US Laser sailor Brad Funk updates his campaign

by Brad Funk & Sail-World on 4 Jun 2007 Brad has been a member of the US Sailing Team for the past four years. He is currently the team's top-ranked Laser sailor, a position he also enjoyed in 2005. Brad is currently campaigning internationally with the goal of sailing for the USA in the Laser Class dinghy at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Qingdao, China. He was recently named as the sole USA Laser sailor to represent his country next August in the 2007 Pre-Olympic Regatta in China.

It is hard to believe it has been five weeks since I finished ninth here in Hyères at the Semaine Olympique Française. Time has flown. Now I’m back again for another Grade 1 Regatta, the Laser Europeans but the town atmosphere is more subdued without the mass of sailors from all the Olympic classes who previously flooded the streets and the cafes.

The training conditions have been excellent with plenty of breeze and a very lively sea state. The event starts tomorrow and runs through next Friday.

During my break in the US, I took two weeks off from sailing and took care of all that personal business that piles up while we’re on the road – the longer the trip the bigger the pile – and after my lengthy European visit, it was a big pile.

While I was in Florida, the Clearwater Yacht Club organized a fundraiser for me and four other Clearwater sailors, all of whom have the Olympics in their sights. The others are Finn sailor Zach Railey, Laser sailor Kurt Taulbee and Laser Radial sailors Paige Railey and Emily Billings. It was a very successful afternoon and I know I speak for all five of us when I say that we really appreciate such great support. It’s wonderful knowing that we have such enthusiastic backing from our home Yacht Club. My share of the money raised helps me continue to operate at a high level as I do my best to keep pace with the better-funded international Olympic programs.

I’m pleased to tell you that my hard work is paying off. The latest ISAF world rankings were announced last week and I’ve moved up the ladder again. In the past 12 months I have shot up from 61st to 27th. My goal is to be inside the top 20 before the end of the year. That would be a good accomplishment given the depth in the Laser class.

This is a big event with 158 entries broken into three fleets. It’s good to see my US teammate Andrew Campbell back racing again. He had to leave Hyères during the last regatta because of a freak training accident on his bike. This is a restricted regatta so space is allotted to each country’s top Laser sailors and all the slots are fully subscribed. All the top 20 ranked sailors in the world are here. Anyone could win but if I had to pick a favorite it would have be the Aussie Tom Slingsby, who won here in Hyères the last two years and won the recent Breitling regatta by 30 points. The Canadian squad is looking fast as well and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or more of their sailors claiming the top spots.

The Youth Laser European Championships with 108 entries are also being raced here this week and the US has a really strong team. It’s good seeing one of my students, Luke Lawrence here, along with Kyle Rogachenko, Fred Strammer, and Zach Marks. I expect one or more of these sailors to finish in the top spots.

I’ll be posting reports throughout the regatta.

If you haven’t seen my website go check it out and have a look around at www.funksailing.com. I have just posted my YouTube video named 'Turbo Sailing'.

Brad

www.funksailing.com