Britain is very good at being windy and rainy isnt it, or perhaps I am just not used to it anymore having not really been here this year so far. AFter our training camp in Spain, I had a brief couple of days in the UK before Nikki and I jetted off to Miami for the first World Cup of this new Olympic Cycle.
Regatta Park SWC Venue, Miami. Photo by Golden Dusk Photography
This is always an interesting period of time in an olympic cycle, new teams appear on the scene and the old ones return after a winter of more individual training. Really its the first opportunity teams have to see how they are shaping up after all their winter training and endeavours. The good news for us is it seems to be paying off.
Sending it downwind on one of the more breezy days. Photo Sailing Energy
Following the Rio cycle Nikki and I thought long and hard on the area where we had most opportunity to learn and gain. In nut shell these could be compared to racing in Miami. We wanted to work on sailing in lighter more shifty conditions, with a focus on starting. This time last year racing in Miami and those type of conditions posed a real challenge to us, so over the winter we have tried to isolate those areas and work on them.
The whole week in Miami was a fickle and shifty as ever, but i think it is fair to say that the hard work NIkki and I have done over the winter has definitely made a difference. We sailed a really solid week, including a few mistakes like everyone, but in the change able condition to not be ranked outside the top 2 overall during the whole regatta is a real achievement.
Boats and Skyscrapers. Photo Sailing Energy
After a week of jostling between 1st and 2nd overall, we went in to the final medal race day with the blue jersey on (2nd place). Given the fleet and the racing so far, it was always going to be a big jump up to 1st, and with 3rd nipping at our ankle we decided to focus our race on protecting that. It was a great day and a fantastic experience to be racing in medal contention at a world cup for the first time. The media hype was like nothing we had done before, and it was really fun doing interviews and camera work like we were in formula 1 or somthing. The race itself we pretty much to plan, we kept a real close eye on the 3rd place Austrian and crossed the line 3rd in that particular race, giving us a very well deserved silver overall.
Podium. Photo Sailing Energy
Both Nik and I were so happy with the result, it shows great progress and really is a brilliant start to our new Olympic campaign. There is still more to learn and Develop, but it goes to show that we are heading in the right direction.
The next stop for us is another trip out to Cadiz in Spain for another British Sailing Team training camp, Before we get home just in time for our Launch party, we have had a great response to the evening, but there are still tickets available if anyone is interested. details below
Right I need to get back to being british and complaining about the weather, so until next time sports fans.
Tom