Hello from Bodstedt. The small, quiet village and particularly the harbour precinct have been turned into a hive of activity. Boats and competitors are arriving from all over the world. Marquees are popping up, country zones marked out on the grass and being rapidly filled with cadets. Even the event beer (cadet2018 Pilsener) has gone on tap with three variations. It is very good to see the children mingling and making new friends.
We have been blessed with warm sunny weather and lots of sunscreen and water is the order of the day. After a couple of brilliant days sailing, the weather has gone very light and fickle in direction. We have been able to get out on the water for a few hours each day, but am very mindful of the kids sitting out there in the sun. So very much if it is not raceable conditions, we stay ashore. Ashore we are going through videos, refining some techniques for the local waves etc.
I am very ably assisted by Sam Tiedeman, who has arrived to bolster our coaching ranks. On the first day I as assisted by Maite from Spain, the lone Spanish skipper who was waiting for her boat to arrive and she, along with her family contingent, have struck up a strong connection with the Aussies.
A big focus of the shoreside conversations is keeping the sailors from getting too anxious. As I always say, your biggest opponent is in your head, self doubt is a big inhibitor to performance. So let’s enjoy the regatta, take the ups and downs in our stride and sail as well as we can. If we do a good job of that, the results will come to us. We don’t need to stress about chasing them.
Looking ahead, we have what looks like another fickle day ahead. So we will make of it what we can. Following that we have a session with the Germans, Spanish and Cubans lined up, this will be good as it will constitute over 40 boats, so predominantly starts getting used to the anonymity of the big fleet.
I will close by saying we are blown away by the hospitality of the Germans, so helpful and going out of their way to make sure all are having a memorable experience. Some of the parents last evening did a trip from Barth to Bodstedt on Big Alex’s grand yacht “Old Lady” built in 1862!
Thank you from all of us.
Bully.
