Nick Dempsey's Blog
July 2008
China Training Camp
This has been my first training trip to China this year and it’s so important that it goes well. Arriving 3 weeks ago I’ve had some great training including a 4 day practice regatta.
The conditions have been typical Qingdao, light and choppy. With the mist settling in most days and the wind never getting above 8 knots it’s been a tough week, blisters, sweat but not quite tears. Just the conditions I was after! Lots of positive stuff from the way I was sailing so I’m pretty happy.
I’m now off home to Weymouth for the final two weeks of UK intensive training. I’ll be having a week off the board which will be a good time to recharge and drop the final kilo in body weight and hit China down at race weight for the final taper into the event. Being home also allows for a final good bye to friends and family before the big trip. I have just 40 days to go until the first race and it’s been a hard training camp, I really feel ready. I’m racing well, healthy and at the weight I want to be.
If the next month is as good as this past I’ll be looking good. I’ll be focusing on some technical pumping stuff over the following month, last chance to change any technique stuff if I’m to ingrain it to a natural level.
What else is happening in Qingdao?
With all that is difficult about sailing in Qingdao, the light winds, the current, big swell and general humidity you would think it couldn’t get much worse!
Sitting in our G4S mini bus from the airport on the way to the hotel it was a nice change to see that there was actually wind, quite a lot by China’s standards, about 15 knots. Looking out on the water it looked nice, it was really good to see that the place could actually produce more than the normal 5 knots. But looking closer I could see these large areas of green. Yes, it just got worse. Massive, huge areas of the coast line covered in green weed. It’s a total nightmare for us as it’s so hard to avoid and getting it stuck on you fin or centre board is so slow and impossible to get off.The race area is covered in the stuff. We spent much of the time out there looking for clear sections of water to train in. Without a coach and coach boat it would have been impossible. I’m back out there on the 18th July and hoping it will be cleared. Fingers crossed.
So just 40 days to go and I’m fitter, lighter and sailing better than ever before. Bring it on!
June 2008
Mid way through the season and only two and a half months away from the first race of the Olympic games, the training is still just as hard and getting harder. Having just done the European Championships and three weeks here in the UK I’m now starting to get excited about the final prep. The Euro’s didn’t exactly go to plan with a broken centre board and a false start but everything else at the event did, had I not had the bad luck I would have finished 3rd which for the conditions was really good. I’d been working hard in the light winds so to be at the front was really encouraging. The tidal conditions were perfect for the China build up.
Since returning home I have now tailored my program a little more around fitness. Getting out on the bike everyday getting in about 250 miles a week along with the normal on water training, it’s beginning to hurt a little. The training seems to be never ending and I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired. But with the clock ticking faster and just two weeks away from my first training trip to China it’s all about the final preparation. It’s the small things that are going to make a difference so it’s those small things that are breaking me daily. Going the extra mile is beginning to pay off but it’s hurting.
Being based in the UK for the past three weeks has been great but not without distraction. The press are getting busy and pre Olympic hype is starting to build. Three trips to the big smoke in the past week has been a nice change from the daily slog but it’s not the best way of resting and getting ready for the next training session. But with more duties in London I will just have to get the best out of every day I have on the water. The press work we do is so important as without it the sport doesn’t get the publicity it deserves or funding.
So with most of the press stuff out of the way early it will mean less distractions during the important 2 month build up. Generally all is going to plan, my diet is going well just 2 more kg to go till I hit the magic 69kg. Running on empty has been tough but I know it’s what will make the difference in the end. The Bike stuff is going well, getting stronger and stronger, sometimes I feel like I’m training for the wrong sport but it’s endurance that will win in China and I’m doing everything I possibly can. All I can really say is that with 72 days till my first race it’s all going as well as it could do.
March 2008
The past month I’ve been training and competing in Palma, Spain. With the games only four and a bit month’s away training is getting to the important part where the long hours start getting a little harder. We have changed the on water training a little to incorporate some more race pace work. Basically working harder at the top of my limits to really try and push my threshold up some more and really adapt to the extreme physical demands of racing in China. With the new Polar heart rate monitor I’m using with GPS and my coach with my HR on a screen in his rib I’m constantly trying to push harder than before. It’s been very demanding and mentally tough to keep so driven every session but with the end in sight it’s becoming easier.
Palma, a key part of my programme, has been the first event of the season and the first of only two events prior to the Games. I’d been training there for three weeks in the build up to the regatta and feeling really good on the board but you just never know how you are doing until you line up against the rest of the world. This was going to be a good test with the world’s best there. I was expecting and hoping for light winds so I could really test myself and luckily we got some. A week long regatta with 11 races scheduled it would be a gruelling week if we had the light wind expected. I started off with a perfect day finishing first in both races which I was really happy with. It’s been a while since I was sailing at my best and I felt like I was getting back to my winning ways. Day 2 was a difficult day with some of the light winds I had been working so hard on in training. Rather than worrying about the result I was working on some key areas of my racing so with a 4th and 5th for the day I had done well.
After such a draining couple of races I woke up on day three with a bit of a twinge in my back so loaded up on pain killers and hit the water. Not knowing if I was even going to be able to sail I seemed to sail the best two races of my life winning them both by some margin. With a good lead in the regatta I had to race protecting my back as much as I could for the remaining three days. Day four was tough, day five again sailing at my best with a very windy medal race on the last day.
I won the event by a reasonable margin, sailed a good series and took advantage of the mixed conditions. As a test for me I would have liked some more light winds. I still have a way to go in these conditions and I won’t be backing off in this area. Lot’s more to come, better but not there yet!
The next and only regatta left before the Games are the Europeans in May. Untill then I will be training down in Valencia where I hope to get some more of the valuable light winds I’m after. It’s getting tough but I’m up for it!
February 2008
After being in New Zealand for 6 weeks I really wasn’t looking forward to coming back to Europe to train. The cold and unpredictable weather was really something I could do with avoiding. To my amazement it’s been the best training period since I can remember - sunshine and light winds.
Returning back from NZ I got to see by beloved Sarah for all of three days before heading out to Palma where I am now. Not seeing the missus for such a long time has been hard but there’s only 6 months left then we might become normal for a little while. As we’re planning on getting married after the games there seems to be an awful lot of wedding chat on the phone but Sarah does seem to have it all organised already. Nothing to worry about there then!
Back to Palma. As always I’m looking for light wind to train in (the same as China). Having been in Palma for the past week with coach and team mate, it’s been light breeze every day. It’s been a while since we have had such good conditions to train in. Coach Bazza has absolutely broken us this week. I can’t move, I can hardly keep my eyes open. If feels like the hard training has just turned into punishment. After a winter of land based training it’s been nice getting back to hard on water sessions. Barrie my coach has this new gadget where as well as me being able to see my heart rate, he can now see it too. Even when he’s a couple of hundred meters away and you think you can have a rest, you can’t. He’s got it on a screen in front of him. There’s no hiding anymore. Hence he has pushed us to our limit every session
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08 January 2008
Having spent much of the winter training at home persevering with the cold weather making the most of the daylight I really have been looking forward to getting to New Zealand where I am now in final preparations for the World Championships starting here in Auckland on the 13
th January. The cold short days at home have made it difficult but the hard work done there will form the bases of my fitness over the final 7 months into the racing season then the Games.
I have now been here in New Zealand for a week preparing for the World’s. While training over the past few months has been full on, I have compromised on my sailing to concentrate on fitness. I’ve been so excited about getting back on the board but this time it is really hurting. While my fitness feels good I am very rusty on the water. Most of the competition have been here for a month or longer, all race fit. This World’s is going to be a very hard event especially with the lack of my on water training.
My goal here is to work on some key areas of my racing and use this event as the start of my final push in technique changes and evaluate any area of my racing that requires improvement. I will be staying on here in NZ for a following 3 weeks to get some solid hours on the water and work on my on water fitness. I will be here for a total of 6 weeks on the water every day with the occasional day off so when I return to the UK in mid Feb I should be looking in good shape to start the season off in Palma.
Overall I am feeling good and so excited about the year ahead.
27 November 2007
The past month I’ve only stepped on the board three times which is a little strange considering it’s been the most intense month of training I can remember. I’ve changed my training slightly to maximise my endurance. Unfortunately this involves a lot more time in the gym and many more hours on the road bike. I’ve been really lucky with the weather in the UK for most of October, not much rain but heading into November it was time to get away. Majorca was the venue and cycling was the game.
Palma is where I do must of my winter training, it’s warm, cheap and easy to get to. With the best roads in Europe for cycling and the great forecast I was set for a good 10 day camp. Myself, physiologist, masseuse and a few of the sailing team were all looking forward to some great training, really pushing ourselves to our limits. A found mine on a few of the days. 100 mile days in the mountains were testing times physically and mentally.
By the end of the camp I was spent and looking forward to a few days off before getting back on the bike and board. This week the return to the board has been a nice change to the training. We’ve had a team training camp down at Hayling Island this week and the weather has been horrible. I am planning on spending the next 5 weeks at home where I can get into some good routines with my training and avoid any distractions. My World Championships in Auckland are only 6 weeks away, the event will give me a good idea as to whether I can get away with more time in the gym and less time on the water. Only time will tell!
The one thing I do know right now is that I am fitter than ever and I’m loving my training. It’s a nice feeling!
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23 October 2007
Since being selected for nomination by the RYA for the Olympic Games next year planning the following 10 months has been pretty hectic. Also with the 2008 World Championships in New Zealand in January training is already full on. The outcome at next year’s World’s doesn’t mean too much but it will give me a very good idea of how this period of training has gone. My current targets are all fitness related so I’m spending most of my time on the bike and in the gym.
Training over the past few weeks has been great. The weather has luckily been dry which is everything when you’re spending hours in the saddle each day. I’ve been working closely with my coach to tailor each day’s training and get the most out of every session. Following the week’s training camp was a National Ranking event, not important but a good chance for me to work hard in race situations and again gauge how the training has going. I won all but one race which I should do, but even with the lack of competition it’s still worth doing and good practice. I will get a better idea of present form in December.
The coming months are looking pretty exciting with a cycling training camp out in Palma at the beginning of November then two weeks training and racing in Hong Kong with their national team at the start of December. It will be a great chance for me to spend more time in Asia in conditions similar to those of Qingdao in China where the sailing will be during the Olympics next year. Racing in the Hong Kong Open will be a good chance for me to get to know the Chinese sailors better and hopefully get a chance to do some training with them next year when they come over to Europe in the spring. The Chinese sailors are all very good in the light wind conditions we are expecting in Qingdao next year so being able to train with them will be an invaluable part of my program.
My fitness program has been stepped up and with the Games just around the corner the next year will be very hard but equally rewarding.
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24th September - Sail for Gold Regatta
As the end of the season gets closer it’s easy to start thinking about next year and how I will put my Gold Medal winning plan in place. Already I have most of it planned out and at 10 months till the start of the Olympics it seems a long way to go, but in reality it’s just round the corner. One more event left, the Sail for Gold Regatta at home in Weymouth. Effectively it’s the British round of the World tour. The regatta is an important event for anyone serious about competing in Weymouth at the 2012 Olympics. Although it’s not the most important event of the year, it is on home water and it’s is the venue for the next Olympics. With this in mind there is a bit of pressure to perform. And with the G4S boys and girls down to watch I really had to win!
The racing went very well and after sailing in no wind out in China for a month I was looking forward to propper windsurfing again. With stong wind forecast for the first 3 days of competition I was going to have to sail at my best to keep up with the bigger guys. By the time the light winds arrived on day 4, I was still in touch and ready to watch them suffer in the lighter conditions. After all my light wind training out in China I was in good shape and able to capatilize with the change of conditions. After the day of light I was leading by 3 points from the strong wind specialist Frenchman. It went down to the wire in the final race against the French and German who had been sailing brilliantly all week. I won the final race and therefore won overall. A great week and a good result.
Whats Next?The coming months are going to be working on fitness. I will have a series of fitness camps in Europe and continuous monitoring from the physiologist. This time period will form the basis of my fitness and a bit of a dry run till the World Championships in January. The training is now harder than ever and the plan is to push it beyond any previous levels of power and fitness. I will be sailing less and spending more time on the bike as a result of the new plan. Only time will tell if the gamble of sailing less pay’s off.
Other news.
On the eve of the Sail For Gold Regatta was the launch of the team to be nominated for selection to the British Olympic Association to be considered for Olympic selection. This will then be the Olympic team going to Beijing next year. I was nominated with some conditions but this should be fine if all goes to plan. What it means is that I will be in China next year. The bonus was that my fiancée, Sarah, had also been nominated. With both of us going to the Olympics it makes it a little more special.
August 2007 - Qingdao Test Olympics
It’s now been a month since I finished 3rd at the recent World Championships in Portugal. After a few days rest I was back out on the board in sunny Weymouth getting ready for our trip to China, where we start racing on the 15th August. So ten days at home before heading out to Qingdao.
When we arrived in Qingdao we were greeted by the G4S guys who looked after us and got us to the hotel in comfort and safety. There is nothing worse than arriving in a foreign place and having to look after yourselves with no idea how to speak Chinese and get your self to the right place. Having G4S here really is a huge help.
I’ve been training here in China now for three weeks and start racing tomorrow. The preparation has gone perfectly. We expect light wind here over the next week. If the conditions aren’t perfect, the Chinese have made up for it with their efforts to make this event a huge success. We attended the opening ceremony yesterday. It was amazing with the best fireworks I’ve ever seen. The time and money they have put into organising this event in preparation for the Games next year is like nothing I’ve seen before.
This event is going to be very difficult with the expected light winds. It has a tide like a river, lots of smog, really humid and very hot. All this and the best sailors trying to prove themselves on the Olympic waters. If I finish on the podium this week, I will be very happy. I will keep you updated with how it goes.
July 2007 - Cascais World Championships
The ISAF World Championships is the most important event prior to the Olympics next year in China. Even to get to China you must perform here in Portugal. You must first qualify your country, then finish top British windsurfer and then finish top 3 to become eligible to early selection.
The event was sailed in the most difficult racing conditions I have ever raced in, with massive wind shifts and random gusts of wind all over the course it made it very exciting. Even with the difficult racing I was always pretty relaxed, maybe because I was sailing really very well. At the half way stage I had done a great job of not making too many mistakes. I was now in the running for a medal. The final two days were a little nerve racking, the pressure was now on I was in joint 2nd with Poland and Portugal, all of us on 19 points with 2 races to go. I was pretty happy at this stage, as I’d just heard that my girlfriend Sarah had become World Champion in the Yngling class. She had put the pressure on once again. Without going into too much detail the conditions were difficult to say the least, myself and the Polish sailed well and we finished side by side in both races while the Portuguese had a 9th and a 15th. Everything was going to plan, I was going into the medal race in 3rd with every chance of finishing 2nd if I beat the Polish and a good chance of winning if I sailed a perfect race with a little luck on my side.
The medal race was maybe one of the most exciting windsurfing races ever sailed. The race course was stuck under the shore where the wind was very very hard to sail. After losing touch which the front-runners I sailed a perfect last down wind leg to catch a pass half the fleet. It was a slalom finish in 0 knots of wind, the whole fleet within 10 seconds of each other. But after a small gust on the last leg the Polish sailed well to finish just ahead with the Brazilian close enough behind to claim top spot.
I finished 3rd which I am very happy with. After a difficult year I had been training very hard to be on form and sailing at my best. I’m now looking forward to next month’s regatta in China, the second half of the Olympic selection trials. The light winds there will be my next challenge.
Nick Dempsey receiving his medal for third place
June 2007
Pre World Championships Preparation
Since I wrote my last newsletter I have spent the past month in Cascais, Portugal preparing myself for the World Championships, which start on the 6th July. The weather here has been perfect, windy every day which is great windsurfing weather. It looks like it could be the best event ever if the wind doesn’t disappear on the first day of competition.
So we have two important events coming up, Portugal (windy/big guy’s weather) then China (light wind/little guys conditions!) The size of sailor on the board is crucial for speed. I am right in the middle aiming to be the best all-rounder and be competitive in all conditions. I will do everything I can to win here in Portugal before hitting the diet hard in an attempt to drop 4kg’s in the month prior to China starting mid August.
As the Worlds are expected to be windy I will be working hard on selecting the best equipment. G4S has helped massively here, without them I would not have been able to buy the boards, masts, sails, fins which all need testing. The difference in the sails is huge and without being able to buy a load and work through them to find the best it’s a waste of time. I’m now happy with my equipment selection and am ready to race, I’ve been pretty quick this week, sailing the shifts in the wind very well.
China however will be very different. Rather than the training emphasis on the equipment testing I will be focusing 100% on the fitness due to the light wind expected in Qingdao. The difference between the two venues couldn’t be bigger but it leaves us sailors with some massive challenges. Currently my training day looks like the below.
My day consists of 5 parts:
- 9am Morning training ride - 2 – 3 hours
- 1pm Equipment testing and race training on the water with team and foreign windsurfers - 3 hours
- 5pm De-brief the session and plan the next one
- 6.30pm Gym for strength work - 90 min
- 8pm Physio
During a normal training day I will burn about 3000 extra calories so the diet is really important to replace the glycogen stores. I record all my heart rate data after every session and keep an eye on the duration and intensity. The coaches get a copy every week so they can see if I’m overtraining or slacking! It’s important to train at a variety of intensities during different parts of the season. Right now the duration of the sessions are shorter but harder.
Olympic windsurfing is a very physical discipline, the lighter the wind the harder it gets. In the light wind you have to pump the sail to make your own wind - a bit like a fan. As it gets windier you get easier until the wind reaches 20-25 knots when it gets very physical again to try and control the huge sail.
Olympic Qualification
In Olympic Windsurfing only one place is available per country. Portugal and the Pre Olympics in China this year are the basis of the selection for the Olympic Games next year. There is no certainty that I will go but I am favourite and if all goes to plan I hope to be selected this year in October.
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May: Racing in Palma