Kiel Week Day 4 ‘Watch those yellows’

Hey all,

Quick one today as quite tired. I have alot of pain in the tendon on top of my right foot leading into my big toe. Think it is sailing related but now on anti-inflamatory meds and voltaren.

Had 3 races today again! Windy again! no rest for the weary here at Kiel, pouring rain and cold again.

First race rounded top in early teens and finished the 1st reach to the outter course only to recieve my 2nd yellow flag. ‘Pumping sheet on the reach’ and apparently my bright yellow gloves make it super obvious … So I was disqualified and had to wait around for race 2 in the cold.

2nd Race I was determined to get a good result. I couldn’t afford to fall back in the fleet and I need to finish this in the top 30 for my own piece of mind as this would be a great start to this years camapaign. I punched out off the line and cut right through a small hole between boats and low and behold ran into a big right and shift. Massive lift and I crossed the fleet with a few others (Mike Leigh, Tom Slingsby, Deniss Karpak, Gustavo Lima). Rounded the top mark in about 6th and lost a few on the runs and reaches but finished up 10th !!! awesome race in gold fleet here.

3rd race I was feeling a little worse for wear and had a tough start after everyone was over but they didnt call it back? I was being careful as I know today I can rely on boat speed and strength to muscle over the back few to avoid a black flag (disqualification for being over the line). Anyway I bailed out to the right and got dumped on by a Polish guy. Tacked again and then watched the fleet cross me on masse … disaster …

I reached the left layline and dropped a tack onto a lift and hiked like a maniac … I managed to catch about 12 boats through hard footing and just tacked inside a big group at the mark. From there I held on to mid 20s result and ended up 28th overall.

Thus I moved up to 27th today and am in striking distance of reaching the top 25. Arthur Brett (Australian head laser coach) gave me a well needed tow home today so i didnt have to sail another hour.

I’m destroyed but only one more race to go tomorrow. A decent result will see me through to a mid 20s result at Kiel and fingers crossed that all goes to plan. I will practice a bit of caution on starts and be as smooth as possible to avoid further yellow flags.

Hope all is well at home and keep an eye out for tomorrow.

In wider news – Tom Slingsby (Australia) has won the regatta hands down and is currently partying as all he has to do is show up to the medal race.

Mike Leigh is running 3rd and will be duking it out with Gustavo (Portugal) and Rasmus (Sweden) tomorrow.

Kiel Week Day 3

Hi all,

Today was interesting as the day started light but became fresher and fresher (in terms of breeze). Plenty of rain about and it was freezing cold out on the water with a low single figure temperature due to windchill and rain.

We ended up doing 2 races and they were both in between about 5 – 12 knots. The first race I shot out to a good start and raced to the front of the fleet, taking the lead momentarily I missed an opputunity to cross and had to duck about 5 boats! arghhh … rounded the top mark in around 10th and held onto that quite well. The final section of the race was tough and I lost a few boats on the reach by not going high and then lost one on the final work. I came 15th in that race which is awesome in this fleet but I still feel disappointed at the losses during the race.

The second race after 10 boats were black flagged (disqualified) we managed to get a start off with a 40 strong fleet (thos 10 guys sit out). I was about mid way though the fleet the whole race and advanced upwind, held or made sligh gains downwind and lost on the reaches. Clearly I have to work on the reaches.

Anyway I ended up 29th in the second race and moved up in the regatta from 38th overall to 29th international. A gain of almost 10 boats so all in all a solid day. A top 30 result here in Olympic year will look awesome on the resume and will definetely booster world ranking. Now I just need to hang in there and pull at least 3 more solid races as I havent had any ’shitters’ yet and have sailed consistantly solid.

Stay tuned and fingers crossed on a strong finish to break into the top 25.

 

So ruined …

Hi all,

Just a quick complaint session …

So sore … Everything is so tight and I can barely walk after sitting down for a bit !!! … can’t wait till tomorrow i think ill drug myself out of existance with good old nurofen before the racing …

On another note what is with Germans and their rules. I have never seen a country with so many pointless laws and rules. At the place where we are staying Mike Leigh who im staying with drove our hire car in nose first and the owner of the manor came out and goes ‘Nein Nein Nein!!! Can you please park properly, that is not the right way to do it’ apparently we need to park reverse because ‘it is more efficient’ … Lovely old man, unless you break the rules … Also i’m trying to buy a German Sim card at the moment so I can talk to people back home and APPARENTLY i need my passport and a German address and proof of address to get a prepaid number … It costs 2 Euros for f*cks sake COME ON … A turkish salesman actually got mad at me because I laughed when he said produce a passport and proof of address … Apparently sim cards are ‘no laughing matter and the polizei (Police) could become involved’ … you would think i was robbing a bank or something …

For those who read that above it is clear in Germany order is everything …

I’m beginning to miss home a little as its so chilled out.

After Kiel is finished we (Mike Leigh, Myself and Josh Chant) will shift our training to endurance which means we will all be jumping on our road bikes (cycling) and doing a tour around Berlin before I progress to the regatta at Warnemunde on the 5th June (which is a ISAF world ranking grade 2 event). This will be awesome as we will see the countryside and do a city tour on the bikes travelling light. Looking forward to all that cycling up hills and on long flats (sprinting!!!) and getting some endurance fitness again so I dont have to suffer this pain in my legs again!

Look below to see my days scores and a cool pic that some officials got near the finish of the 3rd race today.

Cheers!

 

Kiel Week Day 2 ‘Qualifiers are over’

Hey all,

Today was day 2 of Kiel Week and we did 3 races today. It was between 12 – 18 knots and quite cold. Today’s results I managed a 15th, 16th and 20th which was solid but I wasn’t on my ‘A’ Game. Today proved to me that sitting in an office for the last year has really affected my endurance ability. We were out on the water for about 5.5 hours and raced for a total of about 3.5 hours. The trip to the start line is about 5kms so its a whole lot of sailing. Due to these hours and the intensity of the racing, I just couldn’t hike all day and i struggled with alot of cramps. The other guys at the top were machines, understandable as the top 50 are all professional funded athletes on olympic campaigns. They just didn’t stop and no matter what I did the pain barrier stopped me from keeping pace. More then once I was out in front with the top few guys to slide back. I drank alot of electrolyte fluids and ate high carbo foods and pasta on the water but to no avail.

I came in shattered, so tired and sore from the tearing nature of cramps. Then I heard the good news, today is the final day of qualifiers and I am ranked 38th in the event overall from 156 boats. This means GOLD FLEET !!! this is great news as in 2006 I finished up 68th and in Silver Fleet as the cut off point is 52nd. There is only 14 points difference between me and 20th overall which means i’m still in good shape to move on up.

Kiel week is still booming and so many people about. I feel like I could sleep for days at the moment and I probably will lock in 10 hours tonight. My little brother Nick is worse for wear then me and managed to finish 2 of 3 races. He said to me today ‘now I know how hard it is Ash’ and i smiled because he was all talk telling me he would beat me by the end of the year in the laser. He’s got about 5 years training and 10kgs to catch up yet. Tomorrow I race the top 52 in the regatta only and wear the gold ribbon. Stay tuned to see if I can push up into the top 30 tomorrow.

 

Day 1 Kiel Week

.

  

Hi all,

Just a short one as im quite busy and needing to go home and eat a good dinner.

Today was a sunny morning and I was keen to get on the water. Awesome weather with a nice medium breeze (10 – 12 knots).

First race looked great as I split right and got a decent right hander to cross the fleet in 3rd around the top mark. There are about 52 in each fleet (and 3 fleets my bad).

I managed to hold this position but got hunted down by Rasmus Myrgren (Sweden) and ended up 4th around the final reach mark. Then I got my 1st yellow flag and did a 720 degree (2 circles) penalty and lost a few boats and fell back to 9th and lost one more boat on the final work to finish 10th. Not bad considering this fleet is Olympic year.

2nd race was about the same conditions. Broke right again and was boat end for the start. Managed to utilize the current (4 boat lengths a minute to the pin end) and punched out from the fleet and rounded the top mark again in 3rd!!!

This time I held my position and actually broke out in front with the group with Rasmus again to the right side of the course and waited for the wind to fill in. It came right near the layline and i flopped over onto a big lift and managed to take rasmus to the top mark.

The run we matched each other for speed with both of us popping out once or twice. I got him to the mark and then rounded to take on the reach. Plenty of jury around so I was exceptionally careful and just held my position to take 4th position. Solid day 1 and now ranked 17th overall from 156 internationals                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Photos of lead up and Kiel

Here is some photos -

Success and onto Kiel Woche !!!

Hi all,

Quick update. I am in Kiel and have lots of photos to post soon as I get some time.

We ended up getting the boats at about 6pm yesterday (after my last post) which was great. We drove straight out through customs and cleared it all with the Germans. Then set about the 3 hour drive to Kiel.

I arrived last night at 1230 am after some late night driving by Henrik and a bit of help from Brett and Pete from Singapore sailing. We are now staying in a massive house like Chateau in the countryside near the sailing club. My bed is soft and warm and im looking forward to a good sleep tonight.

Today I went for a warm up sail to check my boat and its systems and warm up the muscle groups. All is well and I put the fabled AUS on my sail today so I can represent my country. Tomorrow is the first day of the largest regatta in the world and I have lots of photos of the endless boat parks, countless sponsor tents and 1000s of competitors. Its a great atmosphere and is a big deal here with 90% of the crowd being local Germans.

Tomorrow I will put some photos up so you can see what its all about.

They will try and get off two races tomorrow and it will be round robin meaning the fleet of 200 boats will be divided into 4 groups of 50 and raced one at group at a time. This happens for 8 races but after the first day the fleet is divided 1,2,3,4 then 4 (5),3 (6),2 (7),1 (8) and so forth down the fleet. After 8 races the fleet is divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze and Concrete. Obviously you want to avoid concrete … My aim is gold fleet and back in 06′ I made silver here and came 68th from 200 so this time im keen to break the top 50 (which would also mean top 50 in the world).

Racing starts at 1pm tomorrow and it feels weird to be here with all these pro sailors after i’ve been sitting in the Michael Page offices for the last few months in Sydney. This is Olympic year and everyone is on form and looking so fit and quite intimidating. So yep i’m a little nervous but I know I can always fall back on the basics to get solid results. This regatta will be a warm up but I will put my heart and soul into doing my best here.

ill post some pictures for you soon.

Regards and wish me luck!

Sitting in the waiting room … just want to sail already !!!

Hi all,

Just a quick post as im in the waiting room at Wallanius Wilhelmsen (Shipping Company).

We are currently in Bremenhaven waiting to pick up up our boats and there has been extensive delays. The ship itself was delayed in Panama (apparently alot of traffic in the canal). Now we are waiting for port facilities to get cracking.

The theory is we drive in and pick up the boats, attach the trailer and then drive to Kiel tonight. They were supposed to be ready by 3pm but they told us to come back at 6pm now so we need to burn 3 hours.

Germany has been exactly as I remembered, wet, dark, quite cold for summer and the people here are so blunt. It could be we have been dealing with multiple customs officers and people who don’t speak english. I can get by with my German here but when they go into finer detail its ‘du sprechen sie Englische?’

As long as you try with them first they appreciate it.

I finally found a place that sold Australian adapters here but am struggling to buy a sim card as they want me to provide a German Address which I clearly don’t own (nor want to own). Plenty of cheap food here though so at least thats an upside …

ill bring everyone home some Milke and Haribo products

 

Off to Germany …

Hi everyone,

After a short ‘get over the jetlag’ stay in Sweden i’m now off to race in Kiel Week in Germany.

I will treat this as my warm up event to the multitude of major events approaching.

I’d like to thank Lisa Ostman and Henrik Boquist for putting up with my little brother and I and looking after us here in Linkoping. We really appreciate it and they have shown us open hospitality and asked nothing in return.

We obviously took part in Swedish events and I have learned much due to their patient answers to my questions. Tack Tack!

So tomorrow I will be driving with Nicko and Henrik to Bremenhaven. We will be dropping into Denmark along the way and then will progress to catch a ferry to North Germany before picking up our boats from the shipping port and then driving to Kiel the next morning to arrive on the 23rd June to meet Mike Leigh and Josh Chant.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

MidSommarAfton (Mid Summer’s Eve)

Hi all,

As a bit if a sidetrack from the constant training I observed and took part in an awesome swedish event today. I went for a big run this morning and session in the gym so this was a nice change.

I managed to partake in Swedish culture today on a grand scale. I was told today was a big holiday as it meant the Summer Solstice was shortly arriving which is a highly celebrated event here in the Nordic countries as before christianity arrived it was a mass pagan event for FERTILITY YES FERTILITY …

The large pole in the middle represents a phallic symbol aka it is basically a ‘cock and balls’ …

The dances were produced so that swedish folk in pre modern times could meet one another and then get freaky in the bushes and long grass after the event. Obviously this is helped by cheap cask wine. Many touch the pole when they want to get pregnant and I touched it but will now be ultra careful !!! watch out ladies im fertile …

The dances are funnily quite innocent but its more a chance to have a look around like a modern nightclub. It was a great event and Nick, Henrik, Lisa and I really got into it!

Tonight everyone has garden parties and dances about. Its truely a big deal here and is more celebrated then Christmas.

Check out my photos and have a laugh at the gold that is Mid Summers Eve around the fertility ‘pole’