Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Training Tour underway

This years Worlds Team is: (From the NZ Nationals 2011 results)
Leonard Takahashi-Fry, Isaac Mchardie, Markus Somerville, William Mckenzie and Nathaniel Deverell

Leonard, Isaac and Markus together with coach Chris Steele, have undertaken to do a training trip involving 3 or 4 Regattas over school holidays and winter months. The rational is that sitting at NZ top 5 will not automatically give them a chance to take a top position at the worlds so some initiative was needed to maximize our chances in Napier.

 Leonard would like to thank the members of the Murrays Bay Sailing Club for their support of his Worlds campaign.

The schedule was chosen around the pre 2012 Worlds in Dominican Republic and the UK Nationals in Pwhelli, Wales.

It seemed that the opportunity to race in the venue for the next Worlds after Napier would be valuable for the sailors for the following main reasons:
A strong South American and Caribean presence could be expected. Teams from the US and UK were also expected.
Especially meaningful for those that will still be eligible in 2012 and also the next NZ team as a whole.

Following the regatta there will be a 3 day coaching clinic run by 2 time Worlds winner Martin Jenkins. This should be valuable experience for our sailors and also for Chris to work with Martin at this venue.

After Dom Rep, the team will go to Houston for the US Nats. Timing and travel wise it follows on nicely and is a good chance to compete against the top US sailors.

Following the US Nats we go on to London for a few days of R & R before the long drive to Pwllheli (pronounced something like "Piffeli") in Wales. The UK Nats is divided into Junior and Senior divisions because of the large number of entries involved. The Junior fleet is up to 12 opti age and the senior over that. The senior fleet offers a strong fleet of 150odd, very well run "British" racing and usually quite a good international contingent.

Chris will return to his Squadron programme after Houston and we will have local coaching in Pwllheli.
After the UK Nats Isaac and Markus will head home while Leonard will drop off in Japan to visit rellies and maximize the opportunities by competing in the Japan Nats which are in August this year instead of their normal early November.

2 comments:

  1. training I have a question. I got rid of my uder bar shifters in a race where
    my thumb was too cold to push the buttons, and shifting became a night-
    mare. My Deore top bar shifters are great. But with the Hyperglide, I
    find that I must adjust the cable tension often, and even then, I get
    occasional chinging (noise) from the rear derailure. SO I just bagged
    the index mode for the friction mode, and all is well. Here is the
    question. Do other Mt bike riders often use the friction mode? In
    a race situation, which do you use more?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel really good for them that they are sailing in the worlds.
    I sail optimists.
    My sail number is 4366.
    I beat leonard in the last few races of napier.

    ReplyDelete