Day 6

After a good nights sleep I woke to a fairly light wind and cloudy morning. We meet at the coaches hotel at 8.30 for the morning briefing, where Maurice our coach took us through the forecast and racing format for the day. We had 2 medal races and were first on the race course, so a 10.45 start. A medal race is for just the top 10 boats and each score in each short 20 minute race is doubled to try and keep the event open right up until the final race. Unfortunately because of our current standing the podium was out of reach but we did have a chance of moving up the rankings.

During the night Nacra had changed our rudder blades to the updated version, and to our horror as we left the beach we found that with the new blade in the rudder wouldn't fasten down. After a quick attempt at fixing it, we decided that we would need to go back in a replace the rudder. I haven't replaced a rudder that fast ever. Thanks to rupert for helping and lending us his!

Finally we made it onto the race course and with a little time to spare. A quick tune upwind, a set to check the spinnaker and then we were into sequence. We had a good start in the middle of the line and made some good calls up the 1st beat finding the channels of breeze in the changing conditions. 3rd at the windward mark, but a good downwind boosted us into 2nd. We were flying, great speed and boat handling, unfortunately we tacked just short of the lay line and had to double tack at the top giving away the 2nd place. After pushing hard on the final downwind we couldn't quite get the place back and finished 3rd.

Race 2, we knew we had the speed so we were pumped up and ready. We wanted to head to the what looked like the favoured right hand side, so straight of the start we tacked. We flew up the first beat rounding the windward mark in 1st place! A controlled and commanding lap saw us lead all the way up to the final windward mark where, again we tacked a little early and were forced to do another hitch. during the extra tacking one boat squeezed by. We brought her home in 2nd.

Wow what a great last day a 3rd and a 2nd, that combined with the double points system boosted us in 5th overall, A great start to our 2016 Olympic Campaign.

Home now for a week or so, get my hands back in one piece and have a bit of rest.

Check back soon for some final regatta thoughts and things that we are taking forward to the next regatta, Hyeres!

Day 5

So the final day of finals racing. It was a slow start to the day, we were on the course after the RSX, and due to the light winds in the morning we were all delayed. But just after lunch our postponement was lowered and we left the beach for our 3 races.​

​The winds were lighter than we had experienced before, marginal twin wiring upwind. We were fast, in race 1 we decided that the right hand side of the beat looked good and after a good start at the committee boat we tack immediately. We lead out to the right with great speed. But unfortunately in leading out you have to guess the lay line. we were a little early and not only missed the lay line but the breeze as well. Our good pace kept us near the front and we battled around with the front pack. eventually finishing in 4th. A good start.

Race 2 the conditions we much the same. And after another good start and good speed off the line, we sailed quickly but to the less favored side. Our great boat speed saw us carve back through the fleet though, and pulled what was potentially a bad result back to 7th.

In the final race we had a tricky start and was forced to the bad side of the first beat. At the windward mark we were in a less than desirable position. But again using our great boat speed n the lighter winds and determination battled back through the fleet, eventually scoring a 13th.​

Today's results have secured us a spot in tomorrows medal races where the top 10 boats race, ​its double points and there is a lot to play for! Cant wait!

Check back to see where we finally end up (it cant be worse than 10th now, ha)​

Cheers

TP

Day 4

Today was the first day of final racing, and that means with the new ISAF results system the scores are pretty much reset. So it was all to play for.​

Unfortunately race 1 was messy, the wind was all over the place and so were we. A dodgy start line meant we pretty much had to tack to cross it but a bad tack put us in a position where had to sail whole first leg in dirty air, and in trying to avoid this we ened up on the wrong side of the beat. 3rd from last at the windward mark. we knuckled down and sailed a better second lap pulling the result back to 17th.​

Race 2 was a little better but still struggling to get off the line we had another compromised lane on the first upwind. ​However our downwind speed seemed really good, and we overtook boats all the way round the course eventually scoring an 11th.

The final race finally everything started falling into place. We had a clean0ish) start and sailed our own race. When you are at the sharp end of the fleet you are able to sail the boat how you like. We could sail lower faster angles upwind and had nice clean lanes back down. We had a great race at the front of the fleet and ended the race in 3rd! our best result yet.​

Today is another day of finals racing, and then provided we are in the top 10 the medal racing is tomorrow. ​

Check back to see if we made it into the medal races.​

Cheers

TP

Day 3

Firstly this is only a quick update as i am pooped and its pretty late already after a long day on the water.

Day 3 today but only the 2nd day of racing. The wind was a little lighter and we were keen to make better use of our boat speed. Learning from yesterday we made sure we were up on the front row of the start but a bad set of waves just as we accelerated compromised our lane and we forced to tack off to unfavored side. After an initial bad leg, we sailed a great race a pulled it back to a good counter.

Race 2 we managed to get a cleaner start and using our great upwind speed we were in the leading bunch. After some closely fought racing we scored a 4th, our best result yet. So we can definitely do it!​

The final race was our downfall, after a relatively smooth racing before, it all seemed to go wrong.​ But the good news is its all stuff that is easily changed and fixed. Good results in races 4 and 5 have put us 11th overall, so now we must fight to break into the top 10 and the medal race!

​Rain forecast for tomorrow, and lightish winds, lets see what happens

Cheers

TP

Day 2

Wow, what a day. I guess the phase of the day is "we learnt a lot"​

Today was the first day of racing after the postponement yesterday. ​We launched in light winds but with an increasing forecast we quickly found our selves flat wiring and fully powered up. With Lucy's limited experience in fleet racing catamarans our start was quite reserved which left us a lot of work to do in the race. The breeze was really shifty and very hard to read, unfortunately we found ourselves on the wrong side of most of it. Also to top it off on the first tack of the race I managed to push the dagger board through the top of the hull meaning it was jammed down, this really didn't help with sailing the boat! race 1 was tricky!

I was determined to make a mends in the second race but again a bad start left us with just too much work to do, and this combined with double tacking on the windward mark and hitting it, lead an awful result. We battled back as far as we could but it just wasn't enough. At least I had fixed the dagger board issue so we didn't have that problem again. On the plus side, during the race we actually felt pretty quick, but just sailing in the wrong direction.

Finally in race 3 things didn't go quite so wrong, a fairly good start at least put us in the race from the off, and using our good pace and pretty smooth boat handling we sailed our first clean(ish) race, fighting with the front of the bunch all the way round and eventually ending up in 6th.

So an improving day, and I just hope it continues like that. Tomorrow is forecast to be pretty light, but we will just have to wait and see!​

We put 100% in today and got given the bad end of the stick a few times, so tomorrow another 100% effort and some good luck and who knows what might be possible!​

Cheers All

TP

Day 1

Well... It was all a bit anticlimactic really. A 1 o'clock start allowed enough time for the wind to build during the morning a by the time we were ready to go, the race committee choose to postpone and try and allow the wind to drop. This unfortunately didn't happen and we spent a lot of the day sat in the club. I did manage to make some use of my time and did a few jobs on the boat, so we are ready and raring to go for tomorrow!

Pactice Race

Sorry for the slight delay, the internet is a little ropey over here and I wasn't able to update the website yesterday. Anyway this is what was supposed to have been posted.

Today was the first day that Lucy and I raced a Nacra 17 in anger, Well not complete anger, it was only the practice race. After a steady morning rigging and checking the boat we launched in a nice breeze and eventually found our way to the start boat. Our start was setting up to be pretty nice but as it started to get a bit hectic and close, we decided to stay on the conservative side and just avoid and damage. This unfortunately lead to a slight less than desired start but we managed to sail a pretty clean 1st beat and rounded the windward mark in about 10th, and from there we stayed . The speed felt pretty good generally and I think given a better start there is no reason we can't be higher up the rankings.

Its now the first day of proper racing, the wind is very strong and it has been raining! not standard Palma conditions!

Check back later to see how Day 1 of our 4 year campaign goes!

TP

Palma Build Up

We have been here in Palma for nearly a week now and racing is just around the corner. In the days we have been here we have been sailing and learning lots! It has been really nice to see some old faces from past cat sailing, and there really is quite an exciting feeling ahead of the first major regatta. ​
As with most new classes, there are lots of grey areas in the rules which are all being exposed at the minute. So a lot of the time has been spent looking at other boats to get more ideas on maybe how to do things in a better way. ​That said I am really happy with how our boat is set up!
We managed to get our replacement mast yesterday, as the one we were initially supplied with had some off center fitting firing the mast to bend. The new mast is a lot better and much of yesterday was used to set up the new mast, Yesterday afternoon we took the opportunity to have some down time, as everything has been pretty full on since we arrived on Monday. The sun was shining and we left Can Pastillia to get some lunch else where on the island, it was really nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the boat park. Rupert and I experienced our first frozen yoghurts, and as you can see we didn't start small.

The team finished the day with some fun on the beach and a nice drink in one of the water front bars.

It is now Sunday, today is the practice race. I'm not sure how to describe what I am feeling, its a mixture of nerves and excitement. Lucy and I have progressed so much over the winter, but we don't want to put any additional pressure on our selves for this regatta, the number 1 plan is to get out race and back in alive and one piece. The results are not overly important!
Superstition suggests it bad luck to finish the practice race, but lets see how its going before we make that call. check back later for a round up of the day, and my final thoughts before the real racing starts tomorrow!
Cheers
TP

Welcome to Palma

Yesterday I woke up a quite the ungodly hour of 4am, after the early start and a short plane ride, I along with Ben touched down in sunny Palma. A quick taxi ride lead us to the boat park and sailing club and the boat building melee commenced! Astonishingly the boat actually went together rather smoothly, we spent the remainder of the day refining a few systems and giving the boat a real check over.

Day 2 in Palma, Awoke to not such sunny skies, but the big difference was the amount of seaweed on the beach. Strong winds over night had pushed all the weed up the beach making it very hard to launch. But between the squad we wrestled the boats through and hit the water for the first time. Palma has much larger waves the Murcia where we have been training, so for the first hour it really was a find your feet exercise. Once we were a little more in tune with the waves we moved on to doing some speed work with the rest of the squad, and we were quickly joined by a lot of foreigners. The speed felt really good against both the British teams and the uninvited guests!

Tomorrow is due to be very windy and given the surf beach we are sailing from it is likely to make launching pretty interesting, so we will have to see! Pictures and more updates to follow!

Cheers
TP

Next Stop Palma!

So our time in Murcia has come to an end. After 4 packed training camps, lots of learning and numerous laughs we and the rest of the squad are relocating to Palma for the first regatta of the year. As I write this I am sat on the plane back to the UK, while Lucy and Ben take the boats/trailer/rib up to Alicante and then on the ferry over to Palma. They will drop the kit off and then follow us back to what i hear is a very chilly England!

Our time in Murcia has been very very valuable we have really put the hours in on the water, much more than we would have been able to in the UK. While we know we have along way to go, Lucy and I feel as prepared as we can be for Palma and we will just have to see how it all goes. Palma Regatta is the first OCR (Olympic Classes Regatta) in Europe of the season, its the time when teams find out if all their winter training has paid off. The event starts on April 1st, but we leave the UK on the 25th of march for some pre-event training.

In the mean time I am looking forward to some rest and relaxation back at home with good friends and family. However I have no doubt I will spend alot of my time helping my farther at windsport, so I think the rest and relaxation may be a bit of a long shot!

As I'm sure you have seen, I have now done a small edit of some of the footage we have built up over the training period, but since that edit i already have lots of new stuff so the next one is coming soon! Suggestions on a sound track are welcome!

Lucy and I are now fully launched into the new campaign and we are in the process of looking to build a support and sponsorship network around us to make the campaign possible. If you feel like you can help in anyway please get in touch. I am currently working on an information pack for the campaign and team, so if you do want more information again please get in touch.

Right we are about to land, so i better turn this off, I will let you know if anything exciting happens between now and Palma, otherwise next stop PALMA, can't wait!

Cheers
TP

The First Edit...

There will be more to come!​

Training So Far...

We have now had a good few days training down here in Spain, the weather has cleared up and the breeze has been blowing. Here are a few good photos from the action!​

So as you can see its all going pretty well. I have more video footage so I will put and edit together soon. Check back for more updates and photos soon.​

TP

The Rain is Spain started as we got off the Plane.

It was raining when we landed and now, a day later its still raining! ​

The very rainy view from my room

Had a good session regardless of the weather, Lucy and I used the day to find our feet again after a week off. Hope the rain stops for some sunny training tomorrow.​

TP

"Rest" Week

Since getting back from Spain, I have been busy and I am now already sat in the airport waiting to return for another training block. Here is what has been going on in the mean time,

On return to the UK I met up with my beautiful girlfriend in London, where we spent the weekend, doing all things touristy and catching up with friends that we don't often get the chance to see. It was a great weekend, but we both agreed that despite the excitement of the big city we are country folk and were quite happy to travel back to Cornwall on the Sunday evening.

During the week I balanced my time between, working for my parents, getting my own personal jobs done and also trying to find some time to relax. The highlight of my week was definitely going for supper in the best seafood restaurant in town. I love scallops! ​I recommend the "Wheel House" in Falmouth to anyone!

But the busyness of the week was dwarfed by the weekend. Over the weekend it was the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace in London. As a family we made trip up from Conwall to exhibit the now UK built Dart 18 and Sprint 15. ​I have been to a lot of dinghy shows but I always seem to forget how much standing up there is - note for next year, take a deck chair!- The show was great and alongside promoting the boats I found time to go around and talk to lots of people and raise awareness of the new Olympic campaign. I'm sure something will come from one of my discussions!

Oh and for any of you keen beans you read Yachts and Yachting, Check out the inside back cover, you might recognize the handsome face! :-)

Back to the here and Now, I'm in Costa with a massive "Caffee con Leche" awaiting the rest of the squad before we fly out to Spain for another week of training. I should have a better internet connection down there this time (Ethernet cable packed) ​so be sure to check for updates soon!

Cheers
TP

Last Few Days in Spain

We are nearing the end of this block of training now, This is the last day of sailing as we have packing up to do tomorrow before the flight home. The last few days have been mainly pretty light and we have focused on more of the boat handling rather than speed. ​

Lucy and I have moved on along way which is great and in most of the short course races we have done, we are at or are battling at the front of the pack. This is all in preparation for the first major regatta that is coming up at the beginning of April in Palma. ​The we will really see how we stand on the world circuit.

During the camp the classes take it in turns to help out with the catering, This is me rustling up a Lasagne for the squad, I have never seen so much mince meat!​

As I said we fly home tomorrow for a rest period, It will be nice spend some time with friends, girlfriend and family. I have bulit up some good video footage from this training block so will try to put together an edit so that you can see us in action!

​Be sure to check back soon.

T

The Calm

Over the last few days here in Spain the weather has been some what calm. Yesterday was the first day we have been here and haven't actually made it on to the water. The Mar Manor was literally a mirror for the entire day

An overcast sky meant that any chance of a thermal wind was not going to happen and so we were stuck on the land.

I took the opportunity to catch up with the strength and condition specialist and update my weights program. Ouch, during the session I got pushed really hard and now 24hrs later my muscles are aching big time!!

This morning is already looking better for breeze, The sun is out and there is currently a very light off shore breeze. I think the sea breeze should be really nice by the afternoon. I will try to get some photos of the sailing today, so check back to actually SEE how it is going.

Cheers
TP

All Change...

Yesterday was the squads first day working with a new coach, Maurice Van Paardenkooper is a very well respective coach and actually worked with Lucy in her last campaign to London 2012.

For Maurice it was his first experience of the Nacra, so he used the day to find his feet and get a better idea of the boats and how they sail. The wind was genrally pretty light, but as the day went on it built to a nice sea breeze before quickly disappearing towards the end of the day. 

In the lighter stuff Lucy and I seemed pretty fast on all point of sail, and really concentrated on smoothing the boat handling, while in the breeze we have some work to do upwind but seem to be absolutely flying downwind.

Another day today, and it looks like more light winds, check back soon for more updates, I will try and get some pictures too.

TP

BDOTW

Today was a BDOTW, for those of you that are not familiar with this term, Big Day On The Water. As we rigged this morning the wind was light and actually dropped to nothing at one stage, but fast than you can say 'BDOTW' it was back and fresh.

We used the day to do mostly speed work in the breeze, and managed to get some of the upwind rig settings a bit more dialed in. Tuning up with Rup and Nikki we quickly found our feet and were flying.

But today downwind was the most exciting part of today, we lifted the boards a little to be on the safe side, but we made up for it by pushing the boat harder than ever! We were fast, I mean really fast. It was great sailing and by the time we eventually dropped the kite we were both so pumped from the sail.

More breeze forecast for tomorrow, hope it not too windy!

TP

Back to Spain

I am now back out in Spain, Lucy and I flew over on friday and had our first day on the water yesterday. Its nice to back out here, and now we have a few other boats to sail against as 2 more teams have joined us. We are here for a 2 week stint, where for the first week we are working as a squad and then the second week is a full team camp.

Evening Spinnaker Coating

Yesterday the breeze was up, but blowing off the shore creating some really shifty challenging conditions , There were only 2 boats out and illness had meant one of the teams had to stay on the shore. We are working with a new coach during this camp, Rob Wilson who i sailed against when I was tornado sailing will be heading up the squad. For Lucy and I who had only just arrived, we used yesterday a very much a 'get back into it' day. And by the lunchtime we had just about remembered what a Nacra 17 was! The afternoon session was great the wind was fairly strong, and for the first time we did some short course racing. Under pressure most of our boat handling skills seems fair tight, but Rob provided some great input on how to smooth things up.

Back out on the water today, the forecast is a little lighter but we will see. Stay tuned for further updates and information. Oh and for those at the youth AC, I am very jealous! 8 days to old! Who wrote those rules!

Cheers

TP

Spain Camp 1 Wrap Up

I am now nearly back home in Cornwall, and i thought it was time to do a bit of a wrap up of the first camp in Spain.

The trip started with a surprisingly uneventful road trip given the two people put in charge of it (Myself and John). After leaving Cornwall we traveled from Southampton to Holland to collect the new boats , and then on through France to Spain and down to Murcia.

The first few days in Spain we filled with putting the new boats together which on the whole went relatively smoothly. I think Lucy learnt a lot about catamarans in the rigging stage as it was a very new experience for her.

Once the boats were built, the first half of the camp was sailed in mostly light winds, But moving into the second half the breeze picked up and the boats took off! We quickly found the limitations of the new boards and went through 2 quickly. Nacra are already working on producing a mk2 board that should last a little longer than 30mins of heavy wind sailing. Other than the failures the boats were very good fun to sail we had a number of wheelies or as have started calling them whoopsies!

As our time in Spain drew to an end, many of the teams left making of training more focused on boat handling rather than speed testing.

The trip home was also quite eventful, due to the oh so predictable British weather the snow delayed our flight and made the drive quite exciting well. I am currently in Bristol weathering the storm and spending some time with a friend but will back to Cornwall tomorrow. I cant wait, im am NOT a city boy!  

Check Back for updates soon!