After Warnemunde I drove straight to Nieuwpoort for the Europeans. I stayed at the Lighthouse which was fantastic. I was very well looked after with a great breakfast and internet access in my room, and I could not have been closer to the sailing club!

Before the regatta I did a couple of days training to test out my new sail and become familiar with the conditions. There was certainly a lot of tide which resulted in some big waves.

The day before the regatta I decided to rest. Although I have been working hard on my fitness I am not quite there, and with six days racing in front of me I thought a bit of rest would do me more good than an extra day’s sailing. I did however go to the Opening ceremony.

The boat park and the car park were some distance away, so the regatta ran a shuttle service between the two. After the Opening ceremony had finished I grabbed the first shuttle van but unfortunately there were some cyclists in the road. I jumped out to get them to move and as soon as they did the van went, knocking me down…

My first thought as I went flying through the air was protect your neck, protect your neck! So I tucked my head in and rolled out of the road but landed heavily on my knee, which hurt like hell. Full of adrenaline I got back in the van and got dropped off at my car. I then started to drive the short distance home before the full impact caught up with me and I nearly blacked out with the pain.

I managed to get out of my car but had great difficulty getting up the stairs (my leg would no longer bend). I pulled off my jeans to discover the complete mess my knee was in. I was very lucky to have worn my thickest denim. Even so the knee was a right state, and late on a Sunday there was no way I could get to a doctor, or even get some pain killers or ice as the B&B owners were out.

I had a very sleepless night as the wound on my leg, which was about a square inch was completely open and every time I did the slightest movement I was in agony. At this point I considered seeing if someone could drive me home but I thought I should stay and support the other GBR sailors. In the morning I was lucky that I was sharing my B&B with someone who had a knee injury and some very strong anti-inflammatories. I took a double dose, which resulted in stomach pains about an hour later, but meant I was good enough to drive, so I went down the sailing club.

At this point sheer bloody mindedness took over and I decided to try and sail. One of the hardest things was putting my rig in the boat and putting my clothing on with one leg which would not bend, but somehow I managed it. Upon arriving at the race course I took more pain killers and decided to get on with it.

The first race I rounded the top mark in the top ten. Hiking seemed OK but any sort of bending (or going from bent to straight) took a huge amount of will power. However on the final run I discovered I was close enough to catch the leaders and pulled through into second place, only to look down and discover my right leg was bent! The same happened in the second race, the pain increased with all the waiting around, but when the adrenaline really kicked in, I could block out the pain, and this time I snatched first place on the final reach.

Day two and anti inflammatories were starting to make my stomach ache and cause all sorts of other ahem, problems. I actually ended up leading both races but finished with a fourth and a second as I was really starting to find it hard to concentrate.

Luckily on day three the wind dropped and I decided to give my body a break from the anti-inflammatories. In the light winds I won both races very comfortably (the last race of the day I won by such a margin they missed me off the results to start with!) to move into the lead overall. However my leg having been wet in salty water was now starting to look rather upset and showing no sign of healing.

Day four and I decided to have a conservative approach. However with a very strong tide, a poor start was nearly impossible to recover from and I sailed my discard but came back with a fourth place in the next race meaning I slipped to second overall going into the finals.

Dave five was in fact the last day of the championship but I was not to know this at the time. I had a good start at the port end but we (the men’s gold fleet) caught the women’s silver fleet at the windward mark, despite the beat being 20 minutes (for us) and the girls having an 8 minute head start! As a result I got caught in the traffic and whilst the top half dozen boats got away I was stuck in all the dirty wind from the mid fleet girls and got pinned to the windward mark for quite sometime.

When I had finally extracted myself I pulled through the fleet, with the Polish sailor who was currently winning just in front of me, covering me.

The final race I again started at the port end and this time got round in second place (in front of the vast majority of the women’s fleet), which I held comfortably to the finish, with the Pol in third. However Frenchman Frei Matthieu had a stormer of day, winning both races taking him into the overall lead.

Day six and my leg was really starting to protest, looking extremely angry and punishing me for any movement. I was dreading pulling on my wetsuit (which pressed hard on the open wound, especially when kneeling) However I really wanted to race to have a chance to stand on top of that podium… however it was not to be, as the strong winds cancelled racing. In hindsight this was probably quite good for me, well my knee at any rate but I certainly did not see it like this at the time!

Upon returning home my first port of call was the physio. However whilst rushing to get there I heard a pop and a large bump appeared in my groin, making it now nearly impossible to walk. However I did get to the physio who suspected I had a hernia. I spoke to the GP and he agreed and asked me to come in for an examination.

After a night of wondering how many months I was going to be off sailing this time, I was pleased to know that it was just an extremely inflamed node as a result of the severe infection in my leg. It appears staphylococcus absolutely loves salt water, so I must have been giving it a real treat the previous week. Hopefully a couple of weeks of antibiotics will see me fit enough to race the Nationals… watch this space!

It always seem to happen that I end up coaching on some lovely days, and when I try and train myself the weather is never so good! Saturday at Hill Head there was a moderate South Westerly, more than enough to tire out the dozen or so local Laser sailors I put through their paces. As always, I left them with a DVD of their efforts to provide future entertainment!

Saturday evening I dropped into Training Ship Lion of the Nautical Training Corps in Portsmouth. I feel I owe the NTC a great deal as it was they who first introduced me to sailing, which has now pretty much taken over my life! It was great to catch up with some old faces, some of whom it is years rather than months since I have seen them…

Whilst in Portsmouth I also popped into Alexandra Sports to buy some new trainers. It has been over two years since I last ran as the impact really aggravated the disc problem in my neck. However being away for a whole month I thought it would be very nice if I could go for the odd run. Alexandra Sports first does a biomechanical analysis and talks to you about your intending running to ensure you come away with the right shoe. After going for several short runs with a variety of trainers I left the shop with the most cushioned pair available.

Needless to say before I jumped back on the plane to Germany I popped into the International College of Oriental Medicine in East Grinstead for some acupuncture, and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath for some more treatment from my physio., Tony, thus giving me the best preparation for my trip away.

From Munich airport it was only a few hours drive to Attersee, Austria. This time I remembered to buy the motorway pass before crossing a border as I made the expensive mistake of not doing this a few years ago and I was certainly not going to repeat that error!

Upon arrival I quickly registered and unloaded and washed my boat. It was extremely hot so I was keen to get out of the sun as soon as possible. All the competitors received a free model Laser kit in addition to the free food and drinks in the evenings which I thought was a nice touch.

The evening entertainment was great with the European Football Championship (which was being held in Austria). On the days there were no football games we had live entertainment including a lady from the German X factor who came and sang (thankfully all in English!). I actually celebrated my 31s birthday on the last day of the regatta watching the European cup final. All the Austrians were very pleased to see Germany beaten (by Spain) so there was a wonderful party mood.

Unfortunately we managed to race only one day, on day two, with the rest of the days suffering from no wind. Fortunately we went on the water on only one of the days we did not race. My time however was well spent as I sold lots of my book: Be Your Own Sailing Coach and made many contacts so I will certainly not have to look for coaching in the winter, as I will be in the nice position of being able to pick and choose the jobs I want!

The day we did race there was a shifty breeze (not really surprising considering the lake is surrounded by mountains) and good hiking conditions. My starts were quite poor but I did well to pick through the fleet finishing third in the first race and winning the next two comfortably, giving me the event win.

I had a leisurely drive up to Germany, taking two days to get up there before meeting up with a large British team in Warnemunde, most of whom had been racing in Kiel the week before. I joined the Radial development squad for a couple of days training before taking a day off before the regatta.

The first day of racing was extremely light and we sailed just one race which I was very pleased to win after a frustrating day of general recalls, black flags, people starting in the wrong starts and over six hours on the water. It was a good job I had brought out lots of food and water!

Day two was somewhat better with two more light wind races. The first I won comfortably but I was pushed hard in the second one. Usually when you are winning a race you can pull away from the chasing fleet as you have clean wind and lots of options. However I sailed into the fleet which had started five minutes in front, meaning I had lots of dirty wind and boats to overtake, allowing those behind a chance to close the gap.

By the third day things were looking much better with enough breeze to hike and three races sailed. I scored a second in the first race and then got two more first places. With two discards allowed in the eight race series, it meant I was counting five firsts and a second. I had won the regatta with a day to spare. However the strongest wind of the event was forecast for the final day so I thought I should go out. After all it is all good training.

Despite the first race finishing by half twelve we had only one race on the last day as they were not allowed to start a race after two o‘clock and they did not manage to get a race off by then. I finished third, not quite the way I wanted to finish the regatta, but fine considering I went the wrong way up the first beat and had to retie my toe strap half way through the race!

So overall I win the Europa Cup series with wins in Holland, Denmark, Austria and Germany. I feel this has been excellent practice, having raced in most sea states (flat water to big waves) in shifty and constant winds and in light to strong breezes! I am now feeling well prepared as I travel to Belgium for the Radial European Championships.

Lastly, I must also say a big thank you to Matt Larkin from Weir Wood, Sailing Club. Whilst in Austria my laptop charger broke (my Dell XPS needs a very powerful charger, so I could not simply borrow someone else’s…). Matt who is racing the International 14 World Championships on the same race course as the Radials used in Warnemunde, the following week, very kindly brought me out a new charger, although I did have fun trying to find him as he was in the East Marina and I was in the West! Anyway all sorted now and I am finally back on the Internet. Funny, I never realised what a slave to technology I was until I tried to survive two weeks without my laptop!

As you progress through your sailing career the natural move is towards higher performance boats. I believe this is why people often come to Olympic Catamaran sailing later than other Olympic classes which may have a more set route, for example, 420 to 470, or Radial to Laser. Having been a full time sailor for nearly ten years it therefore seems natural that I am now racing Catamarans.

Although I will always step back into the Radial (this year I shall be competing in the Europeans in July) for the love of true one design racing, I see my future in high performance sailing, and as such I was very saddened by the ISAF decision in November to remove the Tornado. By doing this they are not only removing a class, but a whole discipline which, surely as the fastest and most spectacular, should be represented at the Olympics.

Unfortunately it seems more important to ISAF to stick to a decision, than to do what is truly best for a sport as a whole. This is especially strange when this decision goes against the recommendations of both the Equipment committee and the Athlete commission. My interpretation of the voting in May would be: we realise we made a mistake (the vote to re-affirm did not get passed) but we are not going to do anything about it (the vote to discuss Cat sailing did not get a high enough majority).

So how does this leave the future of Cat sailing? Well having had two prolapsed discs removed from my neck last year (and the surrounding three vertebrae fused) this year was always going to be more about fitness than sailing for me. However straight after the 2008 Olympics there will be no more Olympic Cat sailing, no more events, and the top sailors will simply drift off, leaving a vacuum which may take many years to recover from.

I would hope that we can have a major rethink for 2016. I think the 5 women, 5 men classes: Single, Double, Keel, Cat, Windsurfer would seem the obvious way to go. With this time frame in mind Catamarans could reinvent themselves, producing a one design high performance boat, much like how the 49er came about. This would allow far more countries to compete on an equal footing at the Olympics.

When we think in four year cycles it is hard not to be emotive, as this effectively means taking away one sailor’s class. Most countries will have a good medal chance in certain classes and not others, so there is always going to be a vested interest. Suddenly when thinking eight years in advance the problem goes away as it is much harder to predict who (and in what classes) are going to be sailing well in eight years!

The issue now is that with no Cat sailing in the Olympics, many countries will stop their Youth programme, meaning there will be a huge talent drain, as the current top sailors will not be passing on their skills to the next generation. My only hope is that the IOC will step in, realising that sailing has not prepared for the future, and bring in an eleventh event (which would have to be the Tornado) for 2012 on the proviso that proper planning is put in place for 2016, starting tomorrow (after all it would take a considerable amount of time to come up with a new one design).

After five days of physiotherapy, stretching and acupuncture I was (very sore but) ready to go sailing again. My recovery from my neck surgery is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but I really feel I am on the up now. I am trying to avoid medication, and instead using a daily stretching routine to try and remove any muscle spasm which may occur as a result of nerve irritation.

My last stop before leaving the UK was the Emsworth Radial open which I won in light and shifty conditions. I also managed to pick up some rope from Rooster sailing at the same time. Having the right equipment is absolutely essential and Rooster rope along with Harken blocks seems to be the optimum combination.

To cut down on the driving I took the ferry from Harwick to Ellsberg (Denmark) which meant I had only a short drive to Aabenraa sailing club. Rob Godwin, a British standard rig sailor, was also on the ferry so we drove in convoy. Unfortunately, on arriving in Aabenraa, Rob realised that he had left his passport and papers in the last service station we stopped in, so he had to drive back to get them.

The Danish Europa cup was just what I needed: 8 races sailed in strong westerly breeze, and although my legs were very sore I know my fitness has improved in leaps and bounds. Although I probably moaned at the time about the 45 minute upwind sail to get back in each day it was probably just what the doctor ordered!

There was a small but quality fleet. I actually won the event with a day to spare (there were two races a day with six out of eight races counting in the series) but I sailed on the last day, as I felt it was extremely good training. I won the last two races which gave me a minimum score (counting only first places), a very nice way to finish the regatta.

I then drove down to Germany and parked in Munich airport and flew home for my last break (well some more physio/acupuncture) before the Europeans. I will still spend a couple of days on the water coaching on the Saturday and racing on the Sunday at Hill Head, before flying back out to pick up my van and boat… next stop the Austrian Europa cup.

In 2012 the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy will be the venue of the sailing in the Olympics. I moved to Weymouth five years ago because of the fantastic sailing, and to have the UK successfully bid for the Olympics (and get them in Weymouth) was a dream come true.


Sailing, probably more so than any sport, rewards the home advantage. This is because no race track is ever quite the same. By 2012 I hope to have sailed on every race course in every wind strength/direction, sea state and current there is.


Building work is progressing extremely rapidly with the initial phase costing nearly eight million pounds, the majority of which comes from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) and Sports England (via the National lottery).


Every time I go down, real progress has been made, with the slipways being extended to 150 m and a small marina is be built, all to be finished this year (at the cost of nearly seven million through the Olympic Delivery Authority). This will be absolutely fantastic as it will give many generations of sailors absolute World Class training facilities (already 1000 local children have been introduced to sailing through the WPNSA).


This year I shall be competing at the WPNSA in the Byte World Championships the last week of August. The WPNSA hosts a number of high profile dinghy events and although I have never sailed a Byte (and won’t until the first day of the event) I can hardly turn down such an excellent opportunity with the racing on my doorstep and another major championship under my belt at the Olympic venue.

I arrived back in the UK on bank holiday Monday at 6:30 (with a 5:30 wake up call giving me plenty of time to take full of advantage of the all you can eat breakfast) and had to try very hard not to drive straight up to Weir Wood and go sailing again! However I decided it was more useful to go to the gym and do some stretching work to try and remove the muscle spasm which built up after a hard week’s racing.

Tuesday started with pilates and then I did an interview with Southern counties radio. I was glad the wind was light or there would have been a real danger of me losing the interviewer, Katherine, off the front of my Laser. In the evening I did some light aerobic work and another marathon stretching session. I have decided it is wise to stay off the heavy weights until my neck has properly relaxed again. I then drove up to visit an old University friend, Paul Hyde and his wife Tab for a curry and a catch up. Unfortunately I missed their wedding due to my operation, so it was the first time I had seen Paul since his stag do.

Wednesday morning and I travelled up to Grafham to do some one to one coaching (I have got to pay for these trips away somehow) and then hot footed it to Wembley sailing club in time for their evening race! Fortunately I won comfortably, otherwise they may have decided that they did not want me to coach them! 

Thursday and Friday I coached at Wembley with Ed Sibson. On the first day we worked on boat handling and then we ran a team racing competition. On the second day which was hard work but a lot of fun, we just managed to get all the races done before the wind completely disappeared. In the evening I managed to meet up with another old Uni friend, Ian Drew. It is really hard work to keep in contact with old friends but absolutely worth it. Funny how in many ways not much has changed since I was at Loughborough University!

The weekend saw me doing a couple of opens, first at Oxford then at Lancing sailing club, both really friendly clubs, although through no fault of their own there was little wind. However I did manage to win all the races (3 at Oxford and 4 at Lancing) which has been a real confidence boost.

On Monday I finally made it back to Weymouth (to do some more one to one coaching) and make my final preparations. I now have a few physio sessions (and quite a few evenings of ice) to get me in the best possible shape for my next trip away… I think I had better start packing! 