Team GB AYOF Sailing Squad adjust to new waters & new boats
by Jan Lasko 17 Jan 2007 10:06 GMT
18-20 January 2007
Like many of their team-mates preparing for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, Team GB's sailing squad has had plenty to adapt to in Sydney.
The squad consists of three men and three women, who will compete in a MIXED-GENDER team competition.
They are all experienced in team racing in England but normally race in the 420 class rather than the Australian 'pacer' boats they must sail at the AYOF.
Led by Chris Kameen, originally from the Wirral and now living in Sydney, the team has spent the last three days getting used to the new boats.
With a background in team racing, Kameen was brought on board as sailing team leader for the AYOF and has been impressed by how quickly the team has adapted to the unfamiliar boats.
"If it was a normal Olympic Games, there would be lots of different classes and we'd all bring out our own boats," he said.
"In this event, the boats are all provided and are predominantly Australian boats. They're sailed throughout Australia, at the schools, and they're very different to what our guys usually sail in.
"We've spent three days acclimatising to the boats, learning how to sail them, and we had a mini-event on Monday, a very informal thing against some of the local schools.
"There were five teams and we won, so our guys sailed very well, it was awesome. What we saw was the fruits of two days of solid training in the boats and time on the water. They were going very quickly and we're really pleased."
Neither the pacers nor the 420 class are raced in the Olympics but the 420 is seen as a progression to the 470 class, which is an Olympic event.
Joe Glanfield and Nick Rogers won silver in the men's 470 at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and it is hoped another medal-winning duo will emerge from this group.
The team consists of Claire Lasko/Matthew Rainback, Ben Saxton/Kate MacGregor and Tim Saxton/Imogen Stanley.
They have all been sailing for many years, and have won a number of international team racing events during the past four years. This team combination have been training for about a year, and won a selection competition to win the right to compete for Team GB at the AYOF.
They also have a good fleet racing record, with Ben Saxton 420 Inland Champions, and Tim Saxton and Claire Lasko End of Season Champions. Ben, Imogen Stanley and Kate Macgregor were also the highest placed British at the 420 Worlds held in New Zealand at the beginning of January.
The team travelled to Sydney via New Zealand, where they performed well at the 420 World Championships, and the expect the New Zealand team to probably provide the strongest opposition at the AYOF given their recent successes.
There are mixed opinions within the team of their aims for the event, with Ben happy to get some valuable experience while twin brother Tim wants "a medal, preferably gold!"
The AYOF sailing competition begins on Thursday 18th January with heats being sailing for two days and then semi-finals and finals on Saturday 20th January.
Leading Team GB at the AYOF Mark England, Chef de Mission said:
“This is the largest Team GB squad selected outside of a Summer Games and provides a fantastic opportunity for over 100 of our finest young potential Olympians.”
“The BOA recognises the importance of participating in such events for the preparation and development of future Team GB Olympic champions. With the London Olympic Games less than six years away, now is the time to focus on developing our wealth of young talent. I am convinced that we will be following many of this team all the way to medal glory in 2012 and beyond”.
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