Update- Mike Bullot reports on his Silver at Palma

by Michael Bullot on 20 Apr 2009
Michael Bullot, winner of the Silver Medal in the Laser class in the Princess Sofia Trophy, at Palma, Spain reports before the start of the next event in the ISAF World Cup

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update before the Hyères World Cup kicks off .

I’m happy to report that I was able to clinch a podium finish at the Princess Sofia World Cup in Palma, securing the Silver medal in a 134 boat fleet, with a 3rd in the final Medal Race.

I’m really not one to tell a blow by blow account of each race, so here’s more of an overall rundown.

In hindsight, my greatest advantage during the regatta was my ability to turn a seemingly dire starting position into a creditable finishing position. I continually struggled to get off the line cleanly, struggling with holding a lane for more than a minute of so. This is something I was expecting after such a long break from the strong European fleets. Fortunately, I was able to pick up significant distance on the remaining legs, especially downwind. This ability to come back through the fleet made a big difference to the final score line.

While the regatta went well, there are still areas that need improving and this has been the focus of the last week of training here in Hyeres.

Naturally I’m very pleased with the silver medal; after having so much time off, I was uncertain how things would pan in the big regattas. My greatest satisfaction, however, is gleaned from finally knowing that all the work that I put into the last 5 months has sent me in the right direction.

With a day off today, the 6 day Hyeres kicks off tomorrow (19/4) with the forecast looking pretty light of the majority of the week.

Feel free to keep updated on the event website which is http://sof.ffvoile.net

The final results from the Princesa Sofia regatta in Palma can also be viewed at http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/result.php?miclase=Laser%20Standard

I would like to again thank Canam Construction, Zhik, The New Zealand Academy of Sport, SPARC and Yachting New Zealand for their invaluable continued support.

And thanks to you for all your support- I’ll touch base again after the regatta!

Cheers,

Mike