Paul Goodison

Key West

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:25:55 GMT

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!!!!

Biking with the Best

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:50:00 GMT

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.

Melges 32 Gold Cup

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:14:00 GMT

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

ISAF Rolex World Sailors Of The Year Awards

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:24:39 GMT

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!

John Merricks Golf Day

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:55:32 GMT

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.”

Last Month

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT

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.

ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2009

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:27:57 GMT

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

LASER WORLD CHAMPION

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:56:53 GMT

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

European Champion (5 in a row)

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:56:58 GMT

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

Orange, but Bright Yellow!!!

paulgoodison@mac.com (Paul Goodison) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:45:00 GMT

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.