Of course, it is often easier to do things immediately. I think back with great fondness to my University days at Loughborough, a fantastic sports University winning the BUCS title for 37 consecutive years….

I studied as a Chemical Engineer and actually worked as a process engineer for the Mars Corporation in the late nineties before being grabbed as a training partner for Shirley Robertson for the 2000 Olympics and starting full time coaching work, initially with the RYA Zone squads (I ended up working in both the North and South, with both single (Topper) and double handed (Cadet) classes).

At University we frequently had Friday afternoon laboratory work which in theory finished 18:00 but often finished well after that because simply we couldn’t leave until we got the results. Writing the reports itself straight after the event usually took a couple of hours and meant I was often late to the Student Union FND (Friday Night Disco) which meant I was playing catch up on drinks with my Hall of residents (Cayley) mates but that is of course a different story.

Many weekends I would drive to Weymouth from Loughborough on the Saturday morning, which was a 5 hour trip by the time I had collected my boat from my local sailing club, Staunton Harold. However, in my final year I convinced my warden to let me chain my boat to a drainpipe outside my room, which saved a lot of time but I got rather strange looks from the Campus security!

Without sounding too much like I am talking about the “good old days” we used to have much longer races and somehow it nearly always seemed to be 20 knots plus for all 6 races. Plus, in those days I sailed a Laser standard or ILCA 7, ironically at a lighter weight than I am (although current weight increase is probably more to do with middle age rather than because I kept out of the gym during the Pandemic).

The point is that by the time I got back to my Halls on a Sunday night or perhaps I should say Monday morning I was 1. Exhausted and 2. More than 48 hours had passed since I finished my experiment, and with a mind full of racing debriefs (hence the title of my first book Be Your Own Sailing Coach), it was much harder to recall what happened and do the best report. It is now over 6 months since the games, so I will do my best…

So now the dust has settled what do I remember: Well first things first, Tuula was an amazing athlete to work with and with time my admiration only increases. It is hard to imagine a more difficult cycle for most athletes but especially those “in the medal zone” and the pressures that brings. Several times in the regatta, including the windward mark of the medal race she was in Silver medal position, and she achieved 5th overall at the end of the Olympics is an extremely positive result, one I am very proud of.

As for the event itself I remember how much harder to communicate or even socialise it was than normal: those little chats and wind downs which we take for granted. When eating this was the only time we didn’t have a mask on and were separated by plastic screening. This definitely worked because the sound proofing meant I still had great difficultly hearing, although I guess my lip reading improved slightly. It now makes me cherish the freedom I have with the 2024 Olympic campaign.

The truth is the hard work is done before the games, to an extent that in many classes you can call accurately the medallists before the first race (although I did make some mistakes because there were some teams I literally never saw sail during the campaign). My day-to-day schedule was about collecting weather forecasts and ice, taking PCR tests and attending daily Team leader meetings.  

Overall results are very much determined by the worst score you have to count in the series, meaning consistency is the key. Too much confidence can lead to Black or Yellow flags, too little and a poor start, especially in light winds and waves can mean a poor result, which effectively can be as bad as a “flag,” and this is what makes the difference to the overall score.

As I start to finally pack away the unused PCR test tubes, the meteorological reports (and hats off to Martin Gahmberg whose accuracy never ceases to amaze me, to Joakim, Iian, Pia and all the Finnish Sailing team, plus Kyota and the ever so welcoming Japanese, it was such a great team to be involved with. I have such fond memories of the campaign, but time to tidy up, put them to bed and move on.

With so few rest days, I want to make the most of it. Hope you have enjoyed the read. I am off to check out the Escape Rooms in Weymouth. It is funny when you live somewhere you rarely do the tourist things. So that is something I am hoping to change because just like physical rest, mental rest is very important.