Belcher and Ryan report from ISAF Sailing World Cup – Hyeres, France
by Mat Belcher and Will Ryan on 2 May 2015
Mat Belcher & Will Ryan - Australian Sailing Team Australian Sailing Team
2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres - A final race win in Sunday's medal race secured the team a Silver medal, and has moved the team one step closer to selection towards the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
After a week of training in a variety of good conditions including the infamous mistral breeze; true-to-form Hyeres delivered an unusually challenging forecast with predominantly light and variable winds which saw many of the pre-event favourite teams across the different Olympic classes struggling in the early stages of the event.
Unfortunately we found ourselves as one of those teams on the back foot as we struggled to get clear from the middle of the race track and find the speed and form of the past few seasons.
It was very pleasing that as the week went on we were able to improve on a number of areas and despite the leading Croatian team moving clear ahead of the pack, we were still in medal contention in third place entering the last day of racing. It is in a week like this that the experience of our coach Victor Kovalenko really shows, and as the breeze filled in on the final day we were able to sail more in our style for a great win to move up the leaderboard!
Within the Australian Sailing Team, Hyeres World Cup also stood as the first opportunity for us to deliver an Olympic nomination result and thanks to our improvements throughout the week we now have one more box ticked along our #RoadToRio.
It has been a valuable opportunity to be able to use this time in France to identify key areas moving forwards and these first two events have also allowed for implementation in areas developed in Australia this past summer.
With the 470 World Championships for 2015 now delayed until October due to the ongoing conflict in Israel, the season ahead is long and the Weymouth leg of the World Cup in early June will pose as our next key event as we move forwards toward the European Championships in Denmark in June, and Rio Olympic Test event in early August.
As part of a new initiative of ISAF, the final day of the World Cup racing included live streaming as well as an interview with our team.
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