I am writing this report to keep up to date all those who so kindly helped
me to finance my participation in Sail Melbourne and the Finn Gold Cup in
Melbourne, especially the members of the Royal London Yacht Club which I
was proud to represent in these events.
I arrived in Sandringham near Melbourne on Thursday 3rd January, to help
unload my boat from its container. I then planned the work I would have to
do on it to prepare it for the next three weeks sailing. I then found my
lodgings which were about 15 minutes away from the host club, Black Rock
Yacht Club on my road bike which I had brought from England. I hadn’t
been able to sail my boat for two and a half months whilst it was being
transported, from Holland by the Dutch team who kindly accommodated it in
their container. In the meantime, because Finn sailing is a lot about
physical fitness as well as sailing skills I had kept myself fit playing
Rugby for Sandown and Shanklin RFC and for my University as well as
cycling, squash and going to the Gym.
I realised that the gap in my Finn sailing was an acute disadvantage to me
so I was fortunate to arrange some private coaching with Doctor Lex
Bertrand (brother of John Bertrand who won the America’s Cup for
Australia). This was a huge help as Lex gave me practical and psychological
support both before and during the two World Class events in which I was
taking part. It was the first time in my life I had ever had any individual
coaching and I now realize what an advantage regular coaching must give
many of my competitors.
Because the Gold Cup was the last event for countries to qualify for a
place at the Beijing Olympics this year, most of the top 50 or so
Competitors were their country’s top two or three representatives who are
financially supported to sail full time by their National Sailing
Authority. My friends in Team GBR Squad had been practicing in Australia
for two and half months and had competed in events in Melbourne and Sydney,
before Christmas, so they had a considerable advantage over me, but I was
never far behind them which was encouraging.
The weather in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne is known as unpredictable, they
say ‘it can throw four seasons at you in one day’. The tides are
minimal which was a disappointment to me as my Solent experience usually
gives me an advantage in tidal conditions. The first event, Sail Melbourne
started on Friday 11th January. There were 70 entries in the event and the
conditions were predominantly big winds and waves. I was pleased that I was
fit enough to cope with these strenuous conditions with long periods of
hiking up wind which were crucial to my performance. I finished 32nd in the
event, 3rd Junior.
We had a few days off before the World Championships started. Even more
professional competitors started arriving as. There were nine races
altogether, eight to count. On alternate days there was a long race of
approximately 90 minutes or two shorter races of approximately 75 minutes
each. Conditions were extremely varied; the wind was less consistent than
the week before and often very shifty. This meant that the order of
competitors changed very considerably and in one race Ben Ainslie was only
18th but he still managed to come through and win the event. He has been
described in some press reports as ‘freakishly talented’! On one day
when I was going particularly well I went round the final top mark with
Ben, but he is known to be phenomenally fast down wind and I lost about 7
places to him on the run. That was the day he finished 18th and I was 26th.
Perhaps it was seeing Ben’s phenomenal speed downwind that made me push
myself just too hard the following day when it was very windy. I was in the
top 25 going round the top mark and then disaster and I capsized to leeward
on the run. I climbed my way back up the fleet from 80th to 56th but it was
a bitter disappointment as I had been going so well in that race. Ben
Ainslie capsized in the same race and still managed to finish 4th, (he
really is phenomenal!) I used to be able to right my laser in a few
seconds, but capsizing in the Finn is infrequent and it is very hard to
right, so when my boat gets back to UK I shall have to go and spend hours
practising capsize and recovery!
Bigger disappointment yet was in store on the final day when on the start
of the final race there was a general recall and to my astonishment my bow
number was posted on the board as ‘black flagged’. This meant that I
could not take part in the re-started race and had to go in. It transpired
that my number had been erroneously called and the Race Officer later
apologized to me and I was given average points for that race, (which only
improved my position by one place). It meant far more to me that I had
missed my chance of beating my Portuguese friend Federico Melo to third
place and a bronze medal in the Junior Championship. I needed Federico to
have a poor result in the final race and me to have a reasonable one. He
did indeed have a bad race but I could only count average points which
wasn’t good enough. Overall I finished 43rd, 4th Junior.
Competing at the level of this World Championship has made me realize that
only if I can devote all my time to Finn sailing can I aspire to sail at
the level of Ben and the other Olympic medal winners. I sometimes find it
hard to get my head out of the boat enough in the Finn, I think this is due
to lack of time in the boat. I need more time in the boat to be able to
sail the boat almost without thinking.
I am confident that with the sponsorship required to enable me to devote my
whole time to sailing I could reach World Class level. My aim of 2008 is to
complete my university studies in June and to then search for full
sponsorship to enable me to devote myself to Finn sailing for at least two
years to see whether in that time I can out-perform my competitors for the
2012 Olympic selection.
Once again, I want to say thank you to all those who have supported me so
far and enabled me to participate at the World Championships in 2008.
Henry Bagnall 14.2.2008
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