| ATHENS, GREECE-(28-8-2003) Less than a year to go to the Olympics and we have learnt many lessons from
this test event. With a mix of breezes, both in strength and direction, we
also saw a mix in our results! We had a slow start to the regatta, with our
first race being a disqualification for being over the line, followed by
some low scores. The schedule was two days racing,then a lay day. During
the lay day, Jenny and I had some serious analysis, talked a lot with our
great coach and came back on day 4 with a better approach.
We had a fantastic day with two convincing wins. A great day for us,
confirming that we had not lost our skill and that we can again, be the
best in the world. I must say, we did like the view from the front, made
better because we were flying a spinnaker with a huge Australian flag on
it. We flew it proudly!
We continued to have a few tough races further on in the series but kept
learning and this experience will be put to good use. We were not after
results here, but to learn as much about the conditions as we could in
preparation for next year.
We had a good sea breeze on the last day, after mostly off shore breezes,
and finished the regatta with another win, pulling us up to 6th place
overall. The Greek girls won the event, Danish 2nd and French 3rd.
We have spent today packing up and are off tomorrow to Cadiz where we will
train and compete in the World Championships which begin on the 18th of
September.
Greece has been great, and all is on track for the Worlds. It is a big
event for us. We have to qualify the nation for the Olympics ( a top 10
result should do that), it is our third Olympic trials event, and it also
triples up as the regatta from which all the funding allocations are made.
So it is a few days of travelling and what some may think is rest and then
hola to some more training in Spain.
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