Edition1

	CentreBoard	June 2003
The Newsletter of Spinnaker Club, Ringwood
special feature	www.spinnakerclub.co.uk	special feature

Team Manager Tells All
Fiona’s view from the Auckland dock side

The Spinnaker support crew set off to the Worlds at the beginning of February, just as the weather was at it’s worst - quite literally! Remember the day Heathrow closed; the day when the local authorities forgot to grit the roads and half of the country spent the night in their cars on the M1 - well it was that day that we were trying to depart. The quick version is that between the never ending de-icing of the plane and the skidding on the runway we finally arrived in New Zealand after a 48 hour journey.

The same could not be said for the two GBR / Spinnaker teams who were firmly ensconced in their training camp at Algies Bay an hour’s drive north of Auckland.
The GBR 1 team, otherwise known as New Forest Pirates was led by Stuart Hudson, other team members being Linda Eadie, Dom Johnson, Debs Kershaw, Owen Modral and Jane Stamp.
The GBR 2 team was Spinnaker All Stars led by Steve Tylecote, with other members being Mel Hughes, Peter Barton, Sally Cuthbert, Rob Sherrington and Richard Guy.

Training was a pleasure in the warmth of the New Zealand summer, a sharp contrast to the freezing temperatures endured by the teams and support crew over the cold British winter. Training focused around final boat handling skills, getting used to the idiosyncrasies of the boats and acclimatisation to the conditions.

The ground work done the Spinnaker teams moved camp to Auckland and the racing commenced - 6 days of racing was scheduled. The 1st round was a full round robin with each team sailing every other team once. The teams were then split into gold and silver leagues - both GBR teams progressing easily into the gold league despite a surprise loss to a delighted JPN 2 team. The gold league was where the real team racing began - with 4 round robins scheduled in - top 4 nations to go through to the semi finals. Note the word nation rather than team, this meant that only one GBR team could make it through to the semi finals even if they finished 1 and 2 in the gold league. The Americans were faced with the same issue.

The racing was set just off the Viaduct Basin, the home to the Americas Cup Yachts. The winds varied from fluky with big shifts to so windy racing was abandoned for the day. Both Spinnaker teams sailed superbly adapting well to the changing conditions. Odd races were lost but when the chips were down and a race had to be won - even if against the top seeds - the sailors spirits rallied and they outperformed their own expectations.

Meanwhile back on dry land the shorecrew watched as the winds rose and died, filled in first from the left and then from the right. There was plenty of nervous energy: David Ellis, GBR2 team coach, was analysing every move of the boats and of the wind. Tiggy was eating for Africa and with every critical race out came another cream bun! Magnus Wheatley our newly acquired PR person (Y&Y writer) suddenly realised that sailing could be an exciting spectator sport - after weeks of America’s Cup racing (or not as the winds dictated) he was beginning to doubt it.

The teams sailed superbly bringing together all the skills they had been perfecting over the winter. In a long regatta one of the most critical skills is to be able to relax when onshore but to get psyched up before each start. You sail well and win 2 races then you have to come ashore and sit around for an hour or two before going out again. Are you arrogant because of your wins, out of practice due to your time onshore and therefore lose an easy race? Or do you go back out believing in yourselves but knowing you have a fight on your hands? It is even harder if you lose a race and then have to sail again straight away. If you dwell on the loss there will be another: you have to kick yourself, forgive yourself and then start believing again. No team won every race - the competition was far too strong for that - but it was the teams who could believe again quickest who came out on top. Both teams and coaches showed tremendous spirit staying on top of the psychological battle.

Going into the final day only one race separated the two GBR teams. GBR 2 /Spinnaker All Stars led by one race, but a loss would put them behind GBR 1 /Pirates on the tie, it was all very tight. Pirates sailed consistently well avoiding the additional loss which would probably give the semi’s slot to All Stars. All Stars too kept on top of their game but with the knowledge that they were to meet the event favourites USA 2 in the very last race of the Gold league. With only a race to go each the one race gap was still all that separated the two teams.

Finally the gold league was completed with Spinnaker first and New Forest Pirates 3rd an outstanding performance from both teams but a gut wrenching position for GBR1 /Pirates who had sailed superbly and missed the cut by one point in the final race they sailed. A race against the current holders which was so tight the result could not be called on the shore. They were disappointed - they had devoted a year of their lives to the campaign; sailed exceptionally well and yet were excluded from the medal table. However in true Spinnaker style they turned up on semi finals day to support and cheer on the All Stars.

In the semis Spinnaker met Ireland - best of five. They won the first two before giving the supporters one last gasp of concern in the third race - however they went on to win the 4th with ease progressing to the finals. In the other semi USA2 ‘Whishbone’ duly saw off their old rivals and current holders of the trophy, New Zealand.

The finals were a heartfelt battle with the positions and the lead switching several times between the teams. Spinnaker sailed well showing good speed and tactical awareness but in the lighter winds the USA2 team were in their niche conditions and came through to win.

Final results were:

Gold USA 2 ‘Whishbone’
Silver GBR 2 ‘Spinnaker All Stars’
Third: New Zealand

It was a fantastic event with more sailing than had previously been seen. It was held in the World’s sailing Mecca where even the radio presenters understand gusts and shifts and where when you walk into the bar the staff know whether racing has been postponed. Both our teams did our club and our country proud and both teams are enormously grateful to Spinnaker club and its members for the tremendous support they received. And looking forward to 2005? Are the current teams getting too old? Well until someone knocks the Spinnaker and Pirate teams off the top slot I think they will be going back for more!