Update

May 15th, 2007

The European season thus far has been very successful with an 8th and 15th placing out of 70 boat fleets in the Princess Sofia Regatta and the French Olympic Class regatta respectively.

My knowledge and skills in sailing the Finn are on a rapid rise. The Australian Sailing Team has given the Finn program a great boost with the appointment of Paul McKenzie. Paul will coach and advise me while in Europe competing in the following four events:

  • Holland Regatta in Medemblik, Holland May 23-27
  • Finn European Championships Balaton Hungary June 1-9
  • Kiel Week Kiel Germany June 16-20
  • Finn Gold Cup and ISAF World Championships Cascais Portugal 28-13 June/July

The ISAF World Championships in Cascais is the first opportunity for Australia to qualify the Nation in each respective class for the Olympic Games. The Finn has a fleet size of 25 boats in the Olympic Games and the top 19 nations will qualify at this event and the remaining 6 positions will be allocated at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne during January.

Training in Australia
I have sailed from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron under the watchful eye of Adrian Finglas and working very hard in the gym lifting big weights with my personal trainer Mark Mathe. I’m holding a steady weight of 94 kgs up 11 kgs from lightweight Laser days.

Giving Back
Saturday 12th May, along with fellow RQYS member and Australian Sailing Team Sailor Nick Behrens gave a presentation to the Queensland Laser Association / Yachting Queensland Youth Development Squad. This was a great success and allowed all to hear first hand sailing tips, preparation skills, share in the Olympic dream and hear some of the stories from our sailing adventures.

Looking forward
Thursday 17th May, I will fly to Munich and pick up my new Audi A6 from the Audi factory before driving up to Amsterdam. I, along with my training partners from Canada, Ireland and Holland are still having container issues. Although the containers have been released by customs all the Finns and Powerboats are in Valencia. Katie Culbert from the Australian Sailing Team High Performance Unit has been hard at work investigating alternatives to get the equipment to Holland without having me drive Munich-Valencia-Amsterdam prior to the Holland Regatta.