Kiwi 49ers all set to start Olympic buildup on European Tour

by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on 10 Jun 2009 Peter Burling and Blair Tuke update on their Olympic 49er campaign:

Not long till we leave for Europe to compete in our first international 49er regattas.

Our training both on and off the water is ramping up nicely. We have finally had some stronger breeze - in fact a little too strong at times, meaning that we have up skilled in the art of rolling up the main on the water, and sailing home under jib.

The training/coaching we had with the Aussie 49er world champ in April came at just the right time – four intensive days of solid sailing. New on-water drills, exercises and techniques to learn have given us a nice jump with plenty of things to practice and modify before we leave. Video shot while they were here has also given us a good library of information.

Nathan Handley (our YNZ coach) is now in Europe coaching the NZL 470’s. John Morgan (who coached Blair to his World Splash title) has stepped in to help for the last few weeks until we leave for Europe. He’s continuing on with the good work Nathan has been doing plus doing a lot of extra photo/video analysis – helping to refine our technique, sailing style and sail/mast shape.

Dave Mackay now has the new mould 49er boat made … but we were really frustrated when ISAF (International Sailing Federation) made a ruling late last month that no-one could use the new hull at worlds. So to PLAN B … Richard has managed to find a 49er hull to charter in Europe – only an extra NZ$6000 charter fee that we hadn’t budgeted for.

With no boat in the container to take our gear – we now have to fly with masts, boom, sails, foils etc and, you guessed it, we will be well over our generous Singapore Airlines extra baggage allowance.

Blair leaves NZ 15th June to set up the boat at Kiel, Germany, while Peter is sitting his university exams in NZ. We meet up in Hamburg on the 18th.

Our first 49er racing is the www.kieler-woche.de/eng/sailing/index.htm!World_Cup,_Kiel regatta. Racing is 20-24 June. www.kieler-woche.de/eng/sailing/index.htm

We then drive down to beautiful Lake Garda, Italy for the www.fragliavelariva.it/public_new/Calendar.asp?anno=2009 !49er_Worlds. The wind tends to funnel through the mountains lining each side of the lake. Time for some training before the racing starts - from 12-19 July.

Looking forward to the racing in Europe

Peter and Blair