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Sail for Gold begins on Monday and juding by the number of boats in the dinghy park looks like it’s going to be a great regatta! It’s now less than two years to go until the 2012 Games, so teams from all over the world are keen to come and sail in the water’s of Portland harbour and Weymouth bay.
The 2.4mR fleet have a good turn out with all the top names here. I have been traing the last couple of weeks in weymouth and now looking forward to getting out there and racing on home waters.

We had a great entry list this year for Kiel week, with the organisers opening up the event to include the able bodied sailors too. So with 34 boats on the start line and a 14 race series it was ideal practice prior to The Worlds. I didn’t have a great start to the regatta, but soon found my stride on the second day with a race win in the first race.

It was a really competitive fleet with everyone posting high scores. I soon realised that a 6th was not a bad results. I kept my head up and stayed positive and after posting two firsts on the third day suddenly found myself in 3rd overall.

I was really in my stride with a great handle on the conditions and after another 1st and a 4th was in first place overall, looking for another good result in the third race of the day. I came off the line after a great start, to suddenly have my steering fail. The bolt that connected the rudder stock to my steering quadrant had sheared right through. The steering had felt bad at the end of the second race that day, but I thought the bolt had just worked loose and needed tightening. I hadn’t had time to sort it out before the warning signal went for the third race, so was just going to do the best I could and sort it out when I got on the dock. I had to pull out of the race straight after the start and get towed in.
I managed to temporarily fix it over night, but with only one discard allowed I now had to count a 17th. However I was in second overall and only 3 points off first, with two races planned on the last day. Heiko was in first place and I had 7 points on 3rd so was in good shape.

The forecast was for a light sea breeze, and we were postponed on shore whilst the race officer waited for the gradient to die and the sea breeze to develop. I opted for my light jib based on the forecast, but when I got out to the race course the gradient wind was still in and up to 10-15knots. Unfortunately I did not have a coach at this regatta so could not change jibs on the water.

I had a great start and was ahead of Heiko, unfortunately he had a bit more speed than me and just managed to pull front. Once in front he controlled the race and through tacks on top of me when he could, preventing me from escaping and passing. The second race panned out the same and I could not get past.

So Heiko took the Gold and I took Silver with Thierry having a great last day to finish in Bronze.
I was pleased with my result, although I have wondered what could have been if my steering had not failed. Anyway it’s a great confidence boost going in to the worlds which start in a couple of week’s time, back in Medemblik Holland.

So I am now out in Turkey for five days, celebrating Steve’s Birthday with friends and family and relaxing and catching up on some sleep before heading back to start training on the 29th

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Delta Lloyd regatta this year in Medemblik was an important regatta for me, as it’s also the Venue for the IFDS worlds, so it was great to come away with a bronze medal and was a real confidence boost

We had an extra addition to the 2.4mR British squad. John Robertson, normally the sonar helm, decided to put his dry suit on and discover how wet the 2.4mR can really get. As the sonar is not a class at Delta Lloyd, he was keen to get as much racing and knowledge of the venue in preparation for the Worlds in July. He was a great addition to the squad and provided amusement on the 20 knot day when he managed to sink twice, although he was not alone with a few sailors struggling with the nasty chop Medemblik kicks up.

We had a real mixture of conditions with a day of no wind and no racing to 20 knots and a big steep chop the next. It was definitely a shifty regatta, with a couple of tricky days. I thought I had the bronze medal sewn up with a race to spare and would be challenging for 2nd, until I got caught out on wrong side of a shift and went from 3rd to 7th ouch!!
I had a nice little point lead going in to the final race, but decided not to make it easy for myself and caused my coach to loose a few more hairs. It all came good in the end and I got the bronze.

Thierry Schmitter from Holland won the regatta on the water, only to lose in a protest with Damien Seguin from France. So Damien clenched the Gold with Thierry in Silver.

Some great lessons learnt before the worlds, and I feel I have got a good handle on the conditions we can expect.

Since Holland I have been back training in Weymouth but it’s not long before I am off to Kiel week, which promises to be another shifty venue.

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It has been a busy few months since my last blog update, which I must apologise for not keeping up to date. A silver in Palma at Princess Sophia regatta in April got the season off to a good start and it looked like I was going to follow it up with a medal in Hyere’s until I got some letters in my score line, never a good thing! However there were some valuable lessons learnt and I am looking forward to the next World Cup regatta in Holland at the end of this month.
Asside from my sailing a few other exciting things have happened, most importantly becoming engaged to my long term partner Stephen Thomas. He proposed in true style and we are looking forward to getting married in October. A summer wedding would have been lovely, but I could not squeeze it in with my sailing programme. My parents have been fantastic taking over the wedding arrangements. With me away at regattas and Steve very busy in Turkey, project managing the build of the first two Superyachts for Oyster, neither of us have had time to think about, let alone organise the wedding. I have anounced to my dad that I want a red Ferrari as a wedding car, however it’s proving very difficult to get one without a chauffer which would mean some one in the boot!
The other piece of exciting news is Charles Russell anouncing their continued support for my 2012 campaign. I am delighted they are continuing their sponsorship in the form of supplying a new 2.4mR and I am really grateful for their committment

Arrived home from 3 weeks of Miami Sunshine and some great warm weather sailing.
The Goals for the period were to have a look at some new kit and get back in to racing after the Winter break. Although the overall result in the OCR was not great having an OCS and Black flag, It was a successful training regatta, nailing down a few areas I have wanted to work on and improve.
The next regatta is Princess Sophia at the end of March, so until then will continue to work with the new kit and try out some ideas we had in Miami.

I can’t believe it’s 2010 already, this year has gone by so fast!
It ended well with a really enjoyable skiing holiday in Val d’sere, with my friend Wendy, the Knowles family and friends. It was great skiing, even though most days it was -16 or below. Xanthi entertained us all with her perfomance on the T bar. Defintely worthy of the £250 on you have been framed, if any of us could have stopped laughing for long enough to film it. Olly (Richardson) and Josh impressed us with throwing themsleves off various outcrops and rocks, something they were trying to encourage me and Olly (Knowles) to do. Olly managed to get the job of oficial photographer and I did a good dissapearing act.
Anyway a big thankyou to everyone for an enjoyable holiday, to Claire our Chalet Maid for being and excellent hostess and cook and to Dave for some great ski hosting days!

Christmas was spent at home in Southampton, just Steve and myself, which suited me fine as I had picked up a virus at the end of skiing so had the perfect excuse to curl up on the couch and watch all the Christmas movies. We caught up with the family on boxing day and spent most of the day playing with the scalextric set we had bought my niece. New Year was spent with my parents and Wendy in our local Pub before flying out to Turkey. I’m here only for a few days and then it’s off to warmer climates for some training in Miami and the Olympic Classes Regatta.

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It’s been a really busy past two months, and I must admit I am feeling the effects now. However I’m out in Turkey where the weather is still warm, enjoying a week off, catching up with sleep and basically not really doing anything. Fantastic!

I went in to the worlds with realistic expectations. I had sent all my best kit to Athens targeting it as my performance regatta, where I needed to deliver and did. I had sent my Games boat to Fort Myers and knew I would be sailing with 7kg less lead than I normally do at the Open Worlds and probably more compared to the rest of the fleet. This makes a big difference to the righting moment and therefore the speed and height of the boat in a breeze, and I suffered the consequence when it breezed up for the last 3 days.
Under Paralympic rule to keep the boats as close to One Design as possible we are restricted to a limit of 176kg of lead and a max boat weight of 254kg, however under the Open 2.4 rule there is no restriction on the amount of lead as long as the boat still weighs 254kg. So everyone strips out as much weight out of the boat that they can so they can put in more lead. With the boat I sent to Athens I can easily do this and gain 7 kg of lead, but unfortunately my Games boat was heavy and we had done everything we could just to get it to weight so I could carry the 176kg for Pralympics, hence the difference.
The first two days were light and things were going o.k. , I was lying 9th overall. Then the conditions changed and it breezed up to 15-18 knots and a nasty chop, and I just didn’t have the speed or height to stay in the top 10. I finished 19th overall, which I was disappointed with, as a top 10 at the Open Worlds would have been achievable if the conditions had stayed light.

However I really enjoyed the regatta, despite the result. The weather, Halloween party, great accommodation and fantastic hospitality made up for it. I must admit I got very excited about the Halloween party the club organised. I think partly because we don’t really celebrate it here and I love an excuse to dress up, especially when I know there is a good chance I’m going to fit in to a kids costume so my Choice of outfit was huge. I decided on a Star Wars theme as I had been given instructions from Bjørnar’s (The Norwegian paralympic sailor) mum to get him a costume too. So we had to go as double act!

It’s back to the cold next week for a squad camp in Hayling and some sailing in Weymouth the following week. We also have the Accenture awards evening which is always great fun and will be even more so this year as I will get an award for my bronze at the IFDS Worlds. I have also got an invite to the BBC sports personality of the year awards on the 13th December, but I’m off skiing that day, which means I am probably going to have to pass up the opportunity to rub shoulders with some famous, fit, good looking athletes. Oh well I’m sure skiing will be great and really get me in the mood for Christmas!

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Wow it’s been non stop since the 27th of September that this is the first time I have been able to sit down and reflect on the past week and my achievement at the Worlds. I must admit I feel mentally exhausted, it was a tricky regatta with shifty fluky winds, and long postponements “Not the normal conditions for Athens” as the locals kept telling us.
Luckily I had gone out a couple of weeks early to do some training and enjoyed the typical Athens conditions of beautiful sunshine and lovely sea breezes. As soon as the regatta started the rain fell and the wind died away.

I had a great start to the Championships lying second after the first day, which gave me the confidence to sail my own regatta and keep it together in the tricky conditions. All week I stayed in the top three, and was lying third going in to the final day, but was only two points ahead of Bjørnar from Norway in fourth.

The first race on the last day I found myself down the fleet at the first windward mark, but luckily Bjørnar had a worst first beat and was behind. Things got interesting however when there was some confusion over the course to be sailed. Bjørnar being further behind benefitted the most from the confusion and moved in to first, I was lying fifth, but managed to take a couple of boats just before the finish to cross the line third.
This put us on equal points going in to the last race and only three points off Heiko in silver. I needed to beat Bjørnar and finish in the top eight to secure bronze. At the first windward mark I was ahead but outside the top eight, I knew I had to pull something out of the bag on the second beat. I took advantage of a right shift and moved in to sixth at the windward mark and was still ahead of Bjørnar. After a nerve racking run, where Adam my coach lost a bit more hair, I crossed in sixth with Bjørnar in tenth and took Bronze. Heiko finished one place ahead securing silver, with Thierry from Holland sailing a superb regatta to take Gold.

There was little time to celebrate, as we had to load the boats up that night, ready to catch a flight back to the U.K before getting a connecting flight out to Miami and Fort Myers for the 2.4mR Open Worlds.
I’m not complaining though, enjoying a day off sitting by our pool in the Florida Sunshine!

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It’s been a busy month, starting with the Delta Lloyd regatta in Holland and finishing with Round The Island Race, I also managed to squeeze in a regatta in Norway too.

The Delta Lloyd regatta was a bit of a disappointment, firstly only 6 boats entered (3 Dutch, 2 British and a Frenchman) and secondly our race course was so close in conditions were really shifty. I was using the event to try out some new sails, but it was not the right venue to do it and my focus needed to be on the tactics and conditions. It was not one of my better regattas and I finished a disappointing 4th.

I then drove straight to Weymouth for a week of Training before jumping on a plane to Norway for a regatta out there. It was part of Oslo Race week, which happened to be sponsored by Volvo, and was called the integrated cup. It was different to normal regattas as the boats (2.4mR’s) and equipment were supplied, all you had to do was bring yourself.

There were around 30 sailors competing, some were 2.4mR sailors, some from the other Olympic classes and some from the bigger boat scene, like Melges and the Volvo Ocean race. Some of the sailors had also raced with the King of Norway, so it was a real mix bag, but of a high calibre. Each day we were split in to heats, with the last four in each heat knocked out of the regatta, until only eight boats were left. We then raced as one fleet with the last two in each race knocked out, until only four sailors were left for the final. The winner was the first sailor to win two races. I won the first race, so was in a good position going in to the second race. The shifty light winds played in to my hands on the last run down to the finish. I rounded the windward mark in a different breeze to my competitors ahead and whilst they became becalmed in no wind, sailed past to clinch first place and win the regatta.
It was great feeling to win my first regatta of the year especially after a disappointing result in Holland. Also to hold up the winners check on the Volvo stand added an extra something to the occasion and has given me a great confidence boost, for Sail For Gold and the IFDS worlds in the autumn.

Another nice touch to the regatta was the first three sailors were given the opportunity to take part in the Faerder race on board the Kings previously owned Farr 50. The race was a 90 nautical mile course down the Oslo Fjord around a light house and back to a place called Hutton. It was a great experience partly because the only language on board was Norwegian, but especially as I got the opportunity to helm. I got the idea to what was going on, if there was a lot of activity on board it generally meant a tack or a gybe.

It was great practice for Round The Island race the following weekend which I was onboard a Farr 52, with Jo Glandfield, Nick and Duncan from Volvo, the UKSA youth keel boat squad and some corporate guests from various motoring magazines. We had a great time and a great race finishing 6th in our class.
A big thank you to Chippy and his keel boat squad, who got everyone involved and made us, feel part of the team.

In terms of regattas I have a quite time now until Sail For Gold in September, which is shortly followed by the IFDS Worlds and then the 2.4 Open Worlds in Florida in November. We have planned a two week holiday cruising in the South of Turkey, but the rest of my time will be spent training hard in preparation for those regattas.

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On Friday we decided to spice up our training a little, and trade in the 2.4’s for a ride on the Extreme 40 which Shirley and her team were doing some training on in Hyeres Bay. It was a fair trade, our coach and his rib for a ride and a go at the helm on one of the fastest multi Hulls around.

Adam clocked us doing over 20 knots, in about 12 knots of breeze. It was the first time I have ever sailed on let alone helmed a multi hull, why start small on a Hobie Cat when you can go straight to the top on an Extreme 40.

There was a tense moment when I was on the helm with kite up trying to thread my way through 30 lasers coming up wind squeezing through a gap at the last minute.
It was a great afternoon sailing and will go down in my book as one of the best sails I have had.

Many thanks to Shirley for inviting us on board!

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It has been another couple of frustrating weeks back out in Turkey. I arrived back here after a great week skiing with my family, excited about finally getting out on Turkish water.

That afternoon we wandered down to the boat to fix a goose neck fitting to my mast, as we got near the boat, I realised some thing was missing, the Crane! Steve just burst out laughing. It was one of those moments where you had to laugh or cry. It turns out the Turks had decided the crane needed to be bigger, so had taken it away to sort it out! There is no other way to launch my boat so I have been marooned on the shore!

So for the last two weeks each day I have wandered down to see if it’s back and today it arrived! The only downside is I fly back to the U.K tomorrow and not back for a month!

On the plus side the weather has been awful, cold and wet, so maybe they were doing me a favour. Today the sun came out and it looks like they have actually replaced the dodgy old crane with a brand new one so things are really looking up!

So I fly home tomorrow but I’m not back in the U.K for long, only a couple of days to sort things out before driving to Palma and then Hyeres for The Princess Sophia Regatta and Hyeres regatta. This is the first time the 2.4’s have been invited to compete out in Palma and I’m really looking forward to it. It was always one of my favourite venues when I used to compete in the 470, so it will be great to be back. Also it’s my first regatta since the Games and I’m really fired up about getting back on the water racing!

I’m hoping for warm sunshine, great winds and a good start to the season!

This last month has been a little frustrating as I have been waiting for my 2.4 to arrive in Turkey. It actually arrived at customs 3 weeks ago, but I have been having a battle trying to clear it through all the red tape, even though the paper work was done and in order. It has been a rather stressful and costly exercise, but I did have the good news that it had arrived safe and sound, and I can’t wait to get back to Turkey and go sailing. I have found a great place to launch and train from, its right next door to where we live. I reckon it will take me all of 2 minutes to get to my boat each day; it’s almost like sailing from the bottom of your garden. Perfect!

The last ten days I have been back in the U.K and sailing in Weymouth. The training has been going really well, and we had the privilege of Paul Goodison joining in our session on Friday. It was his first time back in his laser since Sail for Gold, so he joined in some of our starting practice and certainly helped to mix things up. We also did a boat swop which was hilarious, lucky for me it was light winds; otherwise I might have had a bit on sailing a full rig laser only weighing 48kg.

Last night I spent sipping Champagne with the Queen at her house………O.K along with all the other GB Paralympic athletes. The Beijing Paralympic team had an invitation to a reception with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. It was fantastic experience! One of the highlights was pushing through the tourists peering through the railings and walking straight through the main Gates and in the front door. Obviously they thought you must be famous or some one highly important. I also got to talk to the Queen which has to be the highlight!

I flew back to Turkey this morning, but i’m only here a week, before flying back for the dinghy show and then a skiing holiday with my family. My goal this week is to get my boat rigged up and a couple of training sessions in before going on holiday.

Since arriving back from China, I have been trying to spend as much time in Istanbul with with partner Stephen Thomas who is currently working out there, project managing the build of two composite super yachts for Oyster.
Last year wasa tough year for us spending many months apart, so we are trying to make up for lost time and enjoying each others company.
I have been occupying myself out here, windsurfing, cycling and taking the oportunity to learn some new design software and refresh my memory on the subject of my degree. My degree was in Yacht and power craft design, and I hope to be able to give some design support to Steve when I am out in Turkey.

I have been back to the U.K a couple of times mainly to attend some sponsoship functions with Volvo and Charles Russell LLP. One of which was a fund raiser at the Weymouth and Portland acadmy for Children in Need. It’s also been great to catch up with friends and family and finally relax in our newly renovated house in Southampton.

Between now and Christmas most of my time will be spent out here in Istanbul, but we are back home for Christmas, with all my family coming to us for Christmas day, Steve’s doing the cooking! We are then entertaining his family in Turkey for New Year, so it’s be a busy time.

I have also spent the last couple of months pondering my options and what to do next. I am very keen to get back into Olympic sailing, maybe trying my hand at match racing in the Elliot 6m or going back in to the 470. I have also really enjoyed sailing the 2.4mR as well. So I am keeping all my options open for the time being with a view to making some decisions in the New Year. One thing for sure is that I definatly want to be competing in Weymouth in 2012 and standing on the Podium this time.

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.

Other images included with this entry..