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Golden Day!

Posted 4 months, 29 days ago

Golden Day!
A few days have passed since l last reported. Over that time we had one very strange day out on the water. It started with about 7knts wind, thick thick fog and a horrific sea state! After about an hour of sailing we had a 90 degree wind shift that came in the form of about 15-18knts. And yes there is still weed out there to dodge! We were out training with the Polish team (08 World Champions) and apart from the strange and tough conditions a lot was still learnt.The following day brought no wind at all just a little less fog. Temp is on the rise getting closer to what we will be dealing with during the Games in August.But today was the "Golden Day". A clear day that started off with 5knts and by the end of the day we were seeing glimpses of 8knts. Doesn't sound like a big deal but if Qingdao was able to turn on conditions like this for the Olympics we would have awesome light air racing conditions! There was a serious amount of tide out there which is something for us to get our head around. Coming from NZ we are lucky enough to have grown up dealing with 3knts of current! So with the ideal conditions the British Team set a start line and a windward-leeward course. After some tuning with the Polish we did 4 practice races (and a couple of practice starts) with a total of about 12 Boats, some of them being teams tuning/ training partners but never the less it was a chance to start practicing the Olympic style of racing which is short courses, lots of tacking, gybing and much closer encounters with the other boats as you battle for position. 4 hours out on the water and it was a lot of fun! Tomorrow is our last day sailing here for this block as we return to Valencia where the Olympic prep continues. So far this trip has been invaluable! Lets hope for another day like today to finish off with tomorrow. Full Story »

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