Rio 2016 - Time out for Womens 470 Olympic Champions post Rio

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 3 Aug 2016 The Olympic Game plan for defending Women's 470 Olympic champions is “a normal build-up” according to skipper Jo Aleh.

“We leave on Friday (July 29) and arrive late at night,” she told Sail-World at the team media farewell at Zhik NZ’s Victoria Park showroom, venue for the event.

“When we arrive, it will be a day off for rest, and then we will start on the normal 12-day build-in to a regatta.”

“We’ll be doing a bit of racing, a bit of boat-work and other preparation, and we will be going to the main Opening Ceremony.”

“We have four days off afterward, so even though it is a 90-minute trip we have time to get over it.”

Looking across the entry list at her competition Aleh and her crew Polly Powrie says they have not thought too much about the sailors they will face in Rio de Janeiro.

“It’s all the same crews that we have been racing for the last four years. It will be curious to see how they have all come together at the end of their four-year program.

“We know where we are at, but we will find out where everyone else is at.”

Post the Olympics Aleh has given some thought to her future.

The Rio Olympics will be her third – having placed seventh in the 2008 Olympic Regatta in Qingdao. The year before she paired with Polly Powrie to win the 420 Women's Worlds at Takapuna. The two then started their 2012 Olympic campaign in 2008, culminating in the Gold medal win in Weymouth, and then continuing for another four years in the run-up to Rio.

After 12 years of Olympic campaigning, Aleh, who also is a Youth Worlds Silver medalist in the Laser Radial class, says she will take a time-out.

“I’ve been going for 12 years, and Polly has been going for eight years, so it time for a break, and then we will see what we will do. There are lots of options.”

That could include a tilt at the Women's Volvo Ocean Race entry being mooted for the 2017/18 edition, following the Team Magenta lead from the last race.

“I’m very interested if there is going to be a Women's Volvo entry. I haven’t heard anything concrete about it. It is still taking shape. But I would be keen to give it a go if the boat does eventuate.”

At Rio, Aleh expects the racing for the Women's 470 to be spread over four or five courses.

Compared to a conventional course setup at a world championship, where the classes race on much the same piece of water, Aleh says the differences in Rio are challenging for the crews.

“It is much more interesting, we have different venues in Rio and the difference from one course to another is like night and day. We have got big waves, flat water, geographical influence, inshore and offshore. It is a cool place to sail because every day is so different and a challenge.”

In the lead-in to Rio, the Mens and Womens 470 crew have relocated to Bayswater.

“It has been a great training spot as we can leave the boats down the side of the rowing shed. It has a good ramp; we can launch in any condition. The south westerly is good and if the northerly comes in we just tow around to North head and start sailing from there.

“In the harbour, it is similar to Rio – except with a bit more wind. The North Head corner gets to be a bit lumpy. But we get our Rio training in Rio; we can’t really replicate it, it is just too different.”

Aleh says they have only done a small amount of technical development in the 470, since Weymouth.

“It is more about how we sail the boat, the decisions we make around the race track are where the biggest gains will be. It is all a bit of an unknown.’

“At this level, the fleet is very even. Some will have a small advantage in some areas and conditions. We work the boat hard in the techniques we use, and the way we set things up. It is not so much in the equipment, but in how we use it, plus sailing time in the right conditions.”

Aleh laughs at the recall of their so-called “Muppet Moments” when they seem to have at least one race in a regatta which is a clear choice for their discard race.

Like all great crews Aleh and Powrie are able to put their Muppet Moment behind them – even between races, and then back that up with their ability to sail incredibly well under pressure at the tail end of a regatta and figuratively pull the fat out of the fire.

“We are not meant to have bad introductions to a regatta, but we have had a few shockers recently. It is nice if we can pull it back. We never give up. We are always there; I think the rest of the fleet knows that. We might look like we are down and out but they know we will always be back.

“The idea, this time, is not to get down early on. We have the confidence that we can pull back, we will keep fighting, and the fleet knows that.”

Rapid recovery from a Muppet Moment has become a standard item in the Team Jolly repertoire. “We make bad decisions, we have bad races, and we have been doing it all along.

“We’ve had some shockers,’ says the Olympic Gold medallist. “We’ve capsized in Medal Races. We do all sorts. The main thing is to admit you’ve really stuffed it up, sorry, and get back in the boat, laugh about it later and then go after it in the next race.

“Between races our coach, Nathan (Handley) is good. He knows we will be annoyed about what has just happened, and that we will have already had a chat about it, and that the time is to leave it and move onto the next race.

“We stew for 5-10 minutes, but once the warning gun is fired, we are into the next race.”

The Women's 470 racing gets underway on Wednesday, August 10, local time in Rio de Janeiro.