Hyere, but it was when I got the phone call from Shirley Robertson asking if I would stand in for her and helm for Annie and Lucy at the Pre Olympic test event, that it got really exciting.

It was great to have the opportunity to step back in to an Olympic class, even though it was one I had never sailed before, and compete in the waters where the Olympics and Paralympics will be held in 2008. An advantage I now have over my fellow competitors, as there are no test events planned for the Paralympics. I was certainly dropped in at the deep end, with only four days of training before the regatta started, but we took each race at a time and found ourselves, standing on the Podium with silver at the end. A result which took days to sink in.

Things just went crazy when I got home with interviews and articles, and then I received the e-mail from the President of ISAF to say I had been nominated for ISAF Sailor of the Year. Although I did not win, it was such an honour to be nominated and have my achievements recognised. It has injected a real passion and determination to make next year even better than this year.