Over
the last 5 weeks
I have been
training for the
5 bridges run
which starts in
Petone and
follows the Hutt
river north. I
was leading just
after the start,
due to some of
the people in
front taking a
wrong turn. hehe.
I finished in 10th
place in a time
of 42min and
43 seconds.
Not
bad ah?
struggling
with just 1km to
go.
12
August 2011 The
build up begins
29
June 2011 World
Number 2
I
am now ranked
world number 2.
Second only to 3
times world
champion, Tom
slingsby. What a
buzz,
Yeeeeeewwwwww,
peow peow.
27
June 2011 Kiel
Regatta
On
the podium with
my bronze medal!
Helicopters,
spectator ships,
GPS tracking,
TV, media were
all present at
the start of the
2011 medal race.
The call came in
from Andrew
Maloney that the
right hand side
at the top was
key.
The
start gun has
gone and I find
myself
struggling. But
half way up I
remembered what
Andy had said,
so went for it.
Boom, first to
the top mark.From here
I finished
fourth, and
comfortably
wrapped up third
overall.
nice
pink bib :)
This
was the first
World Cup event
that I had been
on the podium,
collected my
first medal and
stole my first
bib … albeit
pink!
Not
only was the
sailing good,
but Andy and I
enjoyed our
time. From
Legoland to
Hamburg, Danish
babes, Lubeck to
dodgy brothels.
We even managed
6 countries in
24 hours!
15
June 2011 Sail
for Gold Regatta
Working hard
Wet,
cold and windy.
Not much else to
report. Oh, the
99p shop is
great. You can
get a huge bar
of Toblerone, a
belt, a bag of
lollies for less
than 3 pounds.
Amazing!
This
was to be my
peak event, but
turned out not
so. I finished
this regatta in
a disappointing
23rd.
Although not a
bad result,
it’s
definitely not
what I was
after. It felt
like I had all
the elements in
place to do well
in the regatta,
but got too
caught up in it
all,
overthinking,
which led to
some amateur
decisions which
I don’t
normally make.
Over
5 days, we did
10 races all
about an hour
long.10 hours
total. We spent
almost as much
time towing as
the tows were
soooo long (
approx. 10.5km),
the way in was
the most painful
as we were
smashing into
the waves the
whole way. Your
eyes ended blood
shot, sails got
well stretched
and the boats
took a pounding.
Apart from this
the venue is
looking very
good and is well
geared up to
host the
Olympics in just
over a year’s
time.
Off
to have fun in
Kiel. Chow
Andy's
Birthday cake,
made by Sam and
I.
20
December 2011 2011
Laser National Championships
and Sail
Auckland Regatta
Winning
the medal race
of sail Auckland
was definitely a
highlight
Coming off the
boat end of the
line with 5 of
the top 25
sailors in the
world, and
realising
that every one
from the other
end of the line
is crossing
miles ahead of
you is probably
not the best way
to start the
2011 laser
national
championships,
but it was
something we all
had to get used
to over the
next
couple of weeks,
as it became the
norm, not the
exception.
Nationals was an extremely
close affair,
with New Zealand's
famous 5 (Andrew
Murdoch, Josh
Junior, Michael
Bullot, Andy
Maloney, and Sam
Meech) extremely
close. I was
tied for first
going into the
last race, and
it was just 3
points back to
second, because I
had a really low
drop I couldn't
finish worse
than 3rd.
Unfortunately
I had my worst
race of the regatta,
and finished 3rd
just 1 point of
1st placed,
Olympian Andrew Murdoch.
Sail Auckland
was a little bit
more of a struggle
with 2 yellow
flags, hitting
marks, missing multiple
shifts, and
after capsizing
onto a mark, I
quote
"things
just really aren't
going my way
this week",
but I battled on
to win the medal
race, and finish
a credible 5th
place.
I now have a few
days to
re-evaluate
where I'm at
before full time
training
continues
and the build up
to Europe commences.
