Another Steep Learning Curve
Another near vertical learning curve has been happening over the last few months since we relocated to Barcelona full time to train in the AC40, the boat is incredible to sail and feels like a toy compared to the F50, you can reach 40 knots without really realising which Is sort of scary to say! The sensation is really dulled down, especially as a trimmer because you are sat down low in the carbon seat in the hull and being positioned directly behind the helm, you are almost totally sheltered from the apparent wind coming over the deck!
The simulator training we did before relocating was useful in terms of making sure using the control panels was second nature. I am a kinaesthetic learner and sailor, so I struggled to relate to some of the sessions when your only information with regards to speed is the number on the screen, no sensation of heel change and the only way you know that the pressure is changing is again that the number on the screen changes. I found it a challenging and frustrating few months so I was pretty excited to get out on the water after being cooped up in computer world for so long!
We spent 4 weeks setting up the base before we could launch our AC40 for the first time, this involved all jobs such as cleaning the bathrooms, the floor, building furniture, painting walls and making sure we had a fully functioning site to allow us to get safely on the water.
Since then we have done 30 days sailing, with the Youth & Women’s teams sharing their time on the water, we are sailing as one team at the moment to try and make sure we are taking as much learning as possible which has been great.
As I write this, we are 11 weeks from day 1 of racing and as always, the more we do, the more we put on the list to achieve before race day! The boats are amazing to sail, the intensity required to make sure you are all over the aero controls, switching from main trim on the windward side then to jib trim when you are on the leeward side, because you are separated by the 3Di twin skin mainsail, which blocks any vision to the other side of the boat, the trimmers really have to communicate effectively to make sure that you don’t end up with a totally different set up when you are on port and starboard!
Barcelona is also a tricky venue to get to learn – there is often quite a swell when the breeze has had any Easterly in it and the boats can be a real handful especially for boat handling! The Women’s America’s Cup should be some great racing and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the build up!
Currently, I am on my way to San Francisco for the final event of Season 4 SailGP, this season has been a new experience for me, attending each event as spare sailor – being ready to go at any time but actually having done very little sailing, I have been making sure I keep myself up to date with our playbook should I have to step on for racing with no training time but it has definitely been a challenge to manage my own expectations with a racing mindset each day which often involves watching from the chase boat in my wetsuit!
I have also been supporting the team with Sport Science & Physio support which has been a great opportunity to develop in those areas, as the SailGP Calendar gets busier – with Season 5 being announced today with 14 events, these areas are going to become more and more important and no doubt as new sailors join the league who don’t have the benefit of almost 10 years of F50 sailing, there will be more emphasis on injury prevention and the frequency of events means that the sailors will have less time to recover, particularly as the travel is only going to become more demanding as more events are added!
So it’s an exciting time at the moment, I am enjoying being in the thick of two campaigns although I think I will need some of November to sleep and recover!
