Sail for Gold Regatta will see triple gold and silver Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie compete this year. Ben shares with us his thoughts on the upcoming Sail for Gold Regatta in addition to his visions for the London 2012 Olympics.
'Weymouth and Portland is already bustling in anticipation of the Olympics on 2012 and with only a few days until the start of the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta the venue here has changed dramatically.
'The weather has also done an about turn and it looks as though summer may have come back, for a few days at least!
'Anyone who has any aspiration to be racing in the games next summer is here and for many teams, including the British, this event will be an important selection marker for the LOCOG test event in August.
'My preparations have gone well. The hard work over the winter has seen some big improvements in speed and fitness which translated into some decent results in the last few regattas. The Sail For Gold regatta will no doubt be a different challenge to most (the weather in England is never very reliable) but the last five weeks training here have helped to get an idea of the race course and it's nuances.
'Like anything else the preparation is key as it gives you the confidence to go out and race knowing that you've done all you possibly can and the only thing left is to do it justice out on the race course.
'The British competition will be very tough with Ed Wright and Giles Scott sailing well at the top end of the fleet. If it's windy I also wouldn't rule out Andrew Mills or Mark Andrews. Consistency will be critical if the conditions get tricky.
Next Events ISAF Sailing World Cup Event: Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta 6 - 11 June
Ben Ainslie is Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, in total he has won three gold medals and one silver.
Ben won his first Olympic medal at just 19 years old - silver in the Laser class at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later, he achieved every athlete's dream of Olympic gold on Sydney Harbour. For the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Ben switched to the larger Finn dinghy he again won Olympic gold. In August 2008 Ben proved his was still the best by winning his third straight Olympic gold medal.
Ben's sailing achievements are unprecedented not only is he a triple Olympic gold medallist, he is also a nine times World champion, eight times European Champion and three times ISAF world sailor of the year. Ben's next aspiration is to qualify for and bring back a historic fourth gold in the london 2012 olympics.
Ben is also the current 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Champion.
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