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August 2001
Firstly, I must apologise for not updating you after the
last day of the Europeans. I had to rush to the airport after
the last race and fly home; from there I went straight to
the Czech republic where I was coaching for a week.
Coming 14th at the Europeans was a disappointing result for
us, on reflection I don't think we were as prepared for this
event mentally as we usually are, normally we start thinking
about (mental rehearsal) big regattas months before they take
place, and prepare ourselves for the conditions we are likely
to receive. For the Europeans I think we took it for granted
and consequently got punished for it. My next appointment
is a fitness test on August 12th. During the test I run on
a treadmill breathing into mouthpiece connected to a bag,
the physiologist takes samples of my blood throughout the
test. From this he finds out how quickly I am building up
lactic acid in my blood, and from the breathing apparatus
he finds out my oxygen uptake (how well my lungs are working).
I am not too concerned about the test as I have been doing
regular exercise and feel in fairly good shape.
Recently Nick and I have been trying to loose some weight,
this is not because we are too heavy for the boat, but we
think Athens and the Worlds in Slovenia will be very light.
At the moment the fleet in general is far too heavy, this
is because at the Sydney Olympics the winds were very shifty
and weight did not really matter but now I think it will make
a difference. Currently Nick weighs about 61kg and I weigh
approx 71kg, our target is to get to 58kg and 68kg respectively.
I am looking forward to going to Athens and getting a taster
of the venue. The British are sending out a nearly full team
for the regatta and it will be interesting to see how many
medals we are capable of winning. I am flying out on the 13th
August, but the racing does not start till the 19th.
See how we are doing at Athens!
Athens - First Impressions
I have been out here for 3 days now and sailed every day.
The sailing has been superb you could hardly imagine a better
venue. It hasn't been the sort of wind that I imagined but
it is still a pleasant surprise. The wind has been between
10 and 20 knots each day, the shade temp is 30-35c during
the day and the sea temp is 25c so ideal sailing conditions,
it is amazing to go sailing in just shorts and a rash vest
when it is that windy, the water feels like a bath. The wind
has been blowing from the North, a meltinie wind. This means
that it is offshore and quite shifty. Apparently in August
85% of the time it is 6-14 knots, but this is just airport
data and is not very accurate. On land it is not very nice,
we are on the edge of Athens near the old airport and everything
looks a bit rundown. The only sign of things being ready for
2004 is the odd t-shirt and postcard. There are stray cats
and dogs everywhere, you cannot walk anywhere without a dog
following you! The racing starts on Monday and all the top
boats are here, so although this is really a training event
it will be hard to get a top result. We will be having a day
off on Sunday to get ready for the weeks racing, I am not
too sure what to do, I don't fancy looking around Athens in
this heat, probably a day on the beach snorkelling. The training
has been fairly tiring, it feels like I am constantly drinking
to stop getting dehydrated, and then trying to eat even though
my stomach is full with fluid. In all everything feels good,
I will send you my next update on Monday night/Tuesday morning
depending on when the racing finishes.
ATHENS - 19/8/01
Today was the first days racing, we are sailing in a mixed
fleet of approx 35 boats. The fleet is strong with the majority
of the top teams racing. Today was the first sea breeze day
we have had, the strength ranged from 5-12 knots.
In both races we made clean starts at the port end with the
intention of holding a lane out to the left of the beat. In
the first race we arrived at the windward mark in 2nd behind
the Greeks, and despite our spinnaker pole downhaul coming
untied we made good gains on the downwind, but did not manage
to overtake. On the 2nd race we never managed to tack and
cross and so had to duck boats and then missed a shift, we
never recovered from this although again we were going very
fast downwind. I am going to have to go now as I need to eat
and drink, today I came in 1.5kg lighter then when I launched
so was very dehydrated.
RESULTS
1. GREECE 1 2
2. UKRAINE 5 1
3. ISRAEL 3 10
7. ROGERS/GLANFIELD 2 15
Other British
12.Vials/Newman
17.Plummer/Hawkley
ATHENS - 20/8/01
Today was very similar to yesterday a late sea breeze came
in and built to about 10 knots. It is consistently paying
to go left at the moment so the start is essential. We had
a lot of general recalls today, and even the starts that got
away had a number of boats over the line this is because the
race officer had forgotten the black flag!
We struggled to get off the line in good space and consequently
were always trying to come back, but there was not much chance
of overtaking after the start. Our speed again was good downwind,
and on the last run of the 2nd race we gained 4 boats downwind.
Tomorrow's weather is looking to be more of the same so we
will have to be getting better starts. I am not sure of the
exact race-by-race results, I will give them to you tomorrow,
but I can give the overall results.
Overall Results
1. Ukraine
2. Greece
3. Argentina
8. ROGERS/GLANFIELD
ATHENS - 23/8/01
Sorry, for not writing yesterday but I have been fairly busy.
We did not race today as there was no wind and tomorrow will
be the last day. In all it has been a fantastic event, we
came here to get an early understanding of the sort of conditions
we can expect to get at the Olympics to help direct our training,
we have also been experimenting with new equipment and techniques
which has been useful and we have learnt a lot in preparation
for our World Championships next month, unfortunately in a
way we have over trained and did not get on with the racing,
so have not raced as well as we could. We were over the line
yesterday in the first race yesterday and were not as fast
upwind as we would have liked but we know why this was and
how to correct it.
Probably the most interesting thing about the event so far
is that the no1 Greek who is very good is winning comfortable,
but also another Greek boat who is normally mid-fleet internationally
is coming 2nd. So there is obviously a lot of local knowledge
to be had, and benefits from sailing long hours here. I will
try and update tomorrow with our final result but we will
be in a rush to pack the boats into the container and then
catch our flight, at the moment we are 12th overall with a
possibility of getting into the top 10.
ATHENS - 24/8/01
Today was a good day, we got a 2nd and a 6th, which was the
best of anyone for the day. It has moved us from 12th - 9th
overall still not very good, but it has been a very useful
week and we feel very ready for Slovenia (world championships).
The racing starts on the 11th and I will give you regular
updates!!
Click on the link below for up to date race results!
www.rsgyc.ie or got to www.sailing .org |
