Rob Wilson & Mark Bulkeley's Blog
December 2007
Following a lengthy
break and a good Christmas and New Year, we are preparing to head to Auckland, New Zealand for the Tornado
world championships at the end of February. Prior to this there is the grade one Sail Auckland, which
will act as a good warm up event.
The worlds may well prove to be the
last Tornado worlds as an Olympic class, and as a result of this will have special meaning to all competing.
It is also the last chance for many nations to qualify the country for the Beijing Olympics. The last
4 remaining spots are up for grabs and among those yet to qualify are double gold medallist Roman Hagara
from Austria, so it could be an interesting week.
For Rob and I it’s
a chance to get back into racing tornados at the highest level and show the world what we can do. Missing
out on selection for the Olympics has been hard to take, and a good result in New Zealand will be a
good way of moving on. It is also going to be nice to get away for a month to a warmer climate and renew
old rivalries with friends both foreign and domestic!
.....November
Update
It has been
a bit of a difficult time in the Tornado class recently. Following the end of the season and the Sail
for Gold regatta in Weymouth, we had some time off and took the opportunity to catch up on seeing friends
and doing all the things that get neglected during a busy racing season. We also took some time to get
mentally and physically prepared for the 2008 season.
We have been out
to Mallorca for a warm weather fitness camp, which involved a week cycling around the very quiet and
pleasant island of Mallorca. Joined there by fellow G4S sponsored sailors Nick Dempsey and Ben Rhodes
it was a great way to get in some really good volume on the bike whilst also having some fun. We also
did a bit of rock climbing, when we could squeeze it in around our rides.
So
it was with much disappointment at the end of the trip when news came through that the International
Sailing Federation or ISAF had voted at their annual conference to not include the Multihull discipline
at the 2012 Olympics. This decision means that for us the 2008 Worlds in New Zealand is likely to be
the last event we do in the Tornado, which has come as a big shock and disappointment to us both. We
are now looking into other areas and disciplines of sailing for the 2008 season and beyond.
The
rest of 2007 is fairly quiet as boats are in containers to Australia and New Zealand and we are really
keeping our fitness topped up ready to fly out to warmer climes in the New Year. We also have the annual
team dinner and awards ceremony coming up which is a great night and a great way to celebrate with the
rest of the team in what has been another highly successful year in the Tornado Class.
October Update
Following
on from the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth at the end of last month, the UK National Ranking series
started on the weekend of the 6 /7th of October.
Eight
boats arrived at the start line in Weymouth Bay for the first day of racing, and four races were sailed
in near perfect conditions, good wind and sunshine and some nice waves made for some very tight racing.
Fellow Skandia Team GBR team mates Andrew Walsh and Ed Barney had a great day winning three out of their
four races to take a good lead into Sundays racing. We had a good consistent day, winning race two by
some margin and missing out on another race win as our 150m lead was reversed by a 40 degree wind shift
and on the last lap we went from first to fourth. We recovered to 2nd place in that race and it meant
that we needed to win both races on the Sunday to take the event away from Walsh and Barney.
Sunday
dawned with similar wind strength but much more variable direction as the wind blew off the cliffs down
onto the racecourse. The first race of the day was probably the best of the weekend, with multiple place
changes. First Walsh and Barney led, then McMillan and Howden led and then we managed to get into the
lead, only to be passed on the final lap again by Walsh and Barney who sneaked past from 3rd to 1st
as we covered our old rivals McMillan and Howden.
The
race win gave Walsh and Barney an unassailable lead and we were safely in 2nd place overall, so we both
sailed in for an early bath and left the others to fight it out for third place. McMillan and Howden
won the final race to secure third overall.
The results
from this event together with the results from Sail for Gold regatta means that all three teams are
tied with one event to go on the 20/21st of October.
23rd September - Sail for
Gold Regatta
Weymouth
and Portland National Sailing Academy was host last week to the 2nd Skandia Sail for Gold regatta. 5
days racing was scheduled from the 19 – 23rd of September on the waters were the Olympic sailing will
take place in 2012.
The Tuesday before the regatta was also the announcement
of the first wave of selections for the Beijing Olympic Team. Unfortunately in the Tornado Class our
main rivals were selected to allow them maximum time to prepare for next summers Olympic Regatta. However
we had a regatta to sail the next day and were keen to go out and prove a point.
The
first day of racing dawned with a very strong south westerly wind, so strong in fact that the Tornado’s
were abandoned for the day. This was to be the trend for the next two days as a weather system was causing
very strong winds. This meant that we would have 4 races on the Saturday and then the double points
medal race on the Sunday to decide the outcome of the regatta.
In contrast
to the previous 3 days Saturday saw light winds and we started racing in a shifty 6 – 8 knots of wind.
We sailed 4 very tight and at times unpredictable races as the wind shifted back and forth off the land.
We had an Ok day posting a 5,2,4,4 to finish the day 3rd overall but still within striking distance.
We needed to win the medal race and hope other results went our way. With only 4 races completed in
the opening series we were left without a discard, which meant that all our race scores would count
(normally we lose our worst score).
The Medal race on Sunday saw a return
to the windier conditions that dominated the week and we sailed out in a fresh 18-knot wind, which suited
us. We are based from Weymouth and have done a lot of training there so felt comfortable in these conditions.
We started the medal race at the Pin end and blasted out to the left
with our rivals tacking off and going up the middle. We hit the left side and came into the windward
mark on Port tack bow to bow with the overall leaders, we had to duck a few transoms before rounding
the top mark 4th, however we flew down the run, revelling in the conditions and rounded the leeward
gate in 2nd and hot on the heels of the Leaders Leigh McMillan and Will Howden. Once again we split
on the upwind and arrived at the top mark neck and neck, well ahead of the other teams in the race.
We had a better hoist than them and extended down the run to tale the win, with McMillan and Howden
finishing 2nd in the race they had done enough to win the regatta overall with our race win moving us
up in to the silver medal position. Andrew Walsh and Ed Barney claimed bronze to round off an all-British
podium.
The week for us was overshadowed by the news of the Olympic selection
of Leigh McMillan and Will Howden, which we feel was early as neither team had met the selection criteria
laid down by the RYA, however the decision has been made and we wish them every success as they prepare
for next years Olympics.
31 August 2007
With
one week to go before the UK National Championships it is time to get the boat back out on the water
and start training again. It has been a really nice break for both of us and we are fired up and ready
to go again.
Mark Bulkeley climbing in the Himalayas
| I have been in India Travelling for a month, which has been an amazing experience, seeing many great sights and some truly amazing scenery, especially in the last two weeks when I was in the Himalayas (altitude training!).
I was fortunate enough to be able to fit in some trekking and climbed a 5000m mountain, as well as driving over the world’s second highest pass at 5300 m.
Rob has been holding down the fort at home and enjoying some windsurfing, mountain biking and surfing as well as relaxing at home and spending times with friends. |
During the season it can get pretty hectic always being away at events
or training and it is nice to have some time at home sometimes to do normal stuff.
The
National Championships are at Weston Sailing Club in Southampton over the 2nd weekend of September and
are shortly followed by the Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth. We also have a day of sailing with G4S
in Weymouth, which should be lots of fun and get everyone’s competitive streaks.
August 2007 - Qingdao Test Olympics, China
After
Cascais it was time to take a short break and carry out a performance analysis on the various aspects
of the campaign to date. Those areas include boat speed (equipment and technique), fitness, tactics,
strategy, starting, boat handling, meteorology, rules, logistics, mental preparation, anything and everything
that makes a difference to sailing fast and winning events! The priority for the next period of training
in the build up to the selection for China is racing and equipment development. On the racing side we
have the Nationals and the Sail for Gold regatta in September. On the equipment side we can’t say too
much as it is top secret! But it will revolve around sails and centre boards. The other areas will be
kept ticking over, especially fitness since it is generally much easier to train at home.
Planning
up until the next major event, the Worlds New Zealand, at the end of February and onto the Beijing Olympics
is also a major priority. This entails making sure that boats are in the right place at the right time.
Easier said than done when you are relying on shipping companies and moving equipment half way around
the world on fairly tight schedules. This all has to tie in with training partners plans, sail makers
and coaches. The plan is to give ourselves the best opportunity to work on the areas mentioned above.
It’s
good to spend time in the UK at Weymouth, venue for the sailing at the 2012 Olympics. I have also been
over at Cowes doing official duties and helming a 40 foot boat for Skandia.
July 2007 - Cascais World Championships, France
The
World Championships in Cascais started early for the Tornados and we were the first class to get racing
underway off the Estoril coast, just north of Lisbon. A venue renowned for it’s strong wind, waves and
sunshine. This event is held every 4 years and is where all 11 Olympic classes come together for there
world championships. It is also the first opportunity for all the sailors to qualify there country for
the Olympics as well as individual qualification.
As a result it was
a very strong field that sailed out for the first days racing in unusually light winds. The first race
of the event started very well for us, we had a good start and went to the right of the course and found
good wind to round the first mark in 4th place. However we tried to take some wind shifts down the middle
of the course on the first downwind leg and got sailed round on both sides as the offshore winds started
to build and funnel off the land. We eventually finished 12th. The second race again we had a good start
and ¾ of the way up the first leg in freshening conditions we were in a very good position in the middle
of the course, however again both sides came in from the corners and we were caught between two winds,
an occurrence which would prove to be the theme of the week! We finished that race 17th and although
felt we had not had many breaks were still well placed as results for the whole fleet were very mixed.
The
second day was quite windy and very shifty and gusty as we held 2 more races. In the first race we were
12th with one lap to go and then lost 23 places in one upwind by trying to take a small wind shift at
the bottom of the course. We were not the only boat to suffer this and there were plenty of other top
boats left bemused by the way the wind was coming down the course. We had a 12th in race 4 to steady
the ship but were left rueing the 3rd race and the loss of 23 points that would ultimately prove very
costly.
The third day was raced in windy and wavy conditions as we raced
on course 5, which was the most exposed course, open to the waves that run down the Portuguese coast.
The first race of the day was a hard fought race with very strong winds and lots of carnage as many
teams capsized or broke equipment; we had a small tear in our sail window and had to swap sails in between
races, which we just managed in time. We then had our best race of the week finishing 5th in race 6
to go into the mid regatta day off in 14th position and very close on points to the top 10.
After
a day off we came back refreshed and ready to go out and make an impression on the leader board. We
were scheduled for a late start and as the day went on it became clear that the wind was not playing
ball and we were delayed until 7pm. We eventually sailed out to race on a different course area and
had a great race, in lighter conditions, which we were very confident in, we led the race by a considerable
margin when the wind shut down and the race was abandoned. This was a really bad break as all the boats
just in front of us in the overall results were having bad races and the result if it stood would have
put us safely in the top 10. No more racing was possible that day and we ended up sailing in after dark!
So
the final day came and we needed 2 good results to get into the top 10. We started both races well but
failed to capitalise on the extreme wind shifts and had two average results to leave us 15th Overall.
The event as a whole was very different to most Tornado events, with some surprise results from a lot
of teams. The double Olympic Champion didn’t qualify his country and finished 20th and the silver medal
went to Belgium who were ranked outside the top 20 before the event. For us we failed to get our heads
around the split winds that characterised this week and were not risky enough with our tactics. The
new world Champion is from Spain and he sailed a very good week, sailing both fast and very smart to
win his second world title in 3 years.
mid July 2007
With
the World Championships in Cascais over we have just arrived home following a lengthy and eventful drive
home which took 36 hours in cars and ferries and included a blown out tyre on the trailer which needed
repairing in Portugal. Luckily it only lost us 2 hours, and more importantly didn’t do any serious damage
to either the car, boat or people.
Now home it is a time to reflect on
the recent worlds and look forward and plan for the next part of the selection process. The World championships
did not go as we had planned and we are very disappointed with the result. However we are quite happy
with our speed across all the conditions and can take heart in that as in the past we have struggled
in medium conditions. We can also look back on the weeks racing and feel slightly hard done by as we
were winning a race that got abandoned and this cost us a top ten place. However it was a tough week
for all and we have to look ahead.
We are now planning on having a few
weeks off from sailing to re charge the batteries and then come back refreshed ready to prepare for
the sail for gold regatta in September and the winter season in Australia and the world championships
in New Zealand in February.
Early July 2007
The
first two weeks in July were based in Cascais, venue for the Multi class world championships, and for
most people the first opportunity for Olympic and country qualification for Beijing 2008.
We
had spent two weeks in June training in Cascais and were very happy in our surroundings and were really
just putting the final touches in preparation for the start of the event. We had made our final sail
and equipment choices based on our previous training. Now was the time to get in some practice races
with our training partners and to go over the boat with a fine tooth comb to make sure there was no
chance of any gear failure. Luckily we found a crack in our carbon fibre spinnaker pole and also a wire
that holds up the mast needed replacing so we had to spend a day repairing these but were happy to have
discovered these before the event as apposed to during the event, as any gear failure during an event
is always very costly.
All that was left to do now was polish and clean
the boat, apply the event branding and numbers to the boat and then try to relax before the action starts.
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