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February 2004

Since returning from Australia we have been doing a lot of work organising flights, ferries and accommodation for our hectic spring as well as getting our new boat fitted out just how we like it, this boat will be the boat we use at the Olympics.

Australia went really well we got two silver medals and learnt a lot on the way. There was a very strong fleet, which was good to be part of. It is easy over the winter to do a lot of training but not very much racing. The advantage of getting in this racing is that we can check where we are and reassess our goals for the next period of training.

We are training in a group of 3 boats, Christina Bassadone and Katherine Hopson the women's Olympic representatives, Graham Vials and Bevis Fields the British no2's and ourselves. Our coach is Hamish Willcox; he has coached us for a very long time now, but could not spend much time with us for the first 2 years after the Sydney Olympics due to working on the Americas cup. He came back in the summer and will now work with us nearly fulltime till the Olympics. It is great to have this strong squad and the efficiency of our training has gone up hugely, it makes me realise how we were never quite fulfilling our potential because of inconsistent training partners and coaching. I believe now within this training group we can start to make big steps forward.

We are going to do a weeks training in Weymouth, before travelling out to Palma, Majorca where we will train till the Princess Sofia trophy. We are coming home briefly to attend Sailboat show in London where we are doing some work for Helly Hansen, Holt and the British Olympic team.
Till next time goodbye, spring is on its way!