by admin | Nov 6, 2012 | Blog
It is such an honour to have been nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards for a second time and with it being an Olympic year it’s even more special.
It’s also pretty unique that my first nomination in 2006 was for sailing the Yngling Olympic class and now this one is for my Paralympic achievement. I’m really very proud and while it would obviously be lovely to win the female award, just being nominated and part of the awards evening in Dublin is something I’m really looking forward to.
Me and my husband Steve came over to Ireland on Friday and took advantage of the opportunity to get a few days away together. After spending a couple of brilliant days in Cork we headed back to Dublin ahead of the awards. I’ve competed in Ireland before but never really explored anywhere but the people are so friendly. We’re absolutely loving it!
I’ve had a couple of interviews to do, including one with fellow Team Volvo member, Shirley Robertson for CNN, which is always fun because I know her so well interviews with her are just like having a chat.
My parents have come out for the awards dinner too and I’m really lucky to have had some amazing opportunities and invitations since the Games. I had three outfits I’ve been rotating but it got to the stage where the same people have seen them too many times now! I’ve got to say a big thank you to Laura Kitching at the Dorset Echo who not only managed to get me sorted with some Debenhams vouchers but also came shopping with me last week and got a personal shopper involved to help me too!
I’m rubbish at shopping for myself but they were picking stuff for me to try on I wouldn’t normally even have taken off the hanger. I think I must have tried on every dress in the shop in my size. The idea was to get one dress for the awards but I ended up with two, a red cocktail dress I’d never have chosen for myself for the ceremony and another dress more suitable for black tie events that will get its first outing at Hayling Island SC on Saturday.
Before the Games you never allow yourself to imagine for a second what might happen if you won a gold medal, you can’t afford to think about anything but that one regatta, but I’ve been overwhelmed with what’s come off the back of it.
Probably the most incredible thing I’ve had the chance to do so far was the reception at Buckingham Palace a couple of weeks ago, which unfortunately ended up getting more publicity for the fact two athletes had their medals stolen at the nightclub we all headed off to after the Palace. It was a fantastic evening and an amazing opportunity to meet so many of the senior Royals, including The Queen, Kate and Princess Anne. The Royals circulated around the various groups in the room, very relaxed and informal. It was a special occasion.
Getting to go to these sorts of things you inevitably bump into some of the same athletes at each one. I love that we go to the events as Team GB not as the Olympic team and the Paralympic team because you get to meet and socialise with a mixture of so many interesting and incredible people. One of the athletes I’ve really enjoyed meeting is Heather Stanning, the Olympic gold medallist rower. She’s in the Army and it’s been fascinating talking to her about balancing her career with her sport ambitions. It’s also really interesting learning how other sports do things compared to the way we do things in sailing.
There have also been some more offbeat things that have happened since the Paralympics too. I’ve had a dog, a Labradoodle puppy, named after me by the Dorset-based Woofability charity, which trains assistance dogs for disabled people in Dorset, Hampshire and south Wiltshire. I’ve also been made an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Winchester, but unfortunately the graduation ceremony clashes with the ISAF awards ceremony so I don’t think I’m going to get the Doctorate until next year now
Things are showing no sign of slowing down at the moment either. I’ve been invited to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2012 at Excel London on Sunday 16 December, which I’d really love to be able to go to. But before that I’m hoping to be able to arrange it to get out to Rio to meet the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s, Lord Nelson, Tall Ship when it completes the first leg of its round the world voyage from Southampton.
I promised myself I was going to seize every opportunity that came my way after the Paralympics and although there are days I do feel a bit tired or I think I may have taken on a bit too much I quickly remind myself this really is a once in a lifetime. I’m so blown away by everything that’s happened to me since September I can’t contemplate taking it for granted. Life will have to return to normal at some point but until then I’m having a fantastic time!
by admin | Oct 2, 2012 | News
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex announced the Nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2012 today which includes Team Volvo sailors Ben Ainslie and Helena Lucas and RYA Volvo Team GBR’s Saskia Sills.
ISAF received nominations for the 2012 Awards from across the world for sailors representing all aspects of the sport. The nominees are put forward based on achievements made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012. Only one nominee wins from both the male and female category and the names vying for the coveted and prestigious 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award are:
Male
Ben Ainslie (GBR) – Finn – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2012 World Champion
Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page (AUS) – Men’s 470 – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions and 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) – 49er – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists & 2011 and 2012 World Champions
Loick Peyron (FRA) – Outright Around the World Record
Tom Slingsby (AUS) – Laser – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2011 and 2012 World Champion
Female
Támara Echegoyen, Ángela Pumariega and Sofio Toro (ESP) – Women’s Match Racing – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
Helena Lucas (GBR) – 2.4mR – London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist and 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion
Saskia Sills (GBR) – RS:X – ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion & European Youth Champion
Lijia Xu (CHN) – Laser Radial – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
The achievements of the 2012 nominees are:
Male Nominees
Ben Ainslie (GBR)
Ben Ainslie eclipsed Paul Elvstrøm’s (DEN) Olympic achievements at London 2012 by winning his fifth Olympic medal and fourth consecutive gold to become the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. It was fitting that a Danish sailor, Jonas Høgh-Christensen, stood in the way of Ainslie at London 2012 as a game of cat and mouse developed ensuring the Medal Race was one of the most anticipated of the competition. Ainslie held off Hogh-Christensen finishing ninth to the Danes tenth to win gold in front of a partisan home crowd and secure his place in the history books.
Finn
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
2012 World Champion
Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS)
Over the past 12 months, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have amassed eight consecutive regatta victories including the Olympic Games, two 470 World Championships and four ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas. With three consecutive World titles since they teamed up in 2009, Belcher and Page were the undisputed favourites for gold at London 2012. Given a run for their money by British rivals who took an early initiative, the Australian team held firm in the Medal Race to take the title and consecutive gold medal success for Malcolm Page, the first time this has ever been achieved in the class.
Men’s Two Person Dinghy, 470
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
2011 World Champions
2012 World Champions
2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS)
Childhood friends Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have raised the bar in the 49er class since they teamed up in the class in 2009. The Australians have been a permanent fixture on podiums and only a second place at the 2012 Semaine Olympique Francaise tarnishes a near perfect record since they claimed their second 49er World Championship at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds. A successful defence at the 2012 49er Worlds in Zadar, Croatia teed them up nicely for the run up to London 2012 where they crushed the opposition to win gold with a race to spare.
Men’s skiff, 49er
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
2011 World Champions
2012 World Champions
2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
Loïck Peyron(FRA)
On 6 January 2012 at 22:14 UTC Loïck Peyron entered the history books as he and 13 crew aboard the 40m maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V smashed the Outright Around the World Record to become the fastest men around the planet. At an average speed of 19.75 knots it took just 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds for Peyron to sail the 21,600 nautical miles and claim the Jules Verne Trophy. The team also set two new intermediate records for Equator to Equator at 32d 11h 52m and the Indian Ocean record at 8d, 7h 23m. Loïck Peyron is amongst the most decorated offshore sailors of all time with his success spanning single handed, two person and crowed ocean racing right through to the America’s Cup.
Banque Populaire V, maxi trimaran
Outright Around the World Record
Tom Slingsby (AUS)
Coming into the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition Tom Slingsby was unbeaten on Weymouth and Portland waters and the overwhelming favourite to take gold. Determined to banish his Beijing 2008 demons Slingsby did not fail to impress and took the gold medal in style to become the first Australian sailor to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Slingsby’s road to London included wins at the 2011 and 2012 Laser World Championships to give him three consecutive titles and two ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta wins.
Men’s One Person Dinghy, Laser
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
2011 World Champion
2012 World Champion
Female Nominees
Támara Echegoyen, Ángela Pumariega and Sofia Toro (ESP)
The Spanish women’s match racing team tore apart the form book at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition to win the gold medal in spectacular style. Echegoyen, Pumariega and Toro, ranked #8 in the world, sailed an emphatic round robin series and never looked back. Defeating the medal favourites every step of the way they squared up against the Australian team in an epic big wind final. It all came down to a nail biting winner takes all decider and Echegoyen, Pumariega and Toro held their nerve to take the ultimate prize.
Women’s Match Racing
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
Helena Lucas (GBR)
Helena Lucas (GBR) added a bit of girl power to the open 2.4mR fleet at the London 2012 Paralympic Games as the only female sailor in the fleet. Three former Paralympic gold medallists were amongst her 15 rivals but Lucas made light work of them taking four bullets in the 10 race series to clinch the gold, and Great Britain’s first ever Paralympic sailing medal. After winning a collection of silver and bronze medals to secure the 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup title, standing on top of the podium at London 2012 was a victory worth waiting for.
One Person Keelboat, 2.4mR
London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist
2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion
Saskia Sills (GBR)
At only her second international RS:X regatta Great Britain’s Saskia Sills won Under 17 gold at the RS:X European Championship aged just 15. Less than two weeks later Sills stormed to gold at the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Dublin, Ireland, leaving the defending champion in her wake. In August this rising star of windsurfing did the World and European double, winning nine of 13 races at the EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championship.
Girl’s Windsurfing, RS;X
2012 ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion
Lijia Xu (CHN)
Lijia Xu reigned supreme in the Laser Radial Medal Race at London 2012 to win the first Olympic gold medal in a dinghy for China. In a four-way fight for supremacy, Xu sailed a clinical race to seal the deal with a race win leaving her rivals scrapping for the other medals behind her. After winning the bronze medal in Beijing 2008, Xu was relatively quiet on the international stage and sustained a hand injury in her final preparations for her second Olympic Games. Returning to form at just the right time, Xu won three ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas in strong fields and the silver medal at the 2012 Laser Radial Worlds to enter the Olympic Games as the dark horse in the hunt for medals.
Women’s One Person Dinghy, Laser Radial
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
The Voting
The winners are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world. The MNAs are now invited to vote for the male and female nominee they believe most deserves the Award.
The winners will be announced at the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards presentation and dinner, taking place on Tuesday 6 November 2012. The venue for the event is the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland.
Each winner will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.
Full profiling of each nominee and their achievements will be available on the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards microsite at www.sailing.org/worldsailor starting 4 October.
by admin | Sep 25, 2012 | Blog
It’s been two crazy weeks since the end of the Paralympics and I have got a back bedroom full of kit bags that are still untouched and a massive stack of paper work and emails to wade through. My feet just haven’t touched the ground long enough to do anything yet!
I always knew a home Games was going to be special but I don’t think anyone had any idea just how special and overwhelming they would end up being and that is all down to the public. The way the whole country embraced the Olympics and how that passion and enthusiasm rolled onto the Paras was awe-inspiring. I’m just so proud to have been part of it all – I don’t want to take the tracksuit off!
I just know for British athletes no other Games will be quite like we had this year. Rio will undoubtedly be great but it doesn’t get any better than this. Everyone I have spoken to wants to make the absolute most of every last moment.
The moment it really hit home to me I was a gold medallist was when the sailing team went up to London a couple of days after the end of the sailing event in Weymouth and Portland.
The day I won I was like the Ice Queen! There was no breeze on the last day of the regatta so we did a lot of sitting around, trying to stay relaxed but focussed in the event that we would get to go out sailing and race the final race.
Our team psychologist Ben had done such a good job on getting me thinking ‘It’s just another regatta, it’s just another regatta’ that when the flags went up in the middle of the afternoon to say that racing had been abandoned for the day, and the event was over, it was a bit like ‘Oh so that’s it?’ Everyone else around me, and all my friends and family, were so emotional but although I was ecstatic I initially felt a bit disappointed I hadn’t been able to get out racing on the last day and enjoy the moment of winning gold on the water.
The next 24 hours were a whirlwind of interviews and photoshoots in Weymouth plus we had to pack up the boat and move out of the team accommodation all on the back of about two hours’ sleep and a big party on the Thursday night!
But on the Saturday me and the Team Volvo SKUD guys Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham (Olympic bronze medallists) and the Sonar guys Jon Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas, with our team physiologist David, caught the trainfrom Weymouth to London to join the rest of the Paralympics GB athletes. That was when the scale of what we had done hit home.
We had been chatting to the guard on the platform and he had asked who we were and what we had done so when we got on the train there was an announcement came over the tannoy that there were some Paralympic medallists on board and perhaps we would be happy to walk through the carriages and give people the chance to see our medals if they would like. Me and Niki Birrell, who won SKUD class bronze, thought ‘Yep not a problem it will be 15 minutes just having a couple of photos and chatting to a few people.’
Two hours later and we were done!
It was incredible the reaction we got, absolutely overwhelming. Each carriage we walked into we were greeted with people clapping and everyone wanted to have their picture with us and touch the medals. To them it didn’t matter what sport we were from, we were just British Paralympic athletes, we were wearing the tracksuit and everyone just wanted to tell us how proud they were of the team and how inspired they had been. It was so emotional.
The gold medallist photo at Team GB House was just surreal moment. I’m stood there amongst the superstars of the Paralympics, people like David Weir, Ellie Simmonds, Johnnie Peacock, and I’m thinking ‘What am I doing here??’ But then it was like ‘Oh yeah it’s because I’ve got a gold medal. I’ve got a gold medal!’ It was just another moment to savour. Everything happens so fast that you just want to bottle it all up so that you can open it up every now and then and re-live it all because you just get swept along at the time.
For the first four or five days after the Games I probably averaged three hours’ sleep a night and I was thinking ‘I’m not sure how long I can keep this up!’ By the time of the closing ceremony I was absolutely knackered and as we waited to walk into the stadium I thought I’m going to fall asleep in there. But then we walked in and oh my God! The adrenaline took over again and I was dancing around in the stadium like I’d slept for 12 hours! Adrenaline is an amazing thing – I just didn’t want to miss a thing, it was all too special. Even things like being able to get into London’s top nightclubs in tracksuit and flip-flops blew my mind!
I opted to have my gold post box in Portland. I was raised in Redhill, Surrey and have ties to Southampton. But me and my husband Steve have made Portland our home and I thought it would be really nice to say thank you to the people of Portland for their incredible patience and support for the British Sailing Team both in the build-up to and during the Olympics and Paralympics and to give them a reminder of what an incredible summer it was for the area.
I’ve bought a load of my gold medallist stamps and all my Christmas cards this year are going to have one of my stamps and be posted in my gold post box!
Life will start returning to some semblance of normality soon, as Steve keeps jokingly reminding me I may be a gold medallist but real life goes on. But there are still plenty of nice things still to come; awards dinners, going Extreme 40 racing in Nice, that sort of thing. I’m exhausted but a holiday can wait for now. I just want to keep enjoying the moment and the opportunities that this amazing summer has brought to British sport.
by admin | Sep 6, 2012 | News
Golden girl Helena Lucas admitted “This is the dream!” after being crowned London 2012 Paralympic 2.4 Metre class champion at Weymouth and Portland today (Thursday 6 September).
Lucas – the only woman in the 2.4mR one-person keelboat fleet – claimed victory with an impressive nine-point cushion over second-placed Heiko Kroger (GER).
The Redhill-raised sailor was sat in gold medal position overnight, guaranteed at least a silver medal, with one race to come. But a lack of breeze in Portland Harbour today meant no sailing was possible ensuring that the London 2012 Paralympic 2.4mR crown went to Great Britain.
Britain hasn’t won a medal since sailing joined the full Paralympic Games programme at Sydney 2000. This medal comes in addition to the gold medal won by the British Sonar team of Andy Cassell, Kevin Curtis and Tony Downs when the first Paralympic sailing event took place as a demonstration event at Atlanta 1996.
The 37-year-old Lucas, who first sailed aged eight at Hedgecourt Lake in Surrey, also becomes the first British woman to win a Paralympic sailing gold medal.
Lucas was born with no thumbs and limited extension in her arms. She controls her boat with a tiller and foot pedals, using pedals for doing any manoeuvres so she has both hands free to pull all the ropes. Going in straight lines she switches over to using the tiller.
She said: “This is the dream, this is definitely the dream! It’s absolutely fantastic to have achieved it, I’m just really, really pleased. One of the key things all week was to try to stay out of the protest room, keep it simple, keep it clean and try not to get any disqualifications or false starts.
“I’ve got a great team behind me, the GB sailing support team is fantastic and make sure we go out on the water properly prepared, mentally and physically, and that no stone has been left unturned. Obviously my coach too, we’ve had a great week on the water and it’s been a great team effort out there. It’s fantastic.
“I would have loved to have gone out today, especially as my sponsors were down and my husband was going to watch on the water so it would have been really nice to have gone out and just finished the regatta off and had some celebrations on the water. But you can’t control the weather and we’ve had a superb week with a great variety of conditions so we can’t really complain.”
Three-time Worlds medallist Lucas has sailed a supremely confident regatta. She got off to a cracking start with a first and a second on the opening day. She then went on to win four of her 10 races, excelling in the light breezes that tickled Portland Harbour in the middle part of the event.
Even when the wind was a bit stronger she more than held her own and her consistency proved invaluable as she edged away from the rest of the fleet.
She added: “I had really good speed in all the conditions, which we have been working on really, really hard. I had great starts, which enabled me to use my speed and pull away from the competition. I don’t think my size has really made that much difference. If you look at the difference in size with me compared to some of my competitors really the boats go pretty much the same speed. I might have a slight advantage downwind but it’s not as massive as you think considering the size difference.”
by admin | Sep 6, 2012 | News
Britain has won two medals on the final day of the London 2012 Paralympic Sailing Regatta at Weymouth and Portland today (Thursday 6 September).
Helena Lucas – the only woman in her class – has won 2.4 Metre one-person keelboat gold and Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell have won SKUD two-person keelboat bronze.
Lucas was sat in gold medal position, with a nine-point cushion over second-placed Heiko Kroger (GER), and guaranteed at least a silver medal overnight while Rickham and Birrell were also guaranteed at least bronze.
A lack of breeze in Portland Harbour today meant no sailing was possible ensuring that the overnight positions remained and the medals went to Great Britain.
Britain hasn’t won a full Paralympic sailing medal since the sport joined the full Paralympic Games programme at Sydney 2000. These medal comes in addition to the gold medal won by the British Sonar team of Andy Cassell, Kevin Curtis and Tony Downs when the first Paralympic sailing event took place as a demonstration event at Atlanta 1996.
