Preparing For Worlds

After the Sail For Gold Regatta ended last week, I went into London for two nights with Erik Storck and Trevor Moore (US 49er Team) and Kaity Storck and Lyndsey Gibbons-Neff (US 470 Team).  We hung out in the city, exploring by bicycles all of the tourist spots, and went to some pubs.  It was nice to go into the city and get away from sailing for a few days.

Since then, I've moved to Hayling Island, England, which is the venue for the 2010 Laser World Championships.  Our regatta starts on Monday, August 30th, so at the moment I'm just training and trying to get used to the venue.  After a few days of rest and going to the gym, I got out on the water a couple of days ago.  Hayling Island is an awesome venue!  There are very big waves and nice breeze everyday.  Surfing downwind in the waves is so much fun! 

Each day, more and more competitors show up to start practicing.  Typically, we sail out and do some speed work before joining in with the group for some short races.  It's often said that the training before the worlds is the best training you will ever get, and is, in some ways, better than the regatta itself.  I think this is true since it is so rare that all of the best guys in the world descend upon one venue 10 days early to train.

The plan for the next week is to take today off to rest.  The US coach, Kristian Kjaergaard, is arriving tonight, and then for the next few days we will train hard.  Later in the week will be measurement and registration, with our first race on the 30th.

For this event, I'm staying at the Langstone hotel, which is a short 20 minute drive from the club.  My dad is coming over for the event, and it will be good to have him on the water in addition to Kristian.

Everything is coming together, and I'm looking forward to more training and for the start of the event!