Report on the "Podium Potential" Squad -"Chasing Great"
James Gray
British Sailing Team Single Handed Pathway Lead Coach
‘Chasing Great’
The top step of the Laser sailing world is possibly the hardest to crack, of all the Olympic classes, given the huge depth and competitive fleets which muster for all international competitions.
The UK bolsters one of the strongest Laser teams in the World. You don’t have to look too far where at UK National Qualifiers you may be racking up against a double world champion and Rio 2016 Olympian (Nick Thompson), Tokyo Olympic Representative and Enoshima World Cup winner (Elliot Hanson), and European medallists (Lorenzo Chiavarini and Michael Beckett).
This for many would seem a formidable line up but, in the quest to join such a stellar crew, there are a growing number of young sailors who are turning their attentions towards ‘chasing great’.
The British Sailing Team is comprised on the ‘Podium’ squad with sailors mentioned above filling it ranks. Below ‘Podium’ are sailors who have qualified, generally through Youth (U21) competitions, for the ‘Podium Potential’ squad, also known as Project 2024. This squad is designed to get sailors up to speed to be in contention for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Current members in the squad are Sam Whaley (5 th U21 Worlds 2017), Dan Whiteley (3 rd U21 Worlds 2017), and Joe Mullan (UK Youth Champion 2018). They are, however, closely chased by many sailors including UK Youth Squad members Joe Drake (UK Youth Champion 2019), Ben Childerley, and Krishan Bhogal.
As with all elite sports, making it to the top is a long and winding road that requires a lot of sacrifice, effort, and time. Irrespective of the time that you are able to throw at sailing, there are a few things that all sailors following an Olympic dream have to adjust to:
1. The physicality of the Laser Standard. Moving from a Radial into a Standard not only requires a substantial change in body weight, in most cases, ideally weighing 80-84 kg and being above 178cm. Given the increase in sail area there is also a high aerobic component required in order to have the intensity to match the boat speed of the top sailors.
2. A game of inches. I remember finishing 2 nd in a qualifier race to Paul Goodison (Beijing Gold Medallist) many years ago. Now he was at least 40 boat lengths in front of me and there I was feeling pretty pleased with myself that I had hiked my way into second place. The reality internationally however is that 20 other boats could have occupied the space between us. And they did! The difference in level at international level is impressive but you have to fight for everything.
3. International competitions. Generally, qualifiers can require a high-risk strategy. Biased start lines and gain features on the course require you to be in the right place at the right time and often racing can be a bit of a one-way track. UK sailors also generally prefer oscillating winds where you are more likely to get a shift back in your favour at some point. Not only is the international fleet of formidable quality, but the racing is much more open and therefore rewards sailors who make good decisions and who are able to pick up on the relevant cues in the conditions to make gains over the rest of the fleet. These cues include being able to recognise the types of conditions where the wind is less likely to shift back in your favour. It has to be said however that speed is your friend and being fast will give you more tactical freedom.
Interestingly, improving or gaining more experience in the areas above requires one thing – time in the boat.
So, this winter the ‘Podium Potential’ and ‘UK Youth Squad’ Laser sailors packed up and moved to be based in Vilamoura in Portugal, where we were able to run multiple training blocks in a warmer climate between December 2019 and March 2020. Not only did Vilamoura allow us to experience lighter winds than the UK in a warmer, and more efficient climate, we were also able to compete in 3 smaller international regattas and line up against some of the best sailors from around the world, including Laser legend Robert Scheidt. Spending time in Portugal provided the platform for each sailor to accumulate valuable time improving fitness, training boat speed against top quality opposition, and racing against international competitors in wind speeds and conditions very different from those in the UK.
Usually at this time of the year we would be heading out to Palma for the start of the sailing season at Princess Sofia regatta, which is a great test to see how everyone is setting up after winter training. But as the world is gripped with the Covid-19 pandemic and all our events rightfully postponed, we have launched an emergency operation to get all our kit back to the UK and are back home holding station.
What will happen later in the year will be interesting, but our squad, and the British Sailing Team as a whole, are in a good position to make the most of any challenge ahead.
