by admin | Aug 5, 2013 | News
When: Friday 9th August 2013
Where: Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week
Class: SB20 – start time 10.25
Boat Name: Volvo – Sail number: GBR 3561
There will be enough gold on the water on Friday 9th to sink a small battleship, but for Helena Lucas and Lee Pearson this is different challenge.
Helena, who won Paralympic Gold in the 2.4mR single handed keelboat class in 2012, is campaigning her SB20 in the Cowes Grand Slam and throughout the week in the sportsboat class with her team of top class sailors.
On Friday 9th August Helena will be sailing with ten time Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson, who is more commonly found on a horse than on the water. Lee is preparing to hand the reigns over to Helena and join her onboard her SB20 to take on a completely unfamiliar challenge.
Helena met Lee at Wimbledon and once she found out that he had sailed in Cowes Week once before, she could not resist inviting him again. Last time he was a guest on a much larger yacht, this time the experience will be a bit different when Lee joins the SB20 expert race crew.
Team Volvo sailor, Helena explained, “Lee is so enthusiastic about everything, and when I mentioned coming sailing he immediately said he was up for the challenge – my only concern now is that I may have to return the honour and go riding with him – I’ve never ridden a horse in my life!”
Helena and Lee will be sailing in Cowes on Friday 9th August. Their start time is 10.25 for the SB20 class, Sail number GBR 2561 (Volvo) and they will be heading back to shore post racing where they will both be available for interviews.
Please note timings subject to change.
Helena Lucas is supported by Volvo and Henri Lloyd in her SB20 campaign during Cowes Week, as well as by SailSpy.com who are the local suppliers for Go-Pro and Oakley.
by admin | Aug 3, 2013 | Blog
I’ve always loved Cowes Week but this is the first time I’m going to be doing some serious racing so I’m actually a bit nervous!
Cowes Week for me is usually a mixture of corporate and hospitality sailing, which is always a good laugh, and we will be doing some of that with Volvo at the back end of the week.
But from Saturday to Tuesday I’ll be continuing my SB20 campaign and taking part in the Grand Slam event. I’m sailing with my coach Ian ‘Billy’ Barker, the Sydney 2000 49er silver medalist, in my team, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve sailed against him when we’ve been training in the 2.4 but never with him seriously. He’s doing mainsheet and it will be really interesting actually being in the same boat.
Cowes Week is such a massive regatta so I just want to make sure I’m starting on the right start line, sailing the correct course, crossing the right finish line and that I remember to hand in my declaration at the end! I’m responsible for the first time ever at Cowes Week so it’s going to be an interesting one.
The whole history and unexpectedness of Cowes Week makes it special. You can get some of the most famous people in the world just turning up and going out on boats and I love the social side after racing, when everyone heads to the bars and chats.
On Friday I’ve got Lee Pearson, the 10-time Paralympic gold medalist equestrian rider joining me for racing. I met Lee at Wimbledon and he was really up for it.
He’s not done much sailing before, and its always been in bigger boats, so he is a little bit nervous but I’ve promised him he will be fine and we will just man handle him across the boat if we need to!
Wimbledon was absolutely amazing. I was there on gold medalist day and it was a special day that lived up to all expectations.
I’d never been to Wimbledon before and I was surprised how small centre court is when you’re actually there. You lose all perspective of size on TV but you feel so close to the players it’s incredible. You also realise how massive some of them are! We were lucky enough to watch Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, the men and women’s number ones, play. Afterwards I was like ‘How do you get on Centre Court again??’ It’s another good incentive to try to win gold again in Rio!
After Cowes Week I’ve got a couple of days’ training in the 2.4mR in Weymouth before we head out to Ireland for the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships. The last time I was in a 2.4 was at Sail for Gold Regatta in June, although I’ve done heaps of other sailing and serious racing since then so my race sharpness is good.
The Worlds are in Kinsale, County Cork, which is where the 1720 Europeans were in June. Competing at that event was such a valuable experience as although we weren’t actually racing on the Worlds’ course areas we had to sail through those areas each day so got a real sense of what to expect conditions wise.
It is very much a landlocked harbour with a tidal influence and can be really shifty. I think it could be a tricky regatta that is more about tactics, and a game of snakes and ladders, rather than flat out boat speed.
I think it will be an event where you have to hold your nerve and not get down if you have a bad day because the next day could be your day and someone else struggles.
That’s true in each race too; it will be a case of picking the shifts well, not a particular course side favouring. You might be down the fleet in a race but it only takes one gust that you pick well to accelerate you back up the order so patience will count. You have to stay in a race mentally to see opportunities to get you back on track.
I’m going to Ireland with an open mind. Obviously it would be nice to get on the podium but I will be taking each day as it comes. I’m glad I’ve been to Kinsale and been able to recce the venue though as it all helps with familiarisation and routine.
After the IFDS Worlds it’s pretty much straight back home for the International 2.4mR Class Open Worlds at The Poole Yacht Club in September. Because this event is open to both able-bodied and disabled athletes, Billy my coach will also be competing and I’m really looking forward to seriously racing against him.
I’ve let him use all my best kit for the event and I would love it if he won, it would be brilliant. Every time I go sailing against him in training I get a wake up call as to just how good a sailor he is, it’s scary.
I think it will be really interesting coming in from racing each day and comparing our experiences of the racing, tactics and conditions and seeing if our perspective of each day is the same. There aren’t too many events where you get the chance to race your coach, especially at a serious regatta like a World Championships so it has the potential to be a very valuable learning experience for both of us, and good fun.
by admin | May 29, 2013 | Blog
The Delta Lloyd Regatta was one of those regattas where you can wear the entire contents of your sailing bag on the water and still be freezing cold!
Last year the weather for Delta Lloyd Regatta was fantastic and I think that’s lulled us into a false sense of security because in the back of my mind I’m sure I thought I was going to spend the whole of this week in shorts! But this year we had everything! Driving, freezing rain, hail, mad chop, big clouds, big gusts, we were just waiting for the snow! Is it really May??
The first couple of days of the regatta always reminded me why water and electrics don’t mix. If you need an electric pump anywhere it’s Medemblik.
Because the water is so shallow there the chop is steep anyway. But throw in the weather we had and the bow’s disappearing into the waves and you’re faced with a wall of water at every wave, with a massive amount of water coming into the boat. I was constantly hand bailing the water out of the boat while still trying to steer and race. Exhausting!
Portland Harbour can get choppy but you can normally steer around the waves, but this was relentless. Yes, you can really do with your electric pump playing ball in Medemblik!
All things considering I was actually been pretty pleased with the way I sailed and my second place finish as it’s absolutely been the most testing conditions I’ve faced since returning to the 2.4mR. Some of its just been wacky races with 10 knots of breeze suddenly turning off completely and leaving you bobbing around in the middle of the racecourse, followed by a 15 knot gust from nowhere.
I came to Medemblik after a few days at home just sorting admin out, getting on top of logistics for forthcoming events and packing up for Holland. After Hyeres Regatta I did an SB20 Grand Prix event, also in Hyeres, with Team Vovo’s Lucy Macgregor, Ali Young and Richard Mason, which I absolutely loved. It was a great bunch of people and once we got used to the boat we were sailing really well by the end of the regatta. It was exactly what I hoped it would be.
The plan is to also do the SB20 Nationals in Falmouth in July. Because of everyone’s Olympic campaign commitments we will have to change the crew a bit. I think I know who two spots are going to but the third place is currently up for grabs. At the moment my husband, Steve, could find himself recruited. He normally helms so it would be a change for him to have me at the back of the boat while he pulls some ropes. We have sailed his Projection 762 Sportsboat together, and that’s not too different to the SB20, so I’m sure we would be fine!
Everything’s been put into perspective with Andrew Simpson passing away. It’s completely devastating and still hasn’t sunk in. I keep expecting him to walk into the gym. I came up through the system with Bart, I’ve known him for years, and he’s always just been there. That’s the hardest thing and I’ll miss that. He was always so interested in what I was doing in my campaign, so keen to be involved and was such a big part of the team. He and Iain Percy were such ambassadors for sailing and yet to them they were just doing what they loved.
This is the first time the team’s been together since Bart died and you can really sense how it’s pulled everyone together even more than we were already. Sparky [Olympic Manager] said a few words at the start of the regatta and it really makes you realise the little issues you have really aren’t that big a deal.
Bart was such a good sailor and the way he was prepared to bide his time for his opportunity, always happy to help Iain and Ben (Ainslie) with their Olympic campaigns and win their medals, before winning his own gold with his best mate in Beijing, just summed him up. That moment in Beijing was so special for the whole team and it’s such a loss.
After Medemblik it is back to the UK for the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace next Thursday then we have Bart’s memorial service in Dorset on Friday before the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on Saturday. The next racing event is the Sail for Gold Regatta in the second week of June. This time of year always keeps you busy; it’s why we do it.
Helena
by admin | May 9, 2013 | Blog, News
Just got back from my first event in the SB20 and loved every minute!
Must admit when I arrived on the Wednesday with no idea how to rig the boat, did feel slightly out of my depth, but everyone was so helpful, that I had the boat rigged and in the water by the time my crew, Lucy Macgregor, Richard Mason and Ali Young arrived. We even managed to sneak out for an hour practice in the evening.
First day of racing and with 4 races scheduled it was a long day on the water, but great! The wind steadily built and we finished the last race in 18-20 knots. Our results just steadily improved as the day went on and I got used to the boat and the angles downwind. We were on track for our first race win, having lead the last race until the last run, but sailed out of the pressure and finished 3rd, still not a bad result!
Much lighter winds on the Saturday and we had good pace upwind, perhaps because we were 20kg light! We had a great day with a 7th, 2nd and finally a race win in the last race! Great social evening with dinner and the beer flowing,the SB20 fleet know how to have a good time! Unfortunately no racing on Sunday not a breath of wind! So finished 5th overall and first female helm, not bad for our first event.
by admin | May 7, 2013 | Blog
I was really pleased to win a silver medal at Hyeres – the fourth event in the ISAF World Cup Series and my first 2.4mR event since the Paralympics.
I hadn’t stepped into a 2.4mR at all since the Games so I went to Hyeres with no expectations as to how it was going to go – my goal was just to enjoy it, get racing again, see where I was at and what I need to work on.
Everything actually came back quite quickly, which was reassuring. I did three days of training with my coach, Ian Barker, before the event started and on the last day we chatted through a few things about the racing, which just meant everything was fresh in my mind.
Being out of the boat for a while actually makes it easier to step back, look at the big picture and really think about what your priorities are in each race. I knew I had to keep it simple, and I set myself three priorities in each race to focus on and do well.
Team Volvo’s Helena Lucas on her silver medal win in Hyeres, France at the fourth event in the ISAF World Cup Series.
I knew my starting was going to be a bit rusty, but I was never worried about that as I know how to work on that. But even from the practice race on Sunday I felt I was actually racing really well and I was making sensible decisions. I was also really relaxed while I was racing, which I think helped me recognise and seize opportunities as they arose in a race.
Although I went into the event relaxed and looking to enjoy it I pretty quickly learned my competitors were taking it very seriously! This wasn’t just my first event since the Paralympics but also Heiko Kroger (GER) and Damien Seguin’s (FRA) too. I think being Paralympic champion did make me more of a target and there was certainly some pretty intense racing out there. I even ended up in the protest room one night, which was definitely not on the agenda beforehand! But all good experience for the future.
It was also really nice to see so many people I hadn’t seen since the Games, and to be part of the whole British Sailing Team again, which I haven’t been since Sail for Gold Regatta last June. The Games seem such an unbelievably long time ago now that to still have people congratulating me was really lovely, but sometimes I’d forget and be thinking ‘For what??’
The British team were scattered around staying in different accommodation in Hyeres. However the team chef was out there, so every evening the team would eat together, catch up and chat about everyone’s days.
I was back in Hyeres this weekend for an SB20 Grand Prix event I did with Team Volvo’s Lucy Macgregor and Ali Young and Richard Mason. The first race we did was the first time we had ever sailed together and the first time I’d helmed an SB20. I needed some advice on rigging the boat!
But it was great, we finished fifth overall and first female helm. There are some fantastic sailors in the class, and for most this is their hobby not their job, so there’s a slightly different attitude and approach to it. It’s less intense and really sociable. The four of us in our boat all have different experiences so it was interesting to get other people’s take on things and learn from each other. I love Hyeres too, so it was good.
There was a nice surprise when I got back from Hyeres last weekend. Just when you think all the post Games furore is starting to quieten down, tickets for the Royal Box at Wimbledon arrived! I’ve never been to Wimbledon before but always wanted to go. It was my birthday on Monday and this was such an awesome birthday present! I’m due to go on the middle Saturday so who knows who will be the same day as me? I’m really excited about it!
But before that I have my next 2.4mR event at the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Holland later this month, so another couple of weeks and I’ll be off again. But, it is great to be back!
Helena
