Thank you; 1 down, 1 to go.

Its been a wild month, but I am now back in the beautiful Mylor preparing for warmer sunnier climbs. I think from that you can probably grasp where im off to next. But before I let you in on my worst kept secret, let me get you up to speed on the last couple of weeks.

Mary and I have been relentlessly trying to fit in as much sailing as possible. The splendid British winter weather has been doing its best to make life hard, but wasn’t a match for us. Last week we had a full week on the water in Weymouth, and was generously joined by Tom Saunt on a couple of days to provide some very welcome coaching. It was a hugely productive week, mainly in more breezy conditions but for the first time in a while we had the opportunity to sail in some light stuff too.

The on water time has been strongly supported by lots of time in the gym. During this stage in the year the support staff set high volumes of physical training to build our base fitness that will last us through the race season. Most of you that know me, will know that the gym is not my best friend, but recently I have become rather more acclimatised to it. As I have said before Mary and I are working really hard and doing everything we can to make this happen. To say ‘leaving no stone unturned’ would be both clichéd but accurate.

Following a big week on the water, I had the privilege of seeing my younger sister in a thoroughly entertaining production of the borrowers. The only slight sting in the tail was that, the show was based in Stoke-on-Trent. Despite the long drive it was hugely worth it, I recommend anyone in that direction to get down to the New Vic Theatre and give it a watch! She is the one who sings opera and does some point ballet dancing!

That takes us up to this week, which has really been about tidying things up for the winter. Another great sail on Monday put an end to our time in Weymouth this year. Tuesday was completely filled with delivering boats back around the UK before arriving home at 1am on Wednesday morning.

Right then,

As many of you will hopefully know, Mary and I have been working hard on raising support in order to make our winter program a reality. And thanks to you guys we are half way there. The Miami block is broken into two halves, the first before Christmas is to meet the container and get some slightly warmer but notably more consistent training in, and then retuning after Christmas for a little more training and the all important regatta.

I am massively proud to say stage 1 is complete, between you all, the first half on the trip is a go. We fly out next week, words cant explain how appreciative I am to you guys, or how excited I am to get out there and begin to smash the hours in. We have a great plan to keep our time on the water productive and ultimately prepare ourselves best for the post Christmas regatta.

This is a huge boost to us, but as I said before this is only half the winter block. And I hate to say it but this is the reasonable half. Post Christmas we are out there for a longer block and are of course racing for much of it, that in turn naturally creates more cost. I honestly really don’t enjoy doing this, but if you know of anyone or anyway of supporting us on this amazing journey towards Rio, I would love to hear from you.

In the next week, I am based in Cornwall preparing myself for going away. I am starting to make friends with the gym down here as well, and doing everything I can to make a difference for when we arrive in Miami for round 1. Success or not, it will not be because of a lack in trying.

My next update will I have no doubt involve a picture of a wing tip!

Cheers

TP

Air Time

Catching some air while training in windy weymouth this week. 

Sailing, Sweat and Suits

The week began at home, Over Monday and Tuesday i was back in the shire of the beautiful Mylor, most of my time was taken up by running a few errands and generally catching up with all the other bits of my life outside of sailing. 

But before i knew it, it was Wednesday morning and I was back off to weymouth for another block of training. Having been away the previous weekend, Mary and I spend some time rebuilding the boat and readying her for the water. Following a couple of slightly unforeseen jobs much of the day had gone, so we retired back to our accommodation, knowing that the following day was going to be hard and painful.

Thursday was fitness testing day! Given my program over the last year, I knew that the test was going to be hard. I can honestly say i put everything i possibly had into it, following my max sprint test, i was exhausted. Sorry for the lack of photos, but if i am honest i'm not sure i had the strength to lift a camera at that stage of the day. From the test results the physiologist team will put together my new training planner for my work in the gym. Thursday was a hard day, but a good supper and a trip to the cinema was a good means of recovery.

Friday, finally some more time back on the water. We had a great sail, with 14-16kts and sunshine we managed to get a really good session on the water. We concentrated on a number of things but primarily mark roundings which really came on over the session. After the long sail we returned to the shore for lunch and a debrief. 

In keeping with our very busy week, my weekend was no different. Friday evening I developed my cultured side with a trip to the theatre. I watched Jeeves and Wooster, which was both hilarious and very clever. And then on Saturday it was down to a friend house for a black tie birthday party, it was a great evening full of a lot of dancing, in fact i rather wish i had worn my HR monitor and used it as a fitness session!

Im back in weymouth again now for a full week of training, so stay tuned for more updates and photos.

Cheers

TP

Its getting cold, but we're still going

Since our success at the national ranking regatta at the end of October, Mary and I have been flat out. I think i have spent about 4 full days at home since then. For the rest of my time we have been working hard in weymouth getting on the water when we can and in the gym when we cant. 

Our month started by loading the container for the Miami element of the winter. The container takes about a month to travel to the US, and because of the fact we only have one boat initially we were at a bit of a lose end for November. Alas the amazing Anderson gang came to our rescue, Maddy Anderson who has been racing alongside us all year, very generously allowed us to borrow her boat 'Margot' (no idea about the name) for our training here in the UK. I really cant thank her and the Andersons enough.

It most definitely is starting to get pretty cold on the water now, I haven't taken my Typhoon drysuit off for the last few sessions. But despite the chilliness we have had some great sessions on the water in a good range of conditions.

We have been working closely with Rupert and Nikki which has been great. The two of us have balanced our time well between speed work and boat handling. 

And now for the big news.... Thanks to those that have got behind our call to arms, we have now raised enough money to cover our flights to Miami for the training block before christmas. This is a good chunk of the expenses but there is still a lot to go, accommodation, car hire and shipping to mention a few bits. Please keep the word circulating, it really is helping!

If you didn't see already, we have a new video on youtube http://youtu.be/azt3JN-HXz4

Stand by for more updates and photos soon.

TP

A call to arms

Friends and followers,

I am writing this at crunch time. As you may or may not be aware of, the last couple of months have been somewhat up in the air for me. But all of a sudden everything has come flying back down to earth and I have some very exciting news.

Following some great results in recent regattas, I have now officially team up with Mary Rook to campaign for Rio 2016. We are a very strong team with huge potential. This was demonstrated recently, when in our first official regatta, Mary and I dominated the GBR qualifying series, against a far more nationally supported fleet. We have both been inspired and motivated by the result and are now in a position where we are going to push like hell to make our 2016 Olympic dream a reality. 

The up and coming program is essentially dictated to us, as qualification for important milestones begins immediately. In order to realise our potential, Mary and I will and need to do more than the other serious teams around us. This includes more training and more racing than ever. The first major regatta for us is on the other side of the world in Miami, Florida. As I’m sure you will all understand arranging ourselves and the boat to be in Miami for the up and coming regatta is no easy task, both logistically and financially. 

Mary and I working tirelessly to make sure logistically we are ready to go, But financially things have been taken a little out of our hands. Despite our great recent form, the RYA who govern the national financial support have communicated that there will be no funding allowance provided for us. We are in a position where we have all the motivation and weapons, but currently not the ammunition to make it work. 

I am writing to all of you as a Sailor in need, In need of support to do something amazing. For those that know me well, you will know how I have poured my life into this for many years. I will do everything I can to make this happen, but right now I need a little help from you.

If you can help the dream in anyway, large or small, I would love to hear from you. It really is a case of now or never, and I'm not one to say never.

For more information on myself and the campaign, please visit my website,  www.tomphippsracing.co.uk

Thank you all for for continued support, it really is overwhelmingly appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Tom Phipps

t.phipps@me.com

New team and a good start

Over the last few weeks things have slowly come into place, and I can now confirm the Mary and I are an official team. Its great to finally have some consistency back in the campaign, and now we can crack on and start to move things forward. 

Our first order of business as a new team was competing in last weekends RYA national ranking event. As ever with these regattas, it was due to be windy. So windy in fact the saturday was nearly cancelled before it had begun. As it happened we had a great day on the water in what turned out to be very manageable conditions. Over the day we found our feet again as a team and after 2 2nd positions finished the day with a well earned bullet. 

Sunday was windier, But Mary and I carried on from where left off posting 2 first positions at the start of the day. In the final race we were have a great tussle with one of the other teams and had just secured the lead when, in a very unfortunate event we managed to snap the spinnaker pole. This forced us to retire, but fortunately due to our good results and consistency up until then, we held on to the event win.

Not a bad start for the new team, but now it is back down to business. We are putting together our winter plan, and inspired from last weekend we are more focused to make these next few regattas work. 

Stay tuned for more updates, there will be a lot happening in the coming months!

TP

F18 National Champions

Over the weekend, I made the very long trip up to Brightlingsea, for what is always the great event 'Regfest'. Brightlingsea is one of the spiritual homes of UK catamaran sailing and the event is named after Reg White who was a Brightlingsea boat builder, sailor, Olympic champion and world champion. Reg won a gold medal in the Tornado Class at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Given this I had the great pleasure racing with Rupert White, Reg's grandson and good friend. Coupled with Regfest this year was the F18 nationals.

Dave White Photography

Windsport very kindly provided us with the weapon of choice, the Goodal Design C2. Over the 3 days of racing we had a variety of conditions, between ourselves and the boat, we put a very strong series together. We came away with 5 race wins from 7 races and the overall national championship. Needless to say we didn't have it all our own way, and in fact made life a bit harder for ourselves at times, we wont mention the capsize in 6 knots of wind! 

Alas it was a fantastic few days, as ever Brightlingsea SC were more welcoming that you can believe, and put on yet another awesome Regfest. Cant wait until next time, hope to see you all sooner!

Cheers

TP

The end of the World(s)

So firstly I should mention that I am sorry I haven't posted this sooner, but as I write this I am sat on what feels like the worlds longest ferry headed back to the UK. Though frankly it is rather fortunate the ferry takes such a long time, because the wifi is so horrendously slow if it was any quicker I wouldn't have time to connect write and upload this before they kick me off at the other end.

Right the final day, well if I'm really honest I would rather not mention it too much. It was a bit of a disaster so I will make this bit quick. Arrived at the boat park to another glass out, waited a long time for the sea breeze to take over from the gradient, got sent out and bobbed around for a couple of hours in next to no wind, eventually started but got caught out on the wrong side of an incredibly one sided race track, rounded the windward mark almost last, chipped off a few, but in the precession of a race we had, the passing lanes were few and far between, so ended up near the back. Not our finest hour. After we finished the committee decided the wind was too fickle to race again, and we were sent back to the beach! 

Having had our disaster last race, we dropped in the overalls a little to 23rd. Most definitely not the final day we had planned and imagined! But now the racing is done I have a chance to look back and evaluate the week, so here are my thoughts.

Most importantly I really do feel as though we deserved better. We sailed fantastically for the most part and our boat speed had taken some huge steps forward. It was unfortunate the race management didn't get the opportunity to reassign the qualification fleets at all, as I think we had a particularly hard qualification fleet. That is reflected by our results which actually improved from qualification to gold fleet racing. Although we finished 23rd, our average result in the gold fleet outside of the wacky last race and the capsize we had was about 10th, that is a huge jump in position. On top of that, we felt comfortable racing at the sharp end of the fleet, in the past the windier conditions have been the harder ones but I think we have them covered a bit more now. 

While our speed and competitiveness took some good steps in the right direction, I think it fair to say that Mary and I still haven't sailed together for very long yet. We were definitely fast in a straight line, but there are still some big gains to be made in boat handling and turning the corners. 

So where do I go from here? This worlds was always going to be a fairly pivoting regatta for any campaign. But because of the recent changes in crew and general messiness of the campaign so far, it's probably not as clear as it could be. Firstly I think there needs to be a bit of sitting back and thinking. There is no doubt about it, there is most definitely potential there. But it is more than just me involved in this campaign, so despite my intentions, I will need to talk to Team mates, sponsors, the RYA, etc. 

The best I can give you right now, is that I personally, am as stoked and focused on it all as ever.

Check back soon for further updates,

Huge thanks for everyone's support, it really is appreciated.

TP

The Final Day

So here we are, the last day of racing at the worlds. When i last left you we had been mostly struggling for wind all week and were a long way behind on races. Well since then the race management have been on a mission to catch up and fortunately the weather has been on our side a little more too!

Day 4,
We had 3 races scheduled, and we needed to get them in so that the fleet could be split into Gold and Silver groups. Based on the fact the split was 50/50 it was important for us to finish in the top half of the fleet as much as possible.

We had some great pace on the water, and although the wind was more sailable today, it was still very shifty and very up and down. This meant some very snakes and ladders racing. Im pretty sure we were in the top 10 at one point in all the races, but we just seemed to be in the 'snakes' phase when we go to the finish! that said we had a very solid day and firmly secured our position in the Gold fleet.

Day 5,
So now the real racing begins, All the big boys in one group, and now true measure of how well you are doing. The wind was up again, and at time is was really windy. We took our great speed from the previous day and carried it through on the first beat of race 1 we were right up there, and then it happened. Something i haven'`t done for a long time, a small mistake in the gybe lead to a capsize. And because of the way the boat fell it was really awkward to right it. We eventually got the boat back up right and managed to chip off a few tail enders before finishing. Not our finest hour. But in the following races we made up for it, consistently finishing in or just out side the top 10. So despite our little whoopsy in race one we climbed the results to 21st. 

All to play for today, the points are all still quite close so we are really hoping carry on up the leader board. Medal race cut off is 10th which might be a bit of a struggle but who knows!

Tracking at http://www.santander2014.com/

Cheers for now, check back to see how it ended up.

TP

Mid way through

Well today we were actually scheduled for a rest day but for reasons that will become obvious shortly, I am already up and preparing for what I hope will be a good day racing on the water.

Day 1
After all the preparation and anticipation it was finally here Day 1 of the worlds. Both Mary and I were stoked to get racing. Like most mornings we had experienced so far the wind was very light early on in the day, and we were left under a postponement while the breeze filled in.

Knowing that we didn't have any coach support and thus a tow to the race area we were wary of being ready so we could start sailing as soon as we were released. That we did, but despite our incredibly organised efforts and non stop sailing from our launch flag going up we only just arrived at the race course on time! Cue bobbing up and down in next to no wind and subsequently eating all my snacks before racing has even attempted to get started. We were eventually sent back to the beach while the wind settled and filled. But that was where we stayed. The wind failed to pick up and we were shore based for the rest of the day until finally being sent home at about 6pm.

Day 2
It all seemed to be going the same way at the previous day, we arrived to a glass out. But it wasn't long before some wind filled and we were back out on the race course. We were first out there and did a little practice in the current conditions. Through all the time we spent sailing before the start one side of the race track seemed to be consistently benefiting. Out of start one we knew where we were trying to get to, alas it was the complete other side of the course that the extra breeze reached first. We were very deep at the first mark, but focused and clawed a few spots back on a very short race. Race 2 we wanted to make up for it, Following a blinding start we rounded mark 1 in about 5/6th and by the leeward mark we were up to 3rd. But we had a very messy final lap and after some silly errors dropped a little to 10th. It was good to know we can mix it at the front though. Just need to see a little more of it!

Day 3
This is the one that take the biscuit. Having stuggled for wind all regatta so far, we arrived at the boat part to find the other fleet already postponed due to too much! It was pretty fresh but despite keeping the nacras ashore, they sent out both the 49er and 49erFX classes which provided a lot of entertainment. Both classes were fairly quickly called back to the beach because of the strong winds.

After a very long wait for the wind to drop a little they sent the other fleet of nacras, who in their words 'blasted all the way to the start line to be met by another glass out' We were left ashore while they attempted to start but to no avail. So another long boat park day, before heading home at 19.00!

That takes us to now Day 4, 
Our fleet is supposed to start at 12.30 today, with the other fleet racing before us. The forecast looks a little better today, so fingers crossed. Lets see what happens.

keep right up to date via the event website
http://www.santander2014.com/

Cheers

TP 

Now its time for business

Well for what seemed like so long a away 2 weeks ago, the regatta has come around really rather quickly! Over the last couple of days Mary and have been putting the final touches to the campaign before racing kicks off tomorrow. 

After a relentless program since arriving here, we allowed our selves a full day off on Friday. We drove down the coast a little further to one of the more popular Surfing beaches. It was a great day full of surfing, hole digging and beach games, fairly typical 'Tom' style activities. 

Having had a full day off we arrived at the boat park on saturday raring to go. First things first we needed to get through measurement, this is where they officials check that the boat is legal and we haven't been doing any sneaky changes. You will be happy to know that i am indeed a very good, well behaved boy and we sailed through measurement. 

Following measurement the real work started. This is the World championships so we were leaving no stone unturned. It was all hands to polishing, sanding, cleaning and generally making Blink look and perform her best.

After a fairly extreme make over Blink is looking particularly good! We eventually put her to bed after a long day in the sun and after a quick frozen yoghurt, we retreated to our accommodation a little sun battered.

This takes us through until today, the final day before battle commences. After another very light wind morning,

We managed to get out for a short sharp sail this afternoon just to check all the systems were working well and have a quick speed check against a few other boats. Everything worked smoothly and despite the very light winds we seemed to be going pretty well in our tune ups. Now we are both back at the accommodation resting before tomorrow. We have 3 races planned on the inner most course so it could be a little unpredictable!

The last few weeks really have flown by, but given the opportunities we as a team have had, I can truly say we are prepared as we will ever be, and from here on in its a matter of throwing everything we have at it and seeing how we pop out at the end!

So here goes nothing, Lets do this!

Cheers for all of your continued support.

TP 

PS. Hopeing for some more days like this during the regatta!

Post by Nacra Sailing.

The Final Count Down

We have been out here a week now, and rest assured we have most definitely been making the most of it. Santander has definitely provided on weather, hot and sunny every day. Though it seem the mornings are a little slow. Im not sure there has been a single day where the wind has kicked in before 11am. 

The slow morning has given us a good opportunity to get some final bit of boat work done, and on the odd occasion we have take the time to explore the local area a little. Yesterday we all woke early to make trip a little down the coast to a national park and beach. There was some stunning scenery on route but the best bit was the almost empty surf beach we discovered at  the end of our trail. We spent a bit of time having fun in the waves despite the water being a little on the chilly side.

Following our slightly whistle stop tour, it was back home for a quick bite to eat, before getting down to the boat park. Yesterday was one of the hotter days we have had since being here and that meant the sea breeze built more than usual. We launched in a glorious 15kts and sailed a long way upwind, to one of the race course areas for some practice races. Our speed on the way up felt great and as we arrived at the race course we joined in with an already happening race. We seemed to be going really well, but as I squeezed a little more cunningham, BANG! i did it again. In a similar way to that at sail for gold i had literally pulled the sail in half. I should definitely mention that the superb repair Matt from demon sail had done was fine, and again it was a failure of the original sail in a slightly different location. It seems if you fix one weak link its not long until you find the next!

Fortunately we were using our training mainsail, so we still have the race one to see us up to and through the regatta, Hopefully! 

Today is Wednesday and as of tomorrow our regatta officially starts. Registration and measurement runs though until monday when racing starts. We are really excited to get going now. But between now and monday we plan on getting in some final good hours, and also a little rest before the main show begins!

I will try and get some pictures of us actually sailing, as it truly is champagne conditions out here!

Cheers for now, and more updates soon

TP

In Position

Today we made the move to our official spot for the regatta. We are sailing off the beach, and because of our particularly organised nature we have managed to grab a pretty nice spot for the trailer too. 

View out of the trailer door

Blink looking a little lonely on the beach, she will have lots of friends soon.

Another good day on the water today, Lighter winds for a change. Think we are planning for a bit of a lay day tomorrow having been non stop since our arrival at the beginning of the week. Stay tuned for more training gossip and spanish antics!

TP

Welcome to Spain

Having a had a truly amazing summer in Cornwall, it is now back to business. 

On Tuesday I left the now quiet shire of Mylor and made my way across the UK the Portsmouth ferry port. Here i met up with Tom and Alicia where to save costs we loaded both boats into my trailer and then boarded the long ferry to Santander.

The ferry was spread over 24hrs, which meant we needed to kill a lot of time. Having lost at both the bingo and quiz - the rest of the passengers had a lot more life experience, if you know what i mean - our most successful entertainment was definitely the cinema.

Needless to say we were all fairly relieved when there was some land on the horizon and we began to near Santander Spain.

We are of course here for the ISAF world championships, which for us start a week on Monday. Between now and then its a case of getting as much time on the water in as possible without burning ourselves out.

Yesterday was our first full day here and over the morning we arranged our selves in the boat park and slowly put the boat back together. The sun was out and  by the time we were ready to sail the wind was just filling in.

We had a great afternoon on the water, and joined in with a little of the communal training. Our speed seemed good, especially upwind. Though a few little technical difficulties made life a little harder. We will have them sorted today. 

Over the next week and a bit, we plan to be on the water lots so i will try and get some good photos and keep you all updated as to our pre worlds build up.

Cheers all

TP

A Cornish Advert

Unlike many summers of late and because of how the season is structured this year, I had the complete joy of being based here in Falmouth for most of the warm months. And what a great month it has been.

Just so you know this post is basically an advert for Cornwall and awesome it is.

Alongside working for Windsport I have made tome for a lot of fun. Some great weather this year has meant that without a doubt cornwall is the place to be. The first of my extra curricular activities included watching the stunning Webb Sisters, in an out door concert on top of the headland overlooking falmouth. It was a gorgeous evening, and some brilliant music. 

July was a perfect month and there were so many picture perfect mornings,

A personal highlight from the summer for me every year is Falmouth week. This year was no exception, a good friend of mine Paddy came down from bristol and we completed in the what I now know as the highly competitive Shrimper class. Despite some very school boy errors we had a great time, sailing at a much slower pace gave us a better opportunity to sneak in the odd gin and tonic. 

Learning as we went we slowly became a little more competitive, and at the peak of our shrimper racing careers secured a 2nd.

Another exciting part of the summer was the numerous beach fires had on the beach. Glorious sunsets, great bbq food and stunning music played by our very accomplished house artist (soon to be famous i'm sure) made for some what can only be described as 'perfect' evenings. 

I have also furthered my modelling career over the summer. Typhoon's new wet and drysuit collection made me look very presentable on the beach. I was very generously joined by Amelia who graciously showed off the female range. Despite my now very practice blue steel modelling face, I suspect there may be a few more ladies wetsuits sold than male! 

I am sure you have seen the ALS ice bucket challenge, well i was very generously nominated by my good friend Tom SJ, here is my attempt at making the challenge a little more fun. Please excuse the screaming.

Finally, and most importantly. In recent weeks I have had Mary here in cornwall to put some serious hours in on the water before leaving for the Worlds in Santander on the 2nd of september. 

We had some great days on the water in a range of conditions. It was great to have some focused time to work on our personal boat handling, and we now feel as though we wont be quite so caviller around the race course.

We are both looking forward to getting out to Spain now and the final build up before racing starts on the 14th Sept.

Stay tuned as we get closer and closer to the biggest regatta of the year.

Cheers

TP

No rest for the wicked

Having arrived home on Sunday evening, and just about managing to stay up for the World Cup final there really is no rest for the wicked. This week has been relentless. 

Monday was a 'get things back to normal' day, involving a lot of things including, reorganising the car from the small living space I had created back to its original layout, unloading the trailer, washing out some very smelly salty kit and a quick house shop for the standard milk and bread (probably the most stressful part for me) 

All the sailing recently has left a fairly Nacra sized hole in the bank account, so as always when I'm home I work for windsport in order to refill the sailing fund and make the next regatta possible. This week I have been working with a great pair of guys, Steve and Finley are previous sailors of mine and after 2 years away from sailing they felt it was time for a recap. Great to see them back again, shaking the rust off and flying around on the D16. 

Over the next few weeks, I will,be balancing my time between working for windsport, getting some jobs done on the Nacra (I have some good mods coming) and hopefully having some fun around Cornwall too! 

More Cornish antics coming soon!

TP

Post Nacra Europeans

The last time I wrote a blog Mary was just about to arrive an we had a few days training planned before the Europeans started. Well that didn't go quite to plan. Having collect Mary from Montpellier it was already quite late on the Saturday evening, we wasted no time in getting out for an evening sail, to check the boat over and start to get an idea of sailing with each other. We had a great sail in some perfect Mediterranean conditions, found a few things that needed changing on the boat and returned to the beach with a list and ready for a full day on the water on the Sunday. 

The brief sail on that Saturday evening was on reflection the only 'perfect Mediterranean conditions' of the week. We arrived to the boat park on the Sunday to a lot of wind and with the intention of a good days training. Having cracked on and got the jobs done, the breeze had been building. By the time it came to being ready, it was blowing. There was a practice race scheduled, but the majority of the few boats that ventured out for it returned rather quickly with their tails between their legs. We decided that given the hours practice up until now, sailing in that sort of conditions unless racing was probably unwise, so we used our time to do some last bits of polishing and fully prep the boat for the first day of racing.

Day 1

A huge anticlimax, the perfect Mediterranean conditions had long gone and we were left with torrential rain and no wind what so ever. One of the flights did launch, but failed to race in the fickle conditions. We spent much of the day in the event marque sheltering from the rain and entertaining our selves with nibbles. No racing for anyone on day 1.

Day 2

For a team that had literally cobbled themselves together days before racing, we were hoping to ease our selves into racing, but no, the south of France had other plans. Big breeze and lots of racing. Mary and I took a fairly conservative approach to the day given our small amount of experience together. But it was great to see us with some fast boat speed around the race course. That coupled with some good decisions saw us in 2nd at a windward mark and finished the day of with a 5th across the line. 

Day 3

This was big Wednesday. We were in the first fleet on the water, and we knew it was going to be windy. Having got to the start area the breeze really piped up, we had a quick practice at sailing upwind and then in a slightly miss judged bear away had a little swim before the start. Though almost simultaneously the race committee decided it was too windy (31kts) and sent us back to the beach. Some more waiting and finally the breeze moderated enough to race. Unfortunately we had a bit of a shocker, not because we weren't sailing fast, just seemed to be on the wrong side of the big gains. Following the 1 race we were again sent back to the beach to allow the other fleet to race. Some more waiting ashore and we were back out again for the final race of the day (it was not 18.30). We were on a mission to redeem our selves after the mornings shocker, and that we did. We had some great pace and sailed up through the fleet to score another 5th across the line. Back to the shore for the last time of the day. 

Day 4

The fleet had now been split into gold and silver, we were in gold and so now racing with all the big boys together. It was really windy and we arrived to the boat park already under a postponement. The race committee monitored the conditions all day hoping for a window to get some racing in, but it was not meant to be. And after hours of waiting and dinghy park rumours, the day was eventually canned. 

Day 5

It was still pretty windy but not quite as much so we were racing. Racing in the gold fleet is definitely a step up but in turn we changed gear as well. We had some great speed around the race course, making up ground all over the place. Understandably our boat handling was a bit scrappy so we lost a little there but on the whole we performed great for a new team. We had some great racing and some very comedy moments, we scored consistent day and consolidated our position just outside the teens. Battered and bruised we returned the the beach very content.

Day 6

The final day of what was supposed to be racing. Though like much of the week the weather did not play ball. Very light fickle winds switching from sea breeze to gradient and back made it impossible to get a race away for us. So after a few hours drifting around the bay we returned back to the beach no better or worse off. However the delay did have a bit of an effect on my logistical plans. Having booked a ferry for 9am the following day I needed to,get away ASAP. Fortunately we had a very speedy pack up and I was on the road in record time. 

After a full night driving we get to now, sat of the ferry from Roscoff to Plymouth with a short trip to finish on the other side. 

So it was an eventful Europeans, but I think on the whole given the fact that Mary and I had done an hours practice before the regatta it went rather well. We had great fun sailing together and Mary is now confirmed for the world championships in early September. Between then and now we plan to boost our hours training some what so that we have a bit more of a fighting chance. 

Stay tuned for more updates on my training and antics 

Cheers all

TP

Pre Nacra Europeans

On Wednesday evening I made the short journey up to Plymouth, to catch my overnight ferry towards Roscoff. There is somthing particularly sad about treating yourself to a beer and sitting entirely on your own in the middle of a crowded bar, aboard a mini cruise that hasn't even left the dock yet. After that I thought I would save any more embarrassment a retreat alone to my 4 berth cabin. 
Thursday arrived very early and before I knew I had been kick off the ferry and was on the road heading south for La Grande Motte. It wasn't very long before the day time sun started the baking process, almost simultaneously I realised the air conditioning had entirely packed up. As the heat rose my clothing proportionally declined. By midday I was down to the boxers and decided I should probably stop there. after a full day of driving, copious amounts of water and a very awkward lunch break (my French needs work) I finally rolled in to the boat park. Having parked the boat I met up with Tom and Alicia at the accommodation. Time for a quick beer and then sleep.
Friday (today) in true Phipps style the day of boat building was forecast to be very windy and torrential rain. It wasn't quite as bad as it was originally thought, but I did dodge a few showers as I slowly bimbled my way through rigging the boat. It was good to see the other guys, had been a while since. By the end of the day I have pretty much finished the boat with a few final bits to finish tomorrow morning. Mary arrives at some stage during the day, we aren't sure exactly when yet, but the plan will be to measure, finish registration and hopefully get out for a cheeky sail in the evening maybe.
Racing starts on Monday, more updates before then.
TP

The end of one Cornish era, but the start of 2 more

I want to start this one by saying that over the last 9 Months Zennor and I have had A LOT of fun. We have really enjoyed sailing together, representing both GBR and Cornwall on the world stage. Despite being against the odds, between us we have sailed ourselves proud and scored some fantastic results along the way. But in overwhelming and unfortunate circumstances the Cornish dream team is down to one.

For the last 6 months, Zennor has been battling a reoccurring injury in her Achilles, she has been fighting the problem on a daily basis and done a fantastic job to last this long. But after some recent strong words from the doctor, she is in a position where she has no option but to rest it for 6 months. This unfortunately puts her out for the 2 biggest up and coming regattas of the year, and makes continuing after that impossible. We can’t describe how gutting this is for us, and comes at a time when we just seemed to finding our feet in the class.

Zennor and I sat down yesterday, it was a relief for both of us to know that each other are planning to continue to strive and succeed, but now in different directions. There was definitely sadness and personally it was great to hear that Zennor is sticking around here in Cornwall, makes having a cheeky Rattler, or two, much more enjoyable. Whilst Zennor is not completely sure what she plans to do next, I have no doubt that if she puts half as much effort into it as she did with the sailing, the others wont stand a chance. 

For myself, the Olympic dream continues. I leave for the European Championship tomorrow, and am sailing with Mary Rook. She is an incredibly well established sailor and has done everything including a small bit of Nacra sailing. The perfect fit to keep me on the water short term, and well, let’s see how things develop in France. Racing starts on Monday, so stay tuned for more regular updates again. 

So there we have it … the last week or so has been bitter sweet, while disappointing both Zennor and I move on as better friends and equally as stoked for each other to succeed in whatever we end up doing.

Who knows, maybe you will see a team reunion for a regatta or 2 in the future. 

For further updates on my continued olympic progress, see my personal website, www.tomphippsracing.co.uk.

I will leave you with this,

http://youtu.be/SrQc0_kA_2U

Thank you all so much for your continued support, we honestly could not have got this far without it.

Tom and Zennor