These fine looking machines are Olympic Star boats. For the last few months I have been working with Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey, trying to help them reach their goal of Beijing '08. They are both great people to work with and I am learning heaps not only about star boats but life in General! It has certainly been a slower pace than most of the sailing I have been involved with in recent times, but it always proves to be quite demanding. As in most Olympic classes the competition is fierce and margins are small. We recently competed in the Western Hemisphere Champs in Tampa. For our team it was an important regatta as opportunities to fulfill national criteria are running out leading into selection for 2008. Given the category of this regatta a top three finish would qualify the guys for the Australian sailing team and mean they are on their way to Olympic Selection, not to mention a large chunk of government funding....
The regatta venue although on Tampa Bay, was acting much like a lake, very fickle, shifty conditions not exactly ideal for sailboat racing, but a difficult mental challenge to overcome, as they say, it is the same for everyone...
After some interesting races, with places changing at the drop of a hat, the guys managed to finish in third place overall, we did achieve our goals for the week and continued some good form shown in Bacardi Cup in March. 4th in Bacardi and 3rd in Tampa are both great results, good form leading into a European season. Next Month its Holland regatta in Medemblik, Kiel, Germany and the worlds in Caiscais Portugal....
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