Weymouth « GBR Match Race Girls - Women's Match Racing Olympic Campaign

Tricky first day

Tuesday 2nd August, 2011

Well folks we have definitely had better days on the water than we had today for the first day of racing at the Olympic Test Event, however we are not too down about it, see the video round up below as Annie talks us through the day.

Unfortunately, you do not seem to have a flash plugin available. Version 8 or above is required.

After a bit of a postponement, a sea breeze started filling about 11.00 however it never really build much above 6–7 knots so all four of our races were very light and shifty and unfortunately this meant a couple of small mistakes cost us a lot in the racing. Our order of races went Spanish, Finnish, Dutch and Russians today, all very good teams in the light breeze so it was never going to be an easy day.

We are really pleased with our starting from today having been in control of ever match in the sequence and at start time however finishing with one win and then three losses we know its going to take more than good starts to win this regatta!

Overall we were sailing well and know where we went wrong so to be honest we are ready and raring to go straight out and start the next races now… though as I look out the window there isn’t a breath of wind in the Harbour so on second thoughts we might wait until 11.00 tomorrow…

Wish us luck!

Lucy

Comments Off
Tags: 2011, Elliott 6M, Olympic Test Event, Video, Weymouth

All set for Test Event start

Monday 1st August, 2011

Tomorrow will be the first day of racing for us at the Olympic Test Event in Weymouth. We’ll be the first class to start racing and it will be as close as we’ll get in similarity to racing at the Olympics next year, so we’re really looking forward to getting started.

Yesterday we had our first day sailing in the brand new Olympic boats and the venue at Portland has been taken over by LOCOG and looking quite different to usual. It all makes the Olympics next year feel that bit closer!

Today we have another official practice session in the boats then round robin racing starts for us inside Portland Harbour tomorrow at 11.00. With there only being 12 teams here and for the Games, we’ll do a complete round robin racing every other team in the first three days. We’ll then have a day off and the format is then quarter finals, semis and finally the finals aren’t until late next week. It is the longest event we have every taken part of in terms of number of days between start and finish, but in terms of number of races overall it is quite a bit shorter than our World Cup events. This means we’ll have to get used to having days off in the next two weeks… not something we’re used to with our racing usually! The forecast this week has a bit of the ‘its not normally like this’ feel to it, but next week is looking a touch more ‘normal’.

Check out the video interview below to find out how Sparky rates our chances, and a bit of an update from the three of us…

Unfortunately, you do not seem to have a flash plugin available. Version 8 or above is required.

We’ll try and keep you posted as much as possible, bye for now though.

Lucy x

Comments Off
Tags: 2011, Elliott 6M, Olympic Test Event, Video, Weymouth

One year to the 2012 Olympic Games

Wednesday 27th July, 2011

With the news headlines dominated by the fact that there is exactly one year until the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, today marks a significant milestone in our campaign to represent GBR on our home waters next year.

As part of the celebrations in the run-up to the Olympics next year, the National Portrait Gallery has commissioned a series of inspirational portraits depicting British athletes. We were delighted to be asked to “sit” for world-renowned photographer Finlay MacKay and spent a day with him and his team last month. The following video interview shows a little more about our portrait, and gives an update on our training and progress.

Find out more and see the other portraits on the Road to 2012 website, the collection is on display at the National Portrait Gallery until September 25th. Entry is free!

The year ahead promises to be exciting, though we’re under no illusions about the amount of dedication, training, fitness, preparation and competition it will involve. We still have a long way to go, though you can be sure we have one of these firmly in our sights :)

Stay tuned and follow us on our journey, starting with the Olympic Test Event next week!

Lucy, Annie and Kate x

Comments Off
Tags: 2011, 2012 Olympic Games, Elliott 6M, Video, Weymouth

The countdown begins

Monday 25th July, 2011

Annie, Kate and I are currently enjoying our final day at home today before heading down to Weymouth tonight ready for the final preparations before the Pre Olympic Test Event starting next week.

It’s an important and exciting time in our campaign at the moment. In a few days time there will be just one year before the start day of the 2012 London Olympics and the Test Event will be the closest we’ll get to replicating the event next year. Just like it will be at the Games next year there will only be 12 teams at the test event, one per qualifying nation, so the format will be very different from what we’re used to with one complete round robin followed by quarters, semis and finals. There will be plenty of time to get all the racing in so just doing three races per day and having lay days will be aspects of the event to get used to in preparation for next year where the Match Racing starts on day 1 of the Games and finishes on the final day!

Our training has been going really well recently. We all know there are still huge areas where we can improve as a team both on our strengths and weaknesses but that is a very exciting part of the process and after the next couple of weeks we’ll assess that very thoroughly before looking ahead to the next phase of racing and training in the Autumn.

We’re aiming for a medal when we start racing next Tuesday, which certainly won’t be easy as there is going to be some great competition, but we’re looking forward to the challenge!

Lucy