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The pinnacle event of 2014 was a unique one – the ISAF Sailing World Championships, an event that all the Olympic classes come together for once every four years. It marks the end of the season with most countries taking a small break after the event, before planning and getting stuck into training for the regattas towards the end of the year that lead into 2015. On top of everyone fighting to become World Champion across the ten Olympic Classes, they were also racing to secure their Nation a berth at the 2016 Olympic Games.
NZL Sailing Team © Sailing Energy
Having never been to Santander before, our NZL Laser Team arrived a couple weeks early to get some time under our belts experiencing the conditions on the water that we would be likely to get during the event. It was a great training period with a bunch of the other top international teams having a similar plan, making for a great build up. We experienced the range of conditions throughout the two weeks, but the onshore North Easterlies that created glamour waves and surfing conditions downwind were definitely my favourite! It was also a great chance to get comfortable in Santander and check out some of the great local sights. I even got the chance to take a quick trip to Bilbao one evening after training to watch the Tall Blacks take on USA at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. It was cool to see some of USA’s NBA superstar players in action, and give the Kiwi underdogs a bit more support!
Training in the awesome onshore conditions before the regatta...
By the time racing came around it is fair to say that I was raring to go and felt very prepared for the battle to come. With 147 Laser’s guys from 72 different countries competing for the World Title and 23 Rio Olympic berths, it was all on. The four qualifying series races were held over the first two days in light onshore breezes, which are the conditions that make for the tightest racing in the Laser fleet and any mistakes can be very costly. I made it through the qualifying relatively unscathed, but wasn’t making the most of all the opportunities presented to me during some of the races. This left me around the middle of Gold fleet heading into the six scheduled finals series races to come.
We were met by more light winds to begin Gold fleet racing resulting in only one race being completed on the first day. I sailed a solid race to take the win and go into our rest day happy, and confident that I could still get back in the mix. Back into racing a couple days later and the breeze started to be in an offshore flow, which made for a different type of racing. We completed two races that day and after an OK result in the first race, I got stuck out on the completely wrong side the next race and scored my drop. Sitting 15th going into the penultimate day with three races scheduled in a breezy forecast, I was still determined to turn it around and get into that top group. Unfortunately the big breeze turned out to be a little bit too much for the race committee who struggled to anchor the start boat for a good three hours. We ended up sitting out there flogging our sails in 15-30 knots, watching the glamour conditions pass us by. It was frustrating to say the least! Eventually we completed one race that day in which I rounded the top mark mid fleet and fought back to a half decent result, but not enough to move up into the top ten. I finished up the event 14th overall.
Not performing to your expectations at a major event is a pretty tough pill to swallow in the days following. You start to think about what went well, what not so well, and what to do differently next time. The missed opportunities you had during the event are pretty hard to get out of your mind. It will take a couple weeks to finally get all my thoughts down on paper and then have a proper debrief with my support team, so that I can fully switch off for a decent break. I am confident that there is a lot that I am doing well and have done well all season. The difference between winning a medal at a major event like Hyeres this year, and then placing 14th here at the Worlds comes down to very small margins and I know I can bounce back from this one to get back on that podium in the near future!
A view of three different course areas; watching the other classes try and complete some races in variable conditions. This was a pretty amazing day for anything BUT sailing!..
That fire is still burning deep inside me to be the best, and consistently on the podium. I am looking forward to a break right now, catching up with friends, family, and having fun with some other hobbies that keep me fit and healthy! Come November I will be back on the water and then competing towards the end of the year at a couple of ISAF World Cup events.
Thanks to all of my supporters for their continued help! Knowing that you are all behind me is huge.
Cheers!
Andy
