Team Blog
Racing any Olympic class boat is a unique physical challenge
15 July 2010
Last week I spent sometime sailing the Finn in Lymington, it was hard work and the body suffered a bit, however it has enabled me to get enough training in to be able to confirm I’ll be competing at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy 9-14 August 2010.
I’ve not raced a Finn since Beijing 2008 so it’s will be almost 2 years to the day, but doing this year’s Sail for Gold was on the cards as long as it fitted in with the rest of our TEAMORIGIN schedule. I think Sail for Gold is a really important regatta for me to attend to not only check in with where the rest of the Finn fleet are, and what developments have taken place since I’ve been away, but also to familiarise myself with the venue and conditions as I’ve actually not raced an Olympic Class boat at Weymouth and Portland for about five or six years.
I have to accept I’m not going to be 100 percent race ready, 100 percent Finn fit and at my ideal racing weight, and I’m sure it will be frustrating for me at times not being able to do things I’d normally take for granted, but the benefits of competing far outweigh any frustrations I may experience as long as I’m realistic, and possibly more importantly, other people are realistic about what I can achieve on such limited preparation.
The prospect of racing the Finn again is really exciting to me and that counts for a lot. An Olympic cycle is a long, long road, which can get quite tedious, and many of the Finn guys will also have one eye on the Worlds, which take place in San Francisco just after Sail for Gold. I’ll enjoy getting to grips with the boat in racing conditions again and the lack of preparation time means I’ll have to concentrate on getting the basics, like starts and tactics, right as I’ll be lacking boat speed in other areas and probably won’t take as many chances as I would if I had the speed elsewhere.
My experience is going to be really important and I know I’m going to find it difficult at times but as you get older you generally get a bit more philosophical about things; I don’t have to prove myself in the Finn class and there are too many positives to doing the event to worry about ‘What if I don’t win?’ Any result inside the top 10 would be a good result.
Racing any Olympic class boat is a unique physical challenge, you use muscles which are so hard to replicate in a gym. You have to get your body used to racing again and all the aches and pains that go with it. Apart from the lymington training days, I had a week with the Skandia Team GBR Finn squad this winter, did a few days training in Valencia during the spring and I’ve got 3 days with the British Finn guys at WPNSA the week before Sail for Gold. All Finn sailing I do between now and the regatta will be about re-familiarising my body with that feeling and boat handling. I’ve left all the boat development work to my coach David ‘Sid’ Howlett and that’s been going well although I haven’t had the chance to use the boat in anger yet. We’ll make the decision on whether we use the new boat at Sail for Gold in the next couple of weeks as there may be some things we want to keep under wraps.
TEAMORIGIN has kept me very busy over the past three months and we’ve had a mix of results in our TP52 Audi Med Cup events in Cascais and Marseilles and the latest Louis Vuitton Trophy Regatta in Sardinia.
However I took a day out from the Marseilles event to compete in this year’s J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, where I raced on the Ker 46 Fair Dos II, renamed J.P. Morgan Asset Management Prince’s Trust for the race, the crew was made up of young people from the Prince’s Trust charity for which I’m an ambassador.
There wasn’t much sleep had over those 24 hours as I had to get the last flight out of Marseille at 10.30pm on Friday, which was delayed, and then my taxi didn’t arrive to pick me up from the airport. Fortunately the sailing journalist James Boyd had an old Triumph sports car in the long stay car park and after a pitch black RIB ride we eventually made it to Cowes at about 3.30am for the 4.50am warning signal! It was certainly an interesting day but very worth it as seeing the young people enjoy themselves on the boat, and get a chance to do some of the sailing themselves, was just brilliant. I don’t get a chance to do too much for the charity so it was great to be able to do this while also saying thank you to J.P Morgan Asset Management for all the support they continue to give me in my Olympic campaign.
There have been a few changes in the TEAMORIGIN camp over the past couple of months with Grant Simmer coming in as our new CEO while we’ve also received the proposed protocol document for the next America’s Cup. Grant has so much America’s Cup experience, this will be his eighth, and he held the roles of Design Co-ordinator, and later MD, of Alinghi winners of the Cup in 2003 and 2007. Team meetings with Grant feel a bit like you’re at the University of the America’s Cup! He’s had an immediate impact in terms of our decision making processes and he makes sure as many people as possible are involved in decision making so that even if you don’t agree with a decision you’ve had an input and can understand better why a decision has been made.
Grant’s experience comes into its own when deciding on our responses to the AC34 Proposed Protocol Document. I’m pleased the process is moving along but after three years of investing so much time, effort, energy and finance into TEAMORIGIN we have to make sure we’ll get a fair crack at the Cup. There would be no point doing the event if it was unwinnable and there are a few clauses in the document, which at the moment, need some further clarification to make sure we’re all competing on a level playing field.
So far the lines of communication between the Defenders, BMW Oracle, and the rest of the teams have been good and hopefully these will stay open so we can all have an input into the final format. The document also proposes some wide-ranging changes about how future events are run, the boats, race management etc , which is positive, but we have make sure it remains about the sailing and doesn’t become unbalanced and end up only about the media, commercial opportunities and sponsorship.
We had more positive news a couple of weeks ago when Myself, Iain Percy, Christian Kamp, Magnus Augustson and Matt Cornwell had a great result for the team by winning the Stena Match Cup in Sweden which is part of the World Match Racing Tour. This was really positive progress as it was highly competitive, hopefully we can compete in at least two more WMRT events this year.
Finally TEAMORIGIN will be going head-to-head with BMW Oracle in the new 1851 Cup at Cowes Week, a really exciting one-off regatta which is a great opportunity for our team to take on one of, if not the, top team in the World, on home waters but also raise the profile of the TEAMORIGIN brand on the Cowes Week stage.
Busy year ahead
19 April 2010
It was really pleasing to finally get a result in the two-and-half year America's Cup saga in Valencia in February.
I was fortunate to be in Spain for the Deed of Gift match between defenders Alinghi and challengers BMW Oracle as I was there Finn training for a week.
It was an amazing spectacle, the boats were incredible feats of design and engineering and it was a fascinating learning experience seeing some of the technology involved up close. As a competition BMW Oracle's use of the 'wing' technology meant it was something of a mismatch but it was just such a relief to finally see the event staged and now we can start looking forward to what BMW Oracle, as the new defenders, will propose as the format for the 34th America's Cup.
There's inevitably a lot of rumour and speculation already doing the rounds about where and when the Cup will be held and what the rules regarding the boats will be. One of the more interesting suggestions is that t he Cup won't now happen until 2014 and if that is the case then it certainly leaves all of the teams with a lot of time to prepare their teams and design a new boat to new Americas Cup class rule.
I'm still managing to strike a suitable balance between progressing my 2012 Finn campaign and my desire to win the America's Cup with TEAMORIGIN.
This last week, I spent in Valencia training with my coach David Howlett working on some of the technical aspects of the boat development. We had Simon Holloway from PI Research, who incidentally does a lot of work helping with the data collection and analysis for F1, down to help with collecting some performance data which we can then pass on to Juan Guaray our Argentinean sail designer. The whole process is fascinating and the technology we are using, whilst on a small scale, is similar to what we will use in the Americas Cup future.
Because my schedule is pretty full on I'm completely reliant on my coach David Howlett set ting the tone of the training camps and making sure the boat is ready for me to just step into and sail. The camps and practices have to be really well structured with very clear objectives to make sure I get the most out of the limited time I have to sail the Finn. David's ongoing role in this is vital.
Since first getting back in the Finn, after 18 months out of the boat, last December we've made some really pleasing progress. Despite the break the boat hasn't ever felt alien to me, which was a pleasant surprise, and we know where we're going in terms of the technical side and what work we want to do with our sail designers. I go back to Valencia later this month to keep things ticking along on that front.
I'm still hoping to compete at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth and Portland in August as I want to gather as much information as possible about the conditions and venue. But the real focus will shift back to my Finn campaign in the winter 2010 when I plan to head to the Southern Hemisphere for three or four months' serious training and boat tuning. This will be when I start getting my body weight back up and really working on the boat and sail design to go into the 2011 season fully competitive.
There's an awful lot of sailing to be done before then, however, with the Audi Medcup TP52 Circuit starting in Cascais, Portugal on May 11 plus a number of World Match Racing Tour events and the next WSTA Louis Vuitton Trophy event in Italy in May that TEAMORIGIN will be competing in.
In many ways we've punched below our weight in terms of our WTSA LV Trophy event results so far and the last event in Auckland was especially disappointing as again it was silly mistakes which cost us. The hard stuff we're getting right but we need to iron out the small errors to start getting the results.
We had a great weekend racing Charles Dunstone's TP52 Rio at the RORC Easter Regatta. Some of the team are relativel y inexperienced in TP52s so getting quality racing time together in often tricky Solent conditions was really invaluable. By the last day our communication and teamwork at the back of the boat particularly was much crisper and we're looking forward to the Audi MedCup now.
Just last week we competed in the first of the World Match Racing Tour Regattas in Marseille. We finished second to local hero Mathieu Richard but it was a good result for us especially as we had not raced in the J80 class of boat before. I was racing with Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy and Christian Kamp. We make a good team and importantly we really enjoy sailing together.
Also I'm looking forward to the 2010 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on June 19. This is always such a fantastic spectacle; so many different types of boat and people take part it's really enjoyable. It also gets lots of media attention and whereas sailing often gets a bad rap for being difficult to follow, t he RTIR course is very easy to understand, which is good for the sport's profile.
Sponsorship key to my Olympic campaign
2 February 2010
Sponsorship is a hugely significant element in being able to sustain a bid for success in any sport so I’m extremely grateful to J.P. Morgan Asset Management who have agreed to extend their title sponsorship of my Finn sailing campaign until 2012.
They have supported me since 2007 and the importance of developing close relationships with key partners can’t be underestimated at whatever level you’re at because of the amount of flexibility it can give you in your campaign.
As a kid coming up through Optimists I didn’t really have any sponsorship except the odd local council or Sports Aid grant, which were obviously very welcomed and helped, but the parental support was massive.
When I was about 15, I started off, like most kids, writing what seemed like thousands of letters to people asking for sponsorship expecting the offers to come flooding in! I quickly realised in reality it doesn’t work like that and, particularly when you’re starting out, nothing beats working on the contacts you have like family and friends and pinpointing specific targets. The personal touch is everything and making people feel properly involved and valued makes all the difference.
My first real experience of that came when I was on the plane on the way to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and I got talking to a guy about what I was doing. He knew nothing about sailing and nothing about me but seemed genuinely interested. Shortly after a cheque for £500 arrived in the post to help my campaign, which was a really nice thing to happen and showed me how effective just talking to people can be.
After Atlanta I landed my first real sponsorship through an insurance company called Colonial who also supported three other British Olympians - swimmer Paul Palmer, athlete Denise Lewis and rower Greg Searle. For the first time I had the resources to give me a bit more flexibility when making decisions about my programme, for example like where and when I wanted to train.
Since those days I’ve always tried to build strong relationships with my sponsors as I want them to feel like they’ve been part of any success I’ve had. Also, it’s important they understand that especially in a sport like sailing where there are so many disciplines and challenges, you may not always be concentrating on the discipline they are supporting you in.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management have been great in that way as they completely respect my commitment to Britain’s America’s Cup cause and know their sponsorship allows me to as good as leave my Finn campaign in the hands of my coach David Howlett, who is cracking on with making sure we’re getting together all the equipment we want and are as prepared as possible for when I get back in the boat full-time.
I’m looking forward to a training week we’ve got planned in Valencia with Rafa Trujillo and a few of the other international Finn boys next month. It’ll be great to check in with what they’ve been up to for the past 18 months as well as getting a bit more sailing fitness and race sharpness under my belt.
While I’m over in Valencia I’m hoping to catch what we hope will finally be the America’s Cup Deed of Gift match between the holders Alinghi and the challengers BMW Oracle Racing. The whole America’s Cup’s been a huge frustration for the past two years as we’ve waited to see what was going to happen, discover when and where this race would take place and begin planning our TEAMORIGIN campaign in earnest for the 33rd or 34th America’s Cup.
There’s still wrangling over the Alinghi sails, which could still impact on the scheduling of the Deed of Gift match, and there’s the real possibility that if Alinghi win the outcome will be challenged once again in the courtroom.
But I, like most people, just hope we can finally get a conclusion to this whole episode and move on. It is incredibly frustrating and ridiculous that we’re still in this situation almost three years since the last America’s Cup took place.
Earlier this month I was delighted to present the awards to the 2009 RYA Regional Young Sailor of the Year winners at the London International Boat Show and it was great to see Phil Sparks, who is someone I know from Lymington and who I spent a bit of time with when he was in Oppies, be named overall Young Sailor of the Year with his crew Ben Gratton.
Congratulations also to see my old mates Iain Percy and Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson on winning the Star Worlds in Brazil. They’d never won that title together previously and it’s great they’ve been able to keep their hand in before we all meet up again for TEAMORIGIN duty next month.
Back in the Finn
18 December 2009
It has been a very cold but very refreshing week in more ways than one as I returned to Finn sailing for the first time since Beijing 2008 at a British Finn squad training camp at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.
This was the first time I’d even stepped back into a Finn since the Olympics and it has proved to be a really worthwhile week just sailing the boat again and being around the rest of the guys in the squad.
I had two main aims going into the week having been concentrating on big boat sailing for the past 18 months. Firstly I wanted to just reacquaint myself with the Finn and get used to sailing a dinghy again and secondly I wanted to move the technical side forward as well as checking in with where the other guys were at in terms of fitness.
The guys in the Finn squad have obviously been working really hard on their racing since I last trained with them before the Olympics. They have just come off the back of a two-month break so they were also a little rusty although not as rusty as me!
It has actually felt quite natural slipping back into dinghy sailing and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to hold my own in races.
Because I’m lighter than my ideal Finn racing weight I thought I’d be fine in the lighter airs but was worried I’d be left for dead in the breeze but I’ve actually not been too bad and have been happy with my own pace. I know there is still a lot to improve on but it was reassuring to be sailing at a good level while knowing I can still make some big gains.
It has been really cold, and it has been a long, long time since I’ve sailed in conditions like this! When it is so cold you can’t really spend any more than three-and-a-half hours or so at a time on the water but the work we have been doing has been really focussed and there have been some good races.
Off the water, we’ve also been able to train in the great new gym the RYA has built as part of its new centre at Portland Marina and I’ve been working on the logistical and technical aspects of my campaign with my coach David Howlett.
I’ve worked with David for so long I trust him completely. I arrived at Weymouth from Malaysia where Team Origin had been competing in the Monsoon Cup - the final round of the 2009 World Match Racing Tour - via one day at the Paris Boat Show and my Finn, as I knew it would be, was fully rigged and ready to go. If I’d had to do it myself I’d have spent a couple of day’s faffing about getting my kit together.
We are testing a new boat, new masts and a fair bit of new equipment, there’s been a lot going on. I hope to get some more time in the Finn at the end of January and start of February before I head off to New Zealand with Origin for the next of the Louis Vuitton Trophy events.
I’ll be looking to get back into the Finn full-time at the end of 2010 and be racing again in 2011. However although my focus for 2010 is TP52 and match racing, and whatever may happen with the America’s Cup, I know if there is the opportunity to fit in a bit of Finn training and testing in Valencia or Palma, for example, David will be able to get the boat there, which could be invaluable.
The great support I receive from JP Morgan Asset Management makes a huge difference in enabling us to make this sort of thing happen, to make sure we are getting the right equipment and are maximising the time available outside of the America’s Cup campaign.
It has been a hectic couple of months competing with Team Origin at the Louis Vuitton Trophy event in Nice before flying to Perth for the Australia Cup match racing event and then to Malaysia for the Monsoon Cup so I am really looking forward to having a bit of time off over Christmas and New Year and getting away with my family and friends.
May I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas and see you all in 2010.
Ben Ainslie, CBE
Triple Olympic gold and silver medallist
Exactly 1000 days’ until London 2012 gets underway
1 November 2009
It's exactly 1000 days’ until London 2012 gets underway and I cannot wait for the excitement and buzz around the Olympics to really start ramping up as we get closer to the Games.
All the facilities will be in place but I really think it will be the atmosphere generated throughout the country that will make or break the Games and hopefully it will be better than anything I’ve ever experienced at any other Olympics.
The biggest Olympic Classes event I’ve ever done in this country was probably the Olympic Trials in 1995 so to compete at an actual Olympics in front of a home crowd in Britain would be very special.
To coincide with the release of my autobiography recently I did a few book signings around the country and it was great to meet so many people who just loved the Olympics and seemed genuinely excited about the Games coming to Britain.
I haven’t been in a Finn since Beijing last year but I have a week’s training with the rest of the British Finn squad scheduled at the start of December and in all honesty I fully expect the other guys to give me a good butt kicking!
It will probably be really windy and I’m a good six-seven kilos below my racing weight at the moment but that’s fine and I’m looking forward to just getting back into the boat.
I’d like to do as much Finn sailing as I can in January and February and, although nothing’s concrete yet, maybe look to do a couple of events next year too. But 2011 is the crucial year for me to really step it up while adding those extra kilos I need to sail the Finn.
It’s great to be working with David ‘Sid’ Howlett again on my Finn campaign. Sid was my coach for Athens 2004 and he’ll take a lot of the workload out of the logistics and planning meaning I know I can step back into the boat and it will all be in great shape. His enthusiasm and knowledge are priceless, especially on the technical side, and he will be a great asset.
Earlier this month myself, Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy and Christian Kamp enjoyed a successful week in Bermuda winning the Argo Group Gold Cup. The event is part of the World Match Racing Tour and has in the past been won by some of the biggest names in sailing so to win the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup was a very special moment for us all.
We had some tough racing during the event being pushed hard by Australian Torvar Mirsky, reigning champion and fellow Brit Ian Williams and Kiwi Adam Miniprio in the final knockout stages but with those three guys currently sat 1-2 and 3 in the overall Tour leaderboard after eight events it was a very satisfying victory.
It’s frustrating to have only done four Tour events this year meaning we’re not in line to land the World title but a good performance at the final round in Malaysia in December could still see us sneak on to the podium.
In November Team Origin will compete in the first Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Regatta. With the 33rd America’s Cup solely the Deed of Gift Match between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing next February, five Louis Vuitton Trophy Regatta's, sailed in America’s Cup boats, have been proposed starting now and continuing throughout 2010. I think this is a really good thing and crucial if the interest level in the America’s Cup is going to be maintained.
Finally huge congratulations to Jenson Button on landing the Formula One World title. I was a guest of Brawn GP at the European Grand in Valencia in August and they made me feel so welcome, even involving me in all the post-race briefs. It’s a remarkable story and I’m really delighted for Jenson.
Defeat hurts, but it’s more fun fighting out on high seas than in a courtroom
13 February 2009
The latest — and thankfully final — stage in what has been called “The Billionaire Boat Battle” was heard in the New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday, when Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle team launched a final legal bid to have them recognised as the official America’s Cup challengers to Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi, the holders.
It has been a drawn-out saga and for those of us in the teams hoping to enter the next America’s Cup it has been a frustrating time. The court’s decision will not be revealed for another month and until then we will not know whether the America’s Cup will be an 18-team elimination series or a one-on-one duel between Alinghi and Oracle.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, ten of the would-be competitors have been taking part in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, a regatta in Auckland. Surprisingly, there has been little talk of the court battle. Everyone has been wrapped up in the racing and, after all, there is really nothing anyone can do about it.
The results in Auckland will not affect who takes part in the America’s Cup, but it gives everyone an important benchmark. Although Team Origin, the British entry that I skipper, lost yesterday in the quarter-finals, we are fairly happy with our progress. The team have huge potential for the future.
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The first stage of the regatta, a round-robin series, went better than we expected. We won all four races and while there were some issues with our boat-handling that needed addressing, we collected some pretty big scalps, including a 36-second win over Alinghi. The Swiss look as polished as ever, even though we are all in borrowed boats for this regatta. Their boat-handling is pretty faultless, so it was great to beat them.
By coming top in that pool, we advanced to the “Gold Fleet”, a second round-robin stage for the top six boats. It brought me head to head with Emirates Team New Zealand, for whom I competed in the last America’s Cup, in 2007. They weren’t quite as friendly towards me as they used to be, but perhaps that’s because Team Origin beat them by seven seconds.
If that was a good win, we had been crippled by bad luck in our previous race against Oracle. With Sir Keith Mills, our backer, on board as the eighteenth — non-competing — man, we made a good start and forced Oracle into an early penalty. But a very minor collision at the start had damaged our headfoil and we found we were unable to hoist our jib. We were forced to withdraw and then, to make matters worse, were hit with a half-point deduction because of the accident, even though we felt Oracle had been at fault. We appealed against it, without success.
Having also lost our rematch against Alinghi by 15 seconds, it meant that we had to enter a play-off to reach the quarter-finals. That must-win race, against Pataguas by K-Challenge, of France, was a scrappy match — as contests between British and French sailors often are — but we had a good aggressive plan and managed to hold them off when it looked as if they would sail over the top of us and take our wind.
Our ultimately comfortable win put Team Origin into yesterday’s quarter-final against Damiani Italia, but sadly that was the end of the road. We trailed at the start and although the race was neck and neck all the way round, we could not quite pull in front. Damiani then lost to Oracle, who now face Alinghi for the right to race Team New Zealand in the best-of-seven final this weekend.
There has been controversy about that. Team New Zealand won as many round-robin races as we did, but they got a bye to the final because they are the hosts. It is ironic that they fiddled it so they would progress, given their strong opposition to Alinghi’s suggested rules for the next America’s Cup, which were seen as biased towards the Swiss, but we just have to laugh about it.
After all, this is New Zealand’s regatta on home water and probably the only way to get funding from sponsors was to ensure that the home boat did well. Anyway, the most important thing is that we are competing with each other on the water again.
Walking on water after my longest year
5 January 2009
As I look back on 2008 I have a huge sense of relief that I have managed to get through the longest and toughest year of my life relatively unscathed and with the honour at the end of it of being nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, having won the BOA and ISAF sailor of the year awards.
My goal for the year was the Olympic Games in August and the road towards that began relatively late compared with my main rivals. I did not set foot in my Finn boat until the end of 2007 because of my commitments in the America’s Cup, but I won my fifth Finn Gold Cup, the World Championship, in January, which earned me a ticket to Beijing.
To win my third consecutive Olympic gold medal was amazing for me personally and was a payback for all the support I have received from so many people, most notably my sponsor, JPMorgan Asset Management. It realised that time was tight in the build-up to the Games and so left me to my training when it could have been demanding corporate days and appearances. That allowed me to focus solely on Beijing.
Jez Fanstone, my coach, was also invaluable this year, setting out a programme that ticked off all the vital preparation while allowing me to be fully rested and raring to go. And finally I owe thanks to my parents, who have been there from the beginning, through four Olympics, and continue to be a tremendous support.
It feels as if it was the longest year of my life and that is down to the fact that after the Games, instead of having a rest, life just got busier. Three days after flying home I went to Sardinia to race in the Maxi World Championships. A 100ft racing yacht was about as far away from my 14ft Finn dinghy as you can get, but it was important to get away from the Olympics hype and do what seems natural in a relatively low-pressure environment. I don’t think that I will be getting back in a Finn again until at least 2010.
Eventually I couldn’t put off the inevitable and had to return home to begin a tour of social functions, sponsors’ engagements, TV appearances and many, many parties. The reception was more intense than after any of my other Olympics. For the first time people who knew nothing about sailing were stopping me in the street to offer congratulations and, for a sailor other than Dame Ellen MacArthur, this was a surreal feeling. It took a month to catch up with everyone who needed to be thanked and then it was time to get back to sailing and the next challenge, the America’s Cup.
Last year Sir Keith Mills launched Team Origin, Britain’s entry for the next Cup, with me as skipper. We have a great team of sailors, including Iain Percy, who won his second Olympic gold in the summer, and Andrew Simpson, his Star crew-mate. We came third in an America’s Cup regatta in Valencia last month and although we have just come off a disappointing Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, where we came ninth, hopes are high for 2009.
In January we have the Louis Vuitton regatta in New Zealand, at which all the leading America’s Cup challengers will be competing. It is our chance to lay down a marker. And then it is a question of waiting for a court in New York to rule in February whether the cup can go ahead. Alinghi, the defenders, and BMW Oracle, the American team, have been arguing for some time about the way the next America’s Cup should be run. This is the final stage in a long appeals process and most teams hope that Alinghi will win. That way we can continue with a multiboat series for the next cup in 2010. If they don’t, we all face another agonising wait while Oracle and Alinghi hold a private competition. It is frustrating that such a prestigious event could be decided in a courtroom, rather than on the water, but it promises to be a fascinating year ahead.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/sailing/article5341988.ece
A third Olympic gold medal
20 August 2008
It feels good to have a third Olympic gold medal round my neck, but three days before racing began in my Finn class I went down with the mumps. I had never had mumps before and this was a relatively mild form but the doctors told me to take it easy and keep away from the rest of the GB squad.
So on the Wednesday before the Games began I was in bed all day. The next day I went out for a practice sail - not least because I didn't want to let my rivals know I was ill - but I was pretty knackered and struggled.
That is no excuse for my indifferent start to the regatta when I came tenth. In fact, I was in a great position with one leg of the first race to go and then the wind turned inside out on me. It was really frustrating. Like in Athens, which began with a ninth place and a disqualification, I just had to pick myself up and get back in the competition.
I set myself the target of a string of top-five finishes and with wins in the second, fourth and fifth races I was doing well but then I came tenth again, which was quite disappointing. You discount your worst finish, but I had had two bad runs.
But in the frustratingly light wind conditions everyone was being erratic. It was really only Zach Riley, the American, who was staying with me. As we got near the end of the regatta, it was all about keeping an eye on him, staying in the same patch of water, and hanging on to my lead.
On the Saturday, what should have been the medal race was postponed because of the lack of wind. We spent a long time hanging around and had run two legs of the race when the wind completely disappeared and the race was abandoned. I had one hand on the gold medal, but had to stay focused, not switch off and try to go through the same routines.
On Sunday the conditions were completely the opposite. It was pouring with rain and we had to come back in for a while because visibility was so poor. But when we did go back out, the conditions allowed me to control the race and cross the line first.
I'm going to be staying in Qingdao for the rest of the week to cheer these guys on and then I'm looking forward to getting home and having a lot of parties.
Ben
JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race
16 July 2008
Before heading off to China I made it down to the Isle of Wight for the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race. It was a great opportunity to join in this epic event, and this year didn’t disappoint, with a record entry of boats it was quite a spectacle to see on the water.
For this race, I swapped my Finn for a much larger boat, an Open 60 called Hugo Boss skippered by solo round the world sailor Alex Thomson. We also had a couple of special guests onboard namely F1 star Lewis Hamilton and JPMorgan Asset Management own Campbell Fleming.
These are the formula one of racing yachts; They can be sailed solo or crewed with the ultimate goal for each team being the Vendée Globe, a solo race non-stop around the planet covering over 24,000 miles! Quite a big difference from the Olympic sailing on my Finn. It was an early rise for everyone as we were on the first start of the day at 0600. The start line can get fairly crowded, and pre-start we were caught in an incident with a Farr 45 called Atomic. Following the incident Atomic was dismasted and we lost our bowsprit. It was touch and go as to whether we could carry on the race, but with our guests all raring to go we made the call to continue.
Open 60’s are challenging boats to sail at the best of times, and conditions were tough! It was pretty windy with great waves to surf down round the back of the Island. Lewis was a natural; he seemed totally at home behind the wheel. We were going at speeds of up to 25 knots at times. I helmed around the back of the Island in the surf conditions and I it was fantastic. It was a real rush and I am sure that this is a kind of sailing I would love to do again. Lewis loved his first sailing experience also, he asked to come back again!
‘HUGO BOSS’ was the first Open 60 across the line, and the eighth boat to finish, completing the course in a fast 4 hours, 23 minutes and 29 seconds, a full 4 minutes before nearest Open 60 sailor Mike Golding and ECOVER 3. The whole day had been fantastic and it was a welcome break from the daily routine of my Olympic training. Unfortunately we were deemed to be at fault for the pre start incident and were disqualified from the race!
A week later, I headed up to JPMorgan’s offices in London for a meet everyone before heading off to China. My spare Finn had been shipped in and I thought looked great in the foyer. It was great to meet the everyone and share the project with them all.
Update from Ben
21 May 2008
I'm finished with racing. Well, for the next three months anyway. The European Championships have just ended in Italy for my Finn class and that's it for me and my main rivals until we all meet again in China. So it was nice to lay down another marker before the Olympics by claiming victory off the coast of Tuscany. It was a difficult one to pull off, though. The conditions were changing the whole time and for a number of reasons it was not the best regatta I've sailed. At one stage it even looked as if I might not make the top ten and going into Saturday's medal round I was eight points behind Guillaume Florent, of France, meaning I had to beat him by four places to take the title.
Florent and I have what you might call “form”. In the second race of the Olympics in Athens four years ago, he made an official protest that I had blocked his right of way. I didn't agree, but the judges disqualified me from that race. Fortunately, I did well enough in the subsequent races to win my second Olympic gold medal.
The Frenchman sailed a fantastic series last week, not putting a foot wrong as he built a big lead on the rest of us. In the final race, I decided the best option was to try to put Florent out of contention early by harrying him at the pre-start. It seemed to unsettle him as I pinned him in the left-hand corner and, when the race got under way in shifting winds, he was right at the back.
That job done, I had to ensure that I finished ahead of Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, the Croat. Fortunately, I found a good position in the middle of the line and came through to win the race by more than a minute. Florent finished eighth to end up third overall.
Earlier in the week, I admit I struggled, sometimes not picking the correct side of the course. Having won the opening race, I started poorly in the second and was down in 45th place before finishing sixteenth. That in itself needn't have been costly as you discount your worst finish, but, then, after race seven, which I won, one of my competitors lodged a protest about a start-line incident and my result was disqualified. Boats always get in each other's way at the start and, generally, people don't complain unless it is a blatant blocking, but the sailor who complained about me was in contention to win himself and perhaps saw it as a way of advancing his own chances. It backfired as the judges decided to disqualify him, as well.
So far, this year has gone well for me. After winning my fifth World Championships title in Australia in January, I joined the British team for a training camp in Majorca that ended with me winning the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma.
It continued an unbeaten run for me in the Finn since the last Olympics, but that has been helped by having a long break away with the America's Cup. When it comes to the Olympics, it doesn't matter how you have done in the previous few years; it is all down to performance in one regatta and I am not for one second resting easy on my laurels. There are several sailors who will fancy taking my crown in Qingdao. It will help that I have won two test regattas on the Olympic course, though. We are heading out there again in a fortnight for a British training camp and there will be another trip to China in July. The more experience we can all get of the very different conditions in Qingdao the better.
This will be my fourth Olympics and things are obviously very different for me now than when I first competed in Atlanta as a 19-year-old. I was very wide-eyed and inexperienced then, fascinated by the whole Olympic extravaganza taking place around me. Now I am focused solely on the racing, there will be no other distractions.
In fact, I won't even be in Beijing for the Olympic opening ceremony because racing starts the next day. It is a shame as I'm sure the Chinese will put on an excellent show, but my focus has to be on making the best start on the water.
Thank you
31 March 2008
The Finn class is a technical class and so we are constantly trying to improve the boats performance. Over the past few months we have been putting in a lot of time on the water trying to test and develop equipment which we hope will give me and edge in China and this development will continue until the final weeks before the Games. I say 'we', as whilst I sail on my own, there is a large team behind me helping to make it all happen. Coaches Jez Fanstone and David Howlett provide support, both on and off the water, and also give a lot of technical input. Juan Guaray is an Argentinean sail designer who is helping to design some new sails which we hope will make a big difference. I have some great young sparring partners in Giles Scott (Youth World Champion), Ed Greg, Mark Andrews and Andrew Mills. Away from the sailing Jo Grindley and her team at 'Into the Blue' help manage the business side of things and support the great sponsors who are backing me. Steve Gent and Pete Cunningham do a great job helping to plan and support a tailor made fitness programme, aimed at reaching peak fitness for the Games. And, as always, my Parents, who have always been there, help out with planning and logistics. So it's a pretty big effort that goes into one persons campaign and I'd like to say thanks to everyone for their support, regardless of the result they make a huge difference and it literally would not happen without them.
Update from Ben
14 March 2008
It has been a busy month in UK after returning from winter training and competitions in Australia. After three years learning the America's Cup game I am so far delighted with my return to Olympic sailing and the Finn dinghy. It was great to be back out on the water in the Finn sailing against the very best in the world, I have been struck by the increased physicality of the boat and the extra demands on fitness required to be at the top of the game. The two-month training period in Australia was crucial in securing the win at the Sydney International regatta, which led to my Olympic selection by the British Olympic Association. However selection is only one step down the road to Olympic glory and the hard work has only just begun!
After Sydney the team relocated to Melbourne for the Finn World Championships. Conditions in Melbourne were fantastic, very windy and not at all like China, but it was a great physical challenge and it was important to gain another strong result. The competition was very high, with New Zealand’s Dan Slater pushing me every inch of the way. Dan and I were tied for the championship going into the final day’s racing and I needed second or above to take the championships overall. Without a doubt this world championship has been the hardest one to win, it went down to the wire in the final race, but I managed to hold second and keep Dan Slater off the top spot. The strength and depth in the class now is great I am obviously delighted to win a fifth world championship, now looking forward to lots of hard work in the build up to China.
February has seen a pit stop in the UK before I head off for European racing season which runs up until June. Between training and catching up with friends and family, February also saw many media commitments. With such a short amount of time in the UK, this is one of the last times I will be available to speak to people face to face before heading off to China, so I have been involved in various interviews, TV broadcasts and photoshoots, as people prepare their Olympic preview pieces. It is great to see so many people starting to get excited about the Olympics and also about sailing. It can often be a minority sport within the British media, but with a very strong team and as one of the disciplines with the potential for the most medals at the Olympics, sailing becomes increasingly more prominent during the Olympic year. June and July will be spent training in China trying to gain as good an understanding of the very unique conditions as possible. Sailing is a sport where venue familiarisation is crucial.
The venue in China has been the focus of many of the media questions I have faced over the last month. Qingdao is certainly going to be interesting for the sailors and also for the media. The race course for the Finn is a couple of miles out to sea, which make spectator viewing very hard. The weather conditions in China are also going to be very challenging, it is a very light airs venue, with cross tides. In some respects it is a bit of a sailor’s nightmare, but that’s the challenge. The British team have performed very consistently at the last two test events and we will be working hard over the next six months to train out there and learn the conditions as much as possible to prepare ourselves for the event.
Personally, this will be my fourth Olympics. The aura and occasion of the Olympics is still very special, even now, but I am going to China for no other reason to try and win another medal, preferably gold. I’m getting to the age where I’m not sure how many Games I have left in me so I need to make it count!
Until next time….
Selection for Beijing
23 January 2008
It’s a huge honour to be selected to represent my country at the Olympic Games, which will be held in China this August. As in most sports selection is never easy and in sailing we only have one spot per nation so it is very tough. I must mention my rival in Skandia Team GBR for the Olympic sport, Ed Wright, who has been one of the top Finn sailors worldwide in the last few years, if he were sailing for any other country he would probably be going to China this summer and would be a medal contender. The Olympic trail can be a cruel one at times.
After three years learning the America's Cup game I am so far delighted with my return to Olympic sailing and the Finn dinghy. I have been struck by the increased physicality of the boat and the extra demands on fitness required to be at the top of the game. Being down in Australia for over two months and the training in this period has already been crucial to being successful in winning the Sydney International Regatta which led to my Olympic selection by the Royal Yachting Association and the British Olympic Association. However selection is only one step down the road to Olympic glory and the hard work has only just begun! Despite sailing a single-handed boat there are a number of people who support me in my campaign; on the financial side sponsors JPMorgan Asset Management and Henri Lloyd, coaches David Howlett and Jez Fanstone and of course my family and friends.
After the Sydney Regatta I enjoyed a short break in Fiji over Christmas. Some very good friends run a resort on a secluded Island in the middle of nowhere. It was a slightly odd venue to be eating turkey but it was fantastic to be able to recharge the batteries and get ready for the challenges ahead.
Next up are the World Championships at the end of January here in Melbourne. I expect the conditions to be windy, not at all like China, but it will be a great physical challenge and it will be important to gain another strong result. After so long away it will be nice to get back home and catch up with family and friends before starting the European racing season which runs up until June. June and July will be spent training in China trying to gain as good an understanding of the very unique conditions as possible. Sailing is a sport where venue familiarisation is crucial.
The Finn class, as it stands, is really very open. A few of the old stalwarts are back such as 2004 Silver Medallist and current World Champion, Rafa Trujillo from Spain and the Greek Emilio’s Papathanassiou. Of the younger generation the Dane, Joanas Christensen, and the Croatian Ivan Caspevic stand out as the most likely talent to make it amongst the medallists in China. Personally, this will be my fourth Olympics. The aura and occasion of the Olympics is still very special, even now, but I am going to China for no other reason to try and win another medal, preferably Gold. I’m getting to the age where I’m not sure how many Games I have left in me so I need to make it count!
My other sailing commitment still lies with Team Origin, Britain’s sole America's Cup challenge. The sailing world is still awaiting the next court ruling from the US, which should give a good indication as to when the 33rd Americas Cup will be held. Team Origin is an amazing group and I very much hope we can hold them team together until we have a Cup to race for. For the next six months, however, my focus is on China and the Olympic games.
Update from China...
4 August 2007
As predicted it's very hot and humid here in Qingdao. It takes a while to get used to the humidity and with the haze/mist you quite often get the impression you're in a 'steam room'. The wind has also been very light for the last week. On the one hand the lack of wind is frustrating as it makes the days long, waiting for wind, but that’s how it is here and you just have to get on with it. The British team have a great accommodation setup, not far from the marina, so the day is quite simple, a bit like ground hog day! I spend most of the day working on the boat or training on the water and at the end of the day head to the gym to try and build up more weight and fitness!!
Jez Fanstone (coach) and Ed Wright (Fellow British Finn sailor) arrived yesterday, so we will now have a good solid week of training and testing in the build up to the Pre Olympics. This venue is so unique that it is important to step back and look at how best to approach these very special conditions. After being out of the boat for almost two years it's exciting for me to be competing again and I hope to be back up to pace as quickly as possible.
Sailing again at last...
17 July 2007
After completing the 32nd America’s Cup with Emirate’s Team New Zealand, I am now fully focused on my Olympic campaign, and qualification in the Finn class for Beijing 2008. I have come straight back from Valencia to start training in the Finn in the UK.
Whilst in Valencia I have been working hard on my fitness in the gym, now I just need a period of time training in the Finn to regain my boat fitness. This is difficult to replicate in the gym. There is no substitute for time in the water.
I have one month training before the start of the Pre Olympics in China. I appreciate the RYA selection team giving me the single space to race at the event. It was the last event I completed at in the Finn, I hope the result is the same also!
Whilst it was obviously disappointing not to be able to compete at the ISAF World Championships, being with Emirates Team New Zealand has been an invaluable experience, working with them has given me the opportunity of being within a top cup team, sailing with some very experienced sailors and that really increases the speed of learning. I have come away from Valencia the better sailor for it.
Now we are just 12 months away form Beijing, and my aim is to qualify and represent Great Britain for the fourth time. I am lucky to have secured JPMorgan Asset Management as a title sponsor in support of my campaign and I have a fantastic team around me; David Howlett and Jez Fanstone my coaches have continued to work on the Olympic campaign whilst I have been away
I am still passionate about Olympic sailing and the America’s Cup. The sport is so much more professional now than when I started ten years ago. Qingdao will be a very interesting venue; the conditions are generally light and testing. I would like to combine Olympic sailing with a continued involvement in the America’s Cup. At the moment I am looking at all the options and will make a decision in the coming months to what that involvement will be.
There are certainly some exciting times ahead.....