#RoadToRio
The World Championships are fast approaching - it is now less than two leeks until we fly out to Bueno Aires in Argentina to take part. With little racing between the summer season and the Worlds, we decided to take a trip over to a regatta in La Rochelle in France to keep us sharp.
It was a bad start to the event for us. We broke the only mast that we had out there on the way out to the first start. We raced on, borrowing a mast from another British team and, with the help of our Silverline tools, we just about made it back out in time for the 2nd race of the day - phew! The rest of the day went very well considering and we clocked a 5, 1, 1 to put us 4th overall.
The next two days of racing were tricky, with some wacky conditions and a rig that we did not know. But we made the best of it and rolled into the medal race close to the lead in 3rd place. Unfortunately, the medal race did not go our way and we did move up but only into Silver. Still a cracking result, given what we went through and had to sail without a discard all series after missing the first race.
After a great week off at home, including some cross training in Moths with some of the other guys in the British Sailing Team, it was time to get back to business at the National Ranker of the year, back on one of our better rigs again.
The race officer did a great job over the two days of racing to get in 10 races! We were on top form, winning seven out of the ten races and never finishing outside the top three. It
was a great way to finish off our racing before we head to Argentina. We really
feel as though we are just getting better and better, learning things each day
and stepping closer to our ultimate goal of Olympic glory.
Silverline 49ers update, September 2015
After having a few weeks off in the summer post-Rio, we were back in Brazil to pick up where we left off. When we left Rio in August it was glamour every day with breeze and plenty of sun. Then we came back in September and it was pretty much the opposite! Ten days of racing, light winds and no sun. Not ideal training conditions but we made the most of it and learnt as much as we could from the unusual conditions. We may not get to sail in some of those breeze directions until the Olympic Games so we made it count.
While we were out there, it was quite a change from the rest of our training this year. It was just us, our coach Ian and the Brazilian team of Dante and Thomas with their coach Javier. Exactly what we needed to put some real focus on a few key areas and work on them consistently.
We then flew home, got our race boat prepped and ready for a couple of days racing. No need for any of this time off, just getting the hours in and getting everything done. From sorting out all our spares and Silverline tools for the Worlds, to prepping the kit we were going to be using back in the UK while our race boat was off to the Worlds.
Then it was time to get down to business and go racing at a RYA National Ranker, which is basically a chance for us to see how we are getting on against the rest of the Brits. Two days of top-quality racing and we were the winners! It was good to see our hard work paying off and we had made gains in the areas that we wanted to. It was the biggest margin we have ever beaten the other Brits by at a National Ranker.
With no rest again, we were straight into a British Sailing Team Podium camp, with loads of sailing, lectures and fitness to keep us on our toes. Finally we get a few days rest ahead of a little regatta in La Rochelle, France. There will be another good opportunity to practise our racing skills ahead of the Worlds.
It's all starting to come together for us and we are feeling on good form, looking forward to every opportunity that presents itself. Thanks again for supporting the Silverline 49ers!
Follow @Silverline49ers for more updates!
The next two days of racing were tricky, with some wacky conditions and a rig that we did not know. But we made the best of it and rolled into the medal race close to the lead in 3rd place. Unfortunately, the medal race did not go our way and we did move up but only into Silver. Still a cracking result, given what we went through and had to sail without a discard all series after missing the first race. 
