Quotes Day 5 Skandia Sail for Gold
We caught up with some of the sailors at Skandia Sail for Gold, after day 5 of racing.
Paul Goodison (GBR Laser – second overall)
"I had quite a frustrating day yesterday getting on the wrong side of a couple if big moves so I was really disappointed by that, but I put things right today. I had a tricky start to the first race but sailed really well to get back in the game and finish thrid from what could have easily been a twentieth so I really pleased with that. Then in the second race I led from start to finish and just extended all the way round so it was great to finish the last race like that before the big day tomorrow. Now all sights are on the medal race and I think it will be a bit of a battle between me and Tom (Slingsby)."
Iain Jensen (AUS 49er crew – leading overall)
"Today was very tricky, there were huge wind shifts and we had a couple of bad ones and a good one. We are still in the lead going into medal race and we have quite a good points advantage, but it’s double points tomorrow so that means extra pressure. When you have ten of the best in your fleet you can have one bad race and it can change everything. Tomorrow will be different and our priorities will change. We will have to watch the competition more closely and it’s not so much about racing the fleet as racing your closest competition. We came here to learn about the venue but we also wanted to finish in the top three. This week has been tricky and we’ve learnt anything can happen in Weymouth!"
Stephane Christidis (FRA 49er crew – second overall)
"We had a good start to the week and had four really good days, but today was disappointing. We had a 21 and 22 so it’s pretty bad for us. I think today we were too focused on what was going on in the boat and not enough on the externals – it was important today to understand the shifts and the wind but we were concentrating on the boat too much. It will be difficult tomorrow and we will have to fight to get on the podium. We need to get the best start - that is so important in the medal race. And after that if we get in front of the fleet we will look to the other boats and see what they are doing. Tomorrow we should have good conditions but it will be different as we will be inside of the harbour so we will have to adjust to that. We have some idea of what to expect but we will see tomorrow."
Daniel Fitzgibbon (AUS Skud 18 helmsman – winner)
"It’s been a good week for us guys, a long week but it’s been a good week. We’ve done really well we’ve sailed well and Rach [Rachael Cox] and I are getting better and better and we’re doing well. It’s great coming to Weymouth [with two years to go], I’m comfortable in the conditions and we’ve had a great a result going forward to the Games. We can work on a lot of things, we are two years out so we have a lot to do between now and the Games and we are in a good spot now. We are going back to Australia, have a bit of time off, then do some regattas in Australia then we go to Miami, we will come back here next year and do a couple of regattas here, but 2012 that’s what we are aiming at."
Ben Ainslie (GBR Finn – second overall)
"It was a really tough day, the wind was very, very tricky to read and I think everyone found it hard. I was reasonably happy, I made a few mistakes but I’m still enjoying being back out there; it’s really refreshing being out there doing some fleet racing in the Finns. I was very relieved because we had a forecast for quite a lot of wind today and heading out there the wind backed off a bit so I was quite happy about that and it made my day a lot easier. But it was still very tricky for everyone... I think everyone found it hard to get some consistent results. [After 3 days of racing] The body’s been better, after the third day I was extremely tired with lots of aches and pains but I think now it’s started to get used to the pain again. I’m really happy to be up at the top end of the fleet and we will have to see what tomorrow brings."
Giles Scott (GBR Finn – overall leader)
"It’s a very nice position to be leading in [the Finn class]. Today was exceptionally tricky the wind was coming straight of the hills and shifting all over the place but I managed to get two decent counters [results] which was good. I had a lot to worry about with that [an OCS result from earlier in the week] especially on a day like today, so two top tens are great really. My aim coming into the regatta was always to win, so hopefully I will be able to do that tomorrow. The medal races are very different, everyone’s a lot more on edge and a lot more willing to protest over little matters that maybe would have gone unnoticed in fleet racing, so you just have to watch that side of things but other than that it’s just a race with fewer boats. They [medal races] are enjoyable, stressful for sure but very enjoyable. The plan for this evening is to play some ping pong! I’ve been playing a lot of table tennis this week!"
Matt Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS 470 – second overall)
MP: "It was a very, very difficult day out there. We went in leading by a point over the French and came out only two points behind, so it’s not too bad in such a difficult day. Two points are nothing when it goes into a medal race, it will be who-beat-who, so it will be game on tomorrow."
MB: "We will be going into the medal race and the plan of action will be the same as every day- go in focusing on ourselves. Depending on the conditions tomorrow we will have some sort of strategy of how we want to either attack or just try to race our own race, so it really depends on the conditions but it’s a nice position to be in."
MP: "We didn’t really have any target or plans coming into the regatta, we had already won the World Championships about three weeks ago, and racked up the [ISAF Sailing] World Cup before this event, so I suppose our plans of getting good results here went out of the window. We’ve used it as more of a chance to get to learn the venue and use new equipment which we didn’t think we would have the opportunity to do. So we’ve managed to tick off a couple of things there which is great to be ahead of the game. For us it was just about getting used to the conditions, that really was the priority for us, but it’s been very unique and up and down. So it’s a great experience and of course coming in being World Champ you put a bit of pressure on yourself, but we have just focused on ourselves and come out sort of where we should and we are happy with the results."
MB: "The conditions are a whole lot better than China, the facilities two years out are fantastic and it’s by far the best we have had all year, in terms of World Cup venues and we are looking forward to two years time."
MP: "It’s will be great to come to a venue that will have a nice variety of conditions. At the last two Olympics, Athens was just bad luck and China was meant to be light winded and it lived up to its reputation. So it’s nice to have a venue that is going to be a nice mixed bag. I think it will really have good true all round champions come out of it. My only complaint is that I wish they could turn up the water temperature, coming from Australia you get a little bit spoilt! But I really am looking forward to two years’ time and the Games. Every morning this week the prediction has been sun, a bit of rain and variable wind and I think you have everything covered in one report but it’s so great to be here."
Sarah Ayton (GBR 470 Women – Double Gold Medallist in the Yngling)
"It was a tough day, we were actually doing a really good job, but in the last race I made a really bad decision on the last leg of the last course and we literally went from hero to zero, so that was pretty tough. But the other British girls led the way and did really well so all in all Team Skandia GNR had a good day! This has been a massive learning week for us. We have had some great results this week, but we are two years out from the Games so we have got a lot to work on over the winter. We will come back next year stronger."
"I think it is important to feel comfortable at the Olympic venue and that’s one great thing we have got from this event, that we have actually come a long way here. We are slightly out of our target that we set this week, but we are well on track for the bigger picture. If we were winning now we would probably take a few months off and that’s not a good thing! So we will be back on the water in a few weeks getting on with our training and making sure we cover all our bases for next time."
Claire Leroy (FRA Women’s Matchracing – Finalist and ISAF Sailing World Cup winner)
"To win the World Cup is a big surprise for us! We were so happy because as we passed the line our coach shouted that Anna didn’t win her race and we just couldn’t believe we had won the World Cup! We are really pleased, but we still want to win the event. That is the next stage, tomorrow is a new day and a new race so we will have to see what happens."
"We were very pleased with today - we made some mistakes but less than the others so we got the points we need to go the final. A final is a different to a Round Robin, so I think it will be a good fight. We know that we have a good chance of winning but so does the other team so we will just have to wait and see."
Lucy Macgregor Leroy (GBR Women’s Matchracing – beat by Leroy for the ISAF Sailing World Cup winner)
"We knew that every race was critical so we came out fighting and won both of our first two races really comfortably. After the postponement it really was hard to keep in the right frame of mind. We tried to stay focsued because we knew it could go off at any time. Unfortunately when it came to crunch time we didn’t get the best start but we were still right in the race until half way through it. But that is all part of racing. The result is hard because we felt like we sailed well, but me in particular, [I] made some mistakes in the last race which I won’t forgive myself for a while. But we do feel like we sailed well, so certainly are disappointed with the final result."
"We will take a lot away from the week. As a team we sailed well together and there are a lot of things we have been working on that certainly showed this week. Our boat handling was good, and tactically we were generally very strong so there is lots to take away from this week. It’s a shame to lose the title but it’s all about two years time and winning a gold medal then. So we have to keep working towards that. There is a lot of work to do in the Elliot’s [the boats] and we are still getting used to the boats. I don’t think any team has quite nailed it yet, so there is plenty of work to do."
13/8/2010 20:13
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