As you may know we have now completed all of our qualification events. The
first of which was back in September. The Sail4gold regatta in Weymouth was
our first chance to see wear we stood with all the other boats competing.
We ended up finishing 8th overall and competing in our first medal race.
This was a great result for us and was a great start for our qualification
series.
Our next event was the first of two national rankers held at Weymouth, We
knew this would be just as important as Sail4gold. We went into the event
with the confidence of our 8th at Sail4gold and knowing we had the ability
to win races. The event was sailed in 1 day which meant that points were
close and the racing closer. We managed to finish 5th which we were happy
with which also meant we were in a strong position going into the last
event.
So it had come down to the last event. We had been in Weymouth for the week
previous doing some training. On the Saturday we sailed well but struggled
with consistency in the shifty conditions, this left us 10th overall. We
were slightly disappointed but knew there was another day to go so we could
claw back some places. Sunday arrived and it was windier than the Saturday,
with a fresh 16-20knts we knew that we could get around the course we just
needed to be able to race around the course. For the first time this year
we felt like we could race at the front of the fleet in these conditions,
we came out of the day with a 5th and a 3rd which left us in 8th overall.
So there was nothing left we could do, we knew that we had done what was
required on paper, we just had to wait for the official decision.
Late last week we received an email stating that we had successfully
qualified for Skandia Team GBR. This means that from January onwards we
will be on a funded programme but until then we still need to find some
help for our new rig and our travels across the UK and to Palamos this
winter.
As you can imagine we are both very happy with our selection, for Chris
getting back on funding and for Matt his first time on funding. We are
looking forward to the year ahead and hope to prove that we have what it
takes to make it to the top.
Thank you for your help and support Chris and Matt
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