The Princess Sofia regatta perfect was the perfect warm up for the 2nd Sailing World Cup in Hyeres (unfortunately we missed the 1st round in Miami due to hip surgery but Tuula has made excellent progress and had some of her best races during the strong wind in Spain).

Now is still a period of reflection, on what I can learn from the past campaign and make better for the future. Every single day I learn something new and I believe this is one of the main reasons I love my job so much. It is also important to look back at the mistakes made, as this is surely the best learning opportunity for how we set good habits for the future.

So, to continue from my previous blog, and looking back on the issues at the start of the last campaign: 2013 was not only with a potentially career ending injury which could have been avoided if given immediate rest and rehabilitation but fundamentally with the problems caused when short term gain is put over long term benefits. Something which I understand happens in many societies which operate in a high degree of uncertainly with the leaders and coaches changing at any time and it would be remiss of me not to comment here on the amazing job that John Derbyshire Director of Sailing and Stephen Parks (Sparky) Olympic manager have done at the RYA for many, many years. They will be missed and without a doubt both have created a legacy which will live on.

Perhaps a good example of this is dealing with jet lag: to adjust to the new time zone quickly can be painful: you may have to force yourself to stay awake or get up when you really don’t want to. The fact is the sooner you adjust the better and by continuing an old sleeping pattern (which may at the time seem more comfortable) you are doing yourself more harm than good, delaying the inevitable switch to the new time zone and prolonging your period when you cannot function 100% during normal daylight hours. We need long term thinking.