After a good weeks training in Clearwater I had an easy day before racing. The first day kicked off with some great sailing, Strong winds and big waves. I was a little slow to start in the first Race but scored a 3 1 1 for the day which I was more than pleased with. Day two saw a lighter fighting sea breeze which lead to a long frustrating day and an OCS!!!!
The fleets were then split in to gold and silver with about 40 boats in each I was a little keen over the line again in the first race but went on to win the second. On the final day after a bit of a wait the breeze came in after winning the first race I followed it up with a second.
It was good to get racing again in my Laser and apart from a few bits of rust from the rest period all seemed good.
Im off back to Miami now ready to join Team RED for the Miami Grand Prix on the Melges. It should be fun and the weather is warming up!!!!!!

Well I was expecting a little more warmth from Florida!!!!! After a few days at home it was back out to the sunshine state…… well supposed to be, its been less than 10 degrees for the last week out here. The weather aside it has been great to get back in my Laser and start training again.

I am pretty surprised how well my body has survived the week, no holes in my hands and feeling not too bad considering Ive just done 7 days on the water, dont get me wrong I am pretty tired.

The training has been really good with up to 30 boats out each day here in Clearwater, the wind has been good and the waves have been awesome the last few days. I am looking forward to doing some racing this weekend.

Next week I head back down to Miami for some riding before Miami SORC where I will be joining the Melges 32 team Red for what should be another great week of racing.

After getting ill while away snow boarding at Christmas it was nice to get away to the sun and to start feeling myself again.
My flight out to Miami was canceled due to the snow but I was lucky enough to get on the later flight that day. I flew down to Key West the following day and met up with RED the Melges 32 team.
After a couple of days training it was in to the racing. Key West is a pretty special place to sail with amazing turquoise waters and generally sunny! apart from a spot of rain the first few days.
We had a bit of a slow start struggling a little to get off the line and then when we did we had a couple of slow patches. As the week went on we sailed better and better. After winning the first race on the final day we had a chance of winning overall. We set up well for the start but pulled the trigger a little early and had to dip the line and restart. We managed to pull back to 7th by the windward mark only to rip the kite on a gybe set!!! This was pretty disheartening as boats slipped by while we prepared another kite. We got back into the race in the late teens with a lot to do.We kept our heads high and sailed back to 11th to take 2nd overall.
It was a great week sailing and again as we went through the week we got better and better.
Samba pa te sailed really well all week to take the overall win.
After two seconds on the trot hopefully we can go one better at the next event.

I am back out to Florida in Feb for some Laser sailing. I am really looking forward to getting back into the boat after a brake. I cant wait, especially if its going to be sunny!!!!

I had the honour of cyling with Steve Peat yesterday Downhill world champion. We headed out into the local woods and it wasnt long before I was struggling to keep up. His pace down hill was pretty cool making every turn look easy as I slid around in the mood. It was good fun and Im looking forward to trying to keep up next time………

This afternoon I was in Meadowhall shopping centre for a quick appearance at a bikeathlon. I was there to support Dominic Hurley. I met Dom at the Yorkshire Sports awards a few weeks ago and was inspired by his story. What an amazing guy and i wish him the best of look for his Paralympic quest.

Dominic did 10hours on Friday, an 8 hour stint on Saturday and was up for 6 hours today. I felt a little bit lame only doing 90 minutes but it was good to give my support.

For more details see Doms site
www.dominichurley.co.uk

I am looking forward to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards tonight Im sure it will be cracking event.

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Its been nice to get away from the wind and rain in Weymouth for a short to trip to Miami for the Melges 32 Gold Cup.

I was sailing on Red, the Melges 32 team helmed by Joe Woods. The team was a great bunch of guys which made for not only great sailing but good fun. It was my first time sailing on a Melges 32 so it was all quite new with lots to learn, luckily as tactician I didnt have to pull any strings which made life a bit easier but there was still a lot on especially when the breeze was up.
It was easy to see why the fleet is so popular, the boats are quick, the racing super tight and the fleet is staked with talented sailors.

It took me a while to find my feet and get used to the tricky conditions, it was quite shifty with a good swell and the boats powered up. After a slow start and a few mistakes we got better as the the regatta went on. Consistency was the key on the final day as we pulled through the fleet each race to finish with a 6 – 4 – 3.

Unfortunately this wasn’t quite enough just missing out on winning by a point to Ramrod, helmed by Rod Jabin with Gavin Brady calling tactics.

It was still good to finish 2nd in the first regatta with plenty to still work on Im really looking forward to joining the team again in Key West in January.

For Results see
http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=295

After leaving Weymouth on Monday morning I finally arrived in Busan, Korea Tuesday night just in time for the awards ceremony. It was a great evening and congratulations to Anna and Torben for taking this years awards. It was a great honor to be nominated but I suppose I was a little disappointed. Its not a bad think to be beaten by an amazing sailor who owns 5 Olympic medals though!!!
Have to try harder next year!

After a fantastic evening in London at the National Hostory Museum for the Gold Ball, the British Olympic Associations anual fund raiser it was an early start to catch the first train to Southampton.

A bright and sunny morning greeted the 96 golfers who turned out for the 13th North Sails Golf Day last Friday at Cams Hall in Fareham. John Merricks worked at North Sails and the first Golf Day, organised as it is today with the help of the Seahorse Golf Society, was set up to raise money for a Trust to be started in John’s name.
I had a great day joined and helped to raise funds for Johns Trust, I was in a four ball with Ed Wright, Paul Hobson and Rob Wilson. We all played pretty well scoring just over 30 stableford points each. Unfortunately not quite enough to win though.

I graduated again this week ten years on from my last one,

Former student and Olympic Gold medallist, Paul Goodison, received an Honorary Doctorate of Sport in recognition of his outstanding achievements in his chosen sport on Tuesday, November 3.

Paul is currently ranked as the world’s number one Laser sailor, an Olympic Gold Medallist, and World and European champion. He started sailing at the age of four and has enjoyed an outstanding string of successes since turning professional in 1999.

His first major triumph came in the 2000 Laser European Championships where he won Silver. In 2004 he represented his country in the Athens Olympic Games where he narrowly missed a Bronze Medal, and went on to win Gold in the Laser Class at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Paul – who graduated from Solent University with a BSc (Hons) Maritime Studies in 1999 – has been nominated for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award and will be traveling to Korea for the awards ceremony on 10 November. He is now working towards further success in London 2012.

He said: “I congratulate everyone graduating. I remember 10 years ago being in the same position before going out into the world. Southampton Solent University was a fantastic place to prepare me for what was to come. It was only really when I was stood on the podium in Beijing listening to the national anthem that I truly believed what I had achieved.”

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After returning from the world championships it was time to let my hair down a little. Having just purchased some new kite surfing equipment I spent a couple of days being dragged around Portland harbour as I battled against the elements.. It was great fun but pretty tiring, one day I managed 5 hours kitesurfing and 2 hours windsurfing, not everybody’s idea of letting their hair down but it was a great release for me after such an intense and fruitful couple of months.

At the end of last month I received an email from ISAF confirming that I had been nominated for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year award. After winning the Olympics it was hard to believe the next 12 months would be so successful. It is a great honor to have been recognised among some of the worlds sailing greats for such a prestigious award. Im really looking forward to traveling to Korea for the awards dinner that will be 10 November, quite a long way to go for dinner though!!!.

After a break from sailing it was time for Sail for Gold. Unfortunately I had injured my shoulder and was uncertain whether to compete. I decided that it would be a good chance to learn more about the 2012 venue. The first few days where really tough as I struggled in the strong winds with my shoulder, it was pretty uncomfortable to sheet and steer. As the wind dropped a little for the finals I sailed with out strapping on my arm and managed to finish well winning 2 of the last 3 races. Unfortunately there was no medal race due to the testing conditions on the final day.

Last weekend was the final qualifier of the year at Weymouth. On the first day we sailed in really strong south westerlies in the harbour, I managed to get in just in time to get a sneaky but pretty scary kite surfing session before dark. On the second day we sailed in the bay on the Olympic courses. I won the only race of the day to win the event overall. After sailing a few of us enjoyed an amazing evening climbing on the west cliffs of Portland to wrap up a great weekend.

I have just been in Scotland for the week training on my mountain bike taking in some of the finest trail centers in the UK, it was not what I was expecting as the sun shone and the conditions where fantastic. I will be at Ullswater sailing club for a talk this evening and at Rutland for a day with the Oppies on Sunday and back in to training next week.

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After a fantastic 12 months of sailing I have been shortlisted for, ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2009. It is a great honour to have been nominated and I am looking forward to the awards presentation and dinner which will take place on Tuesday 10 November 2009. The venue for the event is the Busan Yacht Club, Busan, Korea.

For more details
www.sailing.org/worldcup/news/29898.php

Wow!!! After a tough week in Halifax, Canada I can breath a sigh of relief as I am the new Laser World Champion!!!!!!

Another great result after a challenging 6 days of racing in Sweden.

I probably had the worst possible start to a regatta with a premature start in race one and then a silly mistake in race two loosing places on the line to take 8th. I needed to have a serious rethink after the first day of racing sitting 72nd overall.
Day two was much better for me as I started well and sailed with confidence to take two bullets and move up to 1st overall. I was pretty surprised to be leading overall especially after the disaster on day one.
Day three again was tricky with different sides paying each beat and a strong current to confuse the lay lines. I sailed well again to chalk up two 2nd places to extend my lead overall.
For the last day of qualifying we had to sit ashore before the wind filled in and we launched in a building thermal. I started well and lead around every mark in the first race. In the second race I rounded second in the decreasing breeze, the race was abandoned at mark two which was pretty frustrating but probably the right decision as the wind had completely disappeared at mark 3. After waiting around in the glorious sunshine for a few hours we were sent home.
Day 5 was the first day of finals and the breeze blew up to 15 knots but was pretty shifty and patchy close to the shore. In the first race I pulled through the fleet well to finish 4th. In the final race of the day I rounded the windward mark in 3rd, after a good run the breeze was all over the place as i went from 3rd to 10th and back to 3rd by the finish.
Going in to the final day I had a healthy 30 point lead over my nearest rivals. We only had one race in the fickle breeze as I protected my lead against the Cypriot and Croatian sailors. I didnt sail that well but secured my victory overall in the single race.
It was great to win the Europeans for the 5th year running and continue my roll this year. Hopefully it will keep going for a while longer!!!!!

For full results see
http://www.nordicweek.se/resultat_2009.asp

It felt like Christmas last week as I received my new bike from Orange. I was like a little kid rushing to put it together to get out riding. Its not just any bike its pretty special. Hope have kindly provided some custom bits which look amazing, personalised brakes, hubs, stem etc… all with my name on. I think the coolest bits are probably the brakes that are gold in colour.

A big thanks to Orange for my new bike and Hope for all the bits, cheers guys.

It was off to Wales to give it a real test. Gorgeous sunshine and then rain in the afternoon, Wales never changes, amazing riding and great fun.
I am off to Canada now for a training camp, but im not looking forward to the cold water after the glamorous conditions in Weymouth last week.

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Its been a good few weeks for me, finishing with an amazing regatta in Kiel where I won the third World Cup event in a row, winning every race to discard a 1st!!!

I left for Sweden Three weeks ago for some training at this years Europeans venue Landskrona. It is a pretty interesting venue sailing in the waters between Sweden and Denmark. The first few days were pretty full on, sailing in winds of over 30 knots and it wasn’t exactly warm. We sailed with a good group of sailors including Swedes, Norwegians, Germans and Austrians.

The highlight of the week for me was watching the Volvo boats race past on there way to Stockholm. We went out on the rib and watched the boats hammer past as the sun came down. It was good to see some familiar faces on the boats as we waved them by.

After a good training camp we loaded up the boats and rib and drove down through Denmark to get the ferry over to Germany and then on to Kiel. After a bit of a logistical nightmare I was saved by the match race girls as they managed to organise accommodation at the Kiel Training Centre for me, thank you!!!

I took a couple of days off the water to prepare my boat and have a sneaky round of golf as I was pretty tired from the previous weeks training.

The first day was a pretty long tow out to the race course in a light breeze. On arrival the wind came in and rose to around 12 knots for two good races, I started well in the first to round 3rd round the top mark and move in to the lead by the end of the run and go on to win the race. In the second race I got away well again and lead round every mark to take the second win of the day.
The next two days saw glorious sunshine but not enough wind for sailing so I managed to really frustrate my self on the golf course ahhhhhh.
Day four was a great day for racing with a increased sea state for the 15 knot wind conditions giving some great surfing conditions. After a poor start in race one I took the lead by mark 3 and went on to win the race. The next race proved a lot easier after a great start I lead around mark one and went on to win again. The final race saw the breeze drop and a lot of general recalls with 13 boats getting black flagged. I started cautiously but went on to win the race. Some days sailing feels so much simpler than others!

Going in to the medal race with a perfect scoreline discarding a 1st things were still extremely tight between the top 10. My only way to guarantee victory was to finish in the top 3 if the kiwi was to win the race. The course was just off the harbour and conditions where gusty and shifty 6 -15 knots.
I made a great start at the starboard end of the line and lead out to the left. Once tacked I crossed all the fleet to round mark 1 first. On the run the Croatian made a large gain as we rounded the gate at similar times. I pulled away over the next two laps to take the gun.

It was a great feeling to have won the race to make it a clean sweep, This meant that I had also won the overall Kiel week prize along with the German windsurfer. We were presented a huge trophy at the prize giving.


I have just returned from a fantastic day at Wimbledon. I was invited along with other Gold medalists to be guests in the Royal box for the day. It was great to meet up with the other guys and girls and have a fantastic day watching the tennis. Oh the strawberries and cream were so good too!!!!!!

I am eagerly awaiting my new Orange Mountain Bike this week for a trip up to Wales to test it out and then its off to Canada for some pre worlds training. I have never been to Canada so Im looking forward it.

After a couple of weeks training in Weymouth it was off to Holland for the next World Cup event. The week before I left I was delivered a new shiny Volvo XC60 for the trip, its a pretty cool car that does pretty much everything!!! It even beeps at me when I forget to indicate to change lanes (dont ask me how?).
My plans for Holland had been interrupted some what by Sheffield United reaching the play off finals. A few days training in Medemblik were sacrificed for a trip to Wembley. It would have been an amazing day apart from the result leaving me pretty miserable for a day or two.
I had to try and cheer myself up with the sailing and day one of regatta created some pretty special sailing in up to 30 knots of wind. We only managed to get one race in which I finished 2nd.
Day two was probably the longest day I have ever had on the water, 10 hours!!!!! In the first three races I scored 2nd, 1st, 1st,but struggled in the last race to hold my focus after such a long day to finish 7th.
I consolidated my overall lead the next few days to leave me with a bit of a lead going into the medal race, even if I didnt sail I would finish 2nd.
I played a conservative medal race just staying in front of Tonci the Croatian in second to take the overall win.
It was great to win in Holland for my first time, I have lost count of the number of times I have nearly won!

Check out the results http://www.deltalloydregatta.org/2009/tablecloth/results/results.asp?show=lase

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I traveled to Hyere a week early to try and get some hours on the water training. I was there with out a coach so spent most of the time training with the foreigners racing. It was nice to get back into the swing of things and the weather was nearly perfect with a mixture of winds and bright sunshine I couldn’t have asked for much more.

With a 150 boats it was going to be a good test of were I was at after the long break. It had been a while away from the international scene and I was looking forward to the racing.
The first day of racing saw some shifty offshore conditions, I sailed well to come back in both races to get a couple of 4ths. Day 2 saw the breeze blow onshore up to 12 knots with some nice waves, after winning the first race comfortably I had quite a battle in the second race to come back from 30th to finish 6th and give me the overall regatta lead. Day 3 was just one of those days that are few and far between were every thing just seems easy comfortably winning both races and extending my overall lead.
With two days of finals racing before the medal race all looked in good shape. I didnt get everything my own way in the finals and had to fight for every place. After the final race I was left with a 10 point cushion over my nearest rival the Croatian before the final medal race.
The medal race saw the best conditions of the week with winds over 20 knots large seas and blazing sunshine PERFECT!
I won the starboard end of the line and lead to the left, as the Croatian sailed behind me I tacked to give a loose cover and lead him in to the mark. I rounded second behind the German Tobias who came out of the right hand side. As I bore away 3 boats were pulled out of the race for being over the line including the Croatian which meant I just needed to finish to take the win overall. I stayed in 2nd until 20 meters before the finish when Matius the Chilean pipped me over the line.
I finished the race in 3rd to give the the overall victory by 19 points.

For Resultshttp://sof.ffvoile.net/results/laser.htm

It was great to get back racing after such a long brake from International competition and reassuring that I can still do it!!! There still lots of sailing needed to get back to the same heights of last year but it was reassuring to see I could still win.

Im off to Lowestoft next weekend for the final spring Qualifier then its back to training in Weymouth again.

It was off to Highcliffe this weekend for the second qualifier of the year. I had been training there with the squad for a few days prior to the Q which had been pretty windy.
Saturday was much the same as we set out for racing, windy and pretty chilly. The Northwesterly reaching up to 25 knots gave some great racing. After leading from the start I went on to increase the lead by the finish. Race two set off in even more wind and as a front passed through the temperature dropped and the wind increased even more. On the second lap the wind dropped as the front passed through and the race was abandoned. The wind increased again for two further races after winning the second race I was caught out by the tide change in the third and didnt have time to catch up as the race was shortened after 30 minutes due to the fading light. After over 7 hours on the water we just made it in before dark. Unfortunately the wind failed to appear on Sunday and so racing was called off.
It was good to race in the strong winds on Saturday and I was pleased with how I performed to win overall. I am looking forward now to Hyere in a few weeks and will be training in Weymouth to prepare.
Results for the qualifiers belowhttp://www.laser.org.uk/docs/uploaded/stbstd09nh.htmlhttp://www.laser.org.uk/docs/uploaded/hclifstd09nh.html

Last week I had a busy week before the first race of the year at Stokes Bay.
The week started taking a BBC presenter and some school kids sailing back at home in Rotherham, it was nice to get out on the water with some school kids that had never sailed before. The weather was gorgeous but unfortunately not much wind but we all had fun.

I had a great day in London as I went to the Palace with my parents and grandma to collect my MBE. Its pretty cool driving through the gates of Buckingham palace and parking in the inner quadrant. It was a really special day for us all and a great honor to have been recognised in such a way and receive my medal from the queen.

It was then back to business with my first race of the year. I was a little bit worried how i would fair after such a long break from sailing. The conditions were quite challenging and I made a few silly mistakes. I finished the weekend winning by 6 points which I was really pleased with. It felt good to get back out racing as I look ahead to the coming season, I defiantly felt a bit rusty but quite relived that all the basics are still there.

The squad has been in Highcliff this week and we have had some great sailing in strong winds, I think the rust is coming off bit by bit.

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Getting Back in Shape
I finally returned home last night after a fitness camp in Austria. I joined several other members of the sailing team for a intense week of training at the BOA lodge in Austria. We had quite a strict program each day consisting of at least 2 activities. The training was aimed at improving our base aerobic fitness. It didn’t take long for my feet to start feeling petty sore from the cross country skiing boots as blisters started popping up left right and centre!!!! Compede pads were my saving grace and got me through the week. The high light of the week for me was probably the snow shoeing. It felt like a great sense of achievement each time we reached a peak and even more of an achievement when we all got down in one piece!!!
It was quite a demanding week but a great way to kick start the training for the year, I am still feeling pretty tired this morning as I try and plan for the year.
Getting back in the boat should feel a lot easier than slipping my cross country skis on!!!!

It was a great privilege to be recognised in the new years honours list and be awarded an MBE.
I received a letter at the beginning of December asking me if I would like to accept the award. The letter came with strict instructions that I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody until the list was released on New Years eve. It was pretty tricky keeping this from my parents and friends for a month!!!
This was a great finish to what has been a fantastic year for me.
The last few months have taken quite a toll on my fitness levels and its now time to get back in shape ready for the year ahead.
I am now leaving for the British Olympic Ski Base in Lofer, Austria where I will take part in an intense fitness training camp with several other sailors. We have a mix of cross country skiing and mountaineering with snow shoes lined up for what should be a demanding but fun week!

It has been a busy few weeks. I took the top prize at the BBC Yorkshire Sports Personality of the Year dinner held this year in Bradford. It was a great evening at it was a real privilege to sit on the same table as James Toesland last years winner and, Kevin Blakwell Sheffield United manager. The night was made even more special as my parents were also there to see me receive the prize.

I left Bradford and headed straight to Swansea for a week of mountain biking with a few friends. It wasn’t the warmest week but we had some fantastic riding around south wales, it did get a little icy in some valleys and it was pretty exciting riding in the dark with lights. It was all going really well until Saskia came off and after a trip to the hospital the diagnosis was a pretty serious broken collar bone. After another day of slightly more reserved riding it was time for an afternoon at the football to rest the legs.


After watching the mighty Sheffield United grab a point at Swansea it was off to Liverpool for the national BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It was another fantastic evening and a bit of a reunion with other medalists from Team GB. After the show there was a great party which was pretty surreal being surrounded by lots of TV stars and legendary athletes. It was pretty funny to be signing autographs and having your picture taken as you enter and leave the hotel.
I am back home in Weymouth now, and its back into fitness training in preparation for a cross country skiing trip to Austria post christmas where I will be joined by several other members of the Olympic team.

Have a good Christmas

Well it’s been quite a busy and exciting few weeks for me.

Today I was part of the opening committee for the new Olympic Sailing Centre at Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. The new site has grown somewhat over the last few months and is now completed, the first of the London 2012 sites and on budget!

The site today looked quite spectacular and with the sun shining it was a bit of an inspiration as I enter back into training with London 2012 firmly in my sights.

Over the last few weeks I have been involved with a lot of cool stuff. I have been at the Cycle show with Volvo looking at some pretty cool new bikes and deciding which would be best to kick start my fitness training. One of my toughest challenges has been to take on the Ryder Cup course for 2010. I played at the Volvo amateurs and lost a colossal amount of golf balls! I did however pull it out of the bag when the cameras were on birding the 450 yard first hole, it soon went downhill once we had escaped the cameras.

After returning from a friend’s wedding in Tobago I was thrown straight in at the deep end with my acting skills. I had three days of intense filming were I had to learn a script and perform in front of the cameras. It’s not quite as easy as it looks!!

Having cracked performing in front of cameras ishhhhh a new challenge came about as I was asked to be a stand in for Gladiators. What was I thinking? I had 3 days of training with James DeGale and Kieran Bracken, what a laugh. I even managed to keep laughing while James was beating me with the big sticks used on Duel. I managed to knock him off his feet a few times but never off the podium, each time it ended in me jumping off after taking way too many heavy blows.

Luckily for me, neither James or Kieran got injured so I didn’t get the chance to properly take any Gladiators down but I enjoyed watching the boys try.

Its back into training now as I start to focus on the next 4 years ahead and how we can improve for the next games. It has been great to take some time out but I need to start getting back into shape physically for the year ahead.

Roll on 2012

Wow!!!!!!
What an amazing few weeks its been.
Firstly Im sorry for not keeping you all up to date, Ive been pretty busy.
Here are a couple of highlights.
We all had an amazing reception on arriving home back to Heathrow where Saskias sister picked us up. While driving home it was so funny as little Alex held my medal against the window to every car passing by, one was pretty close to swerving in to us.
It was so nice to be home and to celebrate with friends and family.
For me finally getting back home to Rotherham to see my dad was great as he had not been out in China. We sat down and watched some of the olympic highlights together laughing at each other as we were on the tv close to tears or in tears!!!!
I had an amazing party at Ulley Sailing club where it all started many years ago, it was so nice to see some of the founder members who helped teach me how to sail along with school friends and family, wow what a night.
I also had another treet while at home, a trip to Bramall Lane. I am a big Sheffield United fan and they had invited me to down to the lane to lead the teams out and parade my medal. It was so cool to be walking round the stadium and being cheered by 30000 fans, even the Cardiff supporters!!!! What a day meeting the players and being tret like real vip’s even my Nan loved it!!
It was then finally back home to Weymouth over a week after landing back on British shores, it was so nice to be back in my own bed with a little bit of time to go windsurfing. We had an open top bus ride around Weymouth which was amazing, so many people turned out on to the streets to welcome us home, Nick Sarah, Bryony, Saskia and Bart were all on good form as we drove over the cause way nearly getting blown off the top of the bus.
The other real high light I nearly forgot was the Jonathon Ross show.
It was pretty cool being sat in the green room chatting to Kelly Brook!!!! and Mike Skinner from the streets oh. and Jonathon was quite a laugh too.
I feel like an office worker at the moment trying to organise my diary and reply to emails etc…. its quite hard work!!!
Im looking forward to getting back out on the water for a bit of fun with out the huge pressure and intensity, Ill see you out there!!!!

Other images included with this entry..

Due to the Olympic Rules I am no longer aloud to write blogs on this site. I will be putting things up on my Blogspot.

www.paulgoodison.blogspot.com

Thanks
Paul

I write this yawning as i sit and wait for my next flight from Beijing to Quingdao. I didn’t catch much sleep on the flight so im fueling myself with caffeine to try and stay awake. It all feels very real having just validated my accreditation. Walking around in my team kit everybody seems interested in what im doing here and what sport im competing in, even getting my photo taken with Chinese ground staff at the airport.

I have just had a good weak at home with a mix of cycling, sailing and sitting at home waiting for the post man to arrive with a whole variety of packages of new ropes, tillers, wetsuits etc….

On Thursday I had one of the nicest sails in Weymouth ive ever had, the wind increased to over 20 knots from the South East as i sailed out of the harbour into the bay. The sun was shining as i was out heading up towards Lullworth with only a few mored tankers for company. I enjoyed some great rides home on the building swell before heading home for lunch.

I pulled out of doing a time Trial on my bike on Tuesday night as still felt a little tired from the Europeans but this left me all rested up for my first ever road race on Thursday night after a great days sailing.

I headed off with Alex Hopson the new local triathlon star!!! part time 49er crew, with both bikes in the back of the car out to Morton. After registering and paying for a temporary racing license we had enough time for a quick warm up. There were over 50 cyclists signed on and several of the elite group where warming up on turbo trainers which was a bit dawnting!!!

We started just after 7 about 2 minutes after the Elite group for 10 laps of the 4km course. It wasn’t the gentle started that id anticipated as we raced off with my heart rate pounding away.

After a few laps i was getting the hang of things and find myself leading out of one of the corners, the guy next to me said lets go as we put the pedal to the metal and tried to brake away. After a minute we managed to gain a bit of a lead on the pack, I looked at my heart rate to see it over 95% I put my head down and drove on, the next time i looked back everybody was right there behind us, GUTTED!!!!!!!!

I took a while to recover as i clung on to the back of the group for a lap. Having not learned from my mistake i tried again with another rider before being caught and getting a bit of an earful from one of the locals, I just smiled and pedaled on.

The pace increased as we entered the last 2 laps as several people tried break aways, with 2 corners to go 4 of the elite riders that had broken away came past, Alex and i managed to stay with them as we stretched out into the last corner for the last mile to home. Alex kicked hard as i clung onto the back and then sling shotted past for the sprint to the finish (the work horse, taking one for the team cheers mate). Two riders from the Elite group pulled away and I was just passed with 20 meters to go to take 2nd on the line!!!!! Alex sorted me out a treat but was swallowed up by the group just before the finish, I made sure i bought him a beer after….

It was a great experience to take part in my first road race and a great work out reaching heart rate intensities that are really hard to achieve with out the adrenaline pumping in a race situation. I had a great time and im sure ill be back for some more after China.

After a really tough week in Belgium I came away as European Champion again, 4 in a row….
Back in January when we were planning my run in to the games I was unsure whether to compete in the Europeans. The conditions are very tidal even stronger than China which could be great practice but, if there was to be a low pressure system it could be very strong south westerly winds and sailing into nearly 2 knots of tide it could just be a hike off with predominantly upwind sailing, not ideal when you are trying to be small for the Olympics.
We decided it would be a good regatta to go to to practice racing having missed a few regattas this year to spend time training in china.
The South Westerly winds blew and blew making it a very physically challenging regatta with some of the first beats lasting over 30 minutes.
I rose to the challenge well even though i was way too light, i battled hard having surprisingly reasonable speed upwind allowing me to hang in there. I sailed really well all week, starting well and consolidating my positions and taking the opportunities when they came.
To become European Champion for the fourth year running in such challenging conditions gives me great confidence going in to the Olympics.
I now have a few days at home before flying out to China at the weekend.


The results can be seen belowhttp://events.laserinternational.org/en/events/results/100z19

Other images included with this entry..