Luke Elliott

Upon returning to WA, I was sent straight into two weeks of home isolation, the second time I have done it. Being able to do it in Esperance was a huge help though, at least I had my family close by and the nice views from the balcony to enjoy each day. Plus, the Olympics were on TV everyday so I was more than entertained keeping up with how all the sailing and other sports were going which was awesome. It was really inspiring to watch the Aussie Team and especially see Wearny win his Gold Medal only having trained with him two weeks earlier. It gave me a sense that I could be successful at a high level for my own sailing regattas coming up.

When I returned to Perth it was straight into full on preparation for Europe. I had 6 weeks to get myself fully really for the two events I was competing in, the European Championships and the World Championships. We had a really good squad in Perth with up to 8 guys training regularly each week and Ben running everyone through the program. We got a real mix of conditions in which was great and I left Perth feeling as ready as I could be, despite not having raced for nearly 2 years!

The European Championships were held somewhere I had never been before and I don’t think really anyone else had been either. The event was held in Varna, Bulgaria on the west coast of the Black Sea. I had never sailed on the Black Sea but I knew of it’s reputation of being a windy place (even though I didn’t believe it). The feel of the town was of an old European city that had been left behind by the west. It was pretty grungy and what I would imagine living in Europe 50 years ago would have been like. There were some beautiful buildings though and patches of modern living and cafes that kind of tucked into all the ancient ones in a weird mix of old and new. Safe to say it was like nowhere I had been before.

The weather was lovely for all the training leading up to the event and we had a real mix of conditions, anything from a seabreeze to shifty offshore conditions. Palky had arrived a few days before the event to look after us which was great and we had a good little squad to work with including the 4 of us Aussies, Max our Russian friend and Greg from New Zealand. The event started really well for me, I knew I could win this event if I sailed well enough because all the pre-regatta training had been going so well and my speed was good as anyone’s, if not better. We had a light to moderate onshore breeze, normally a condition I would panic in a bit but I walked away with a 2^nd and a 6^th on the first day.

The regatta started to take a turn after that though, we all started to realize that the race committee was nowhere near as experienced or organized as they should be for a major event and we wasted many hours on the water from here on in. We had a good 15 knots of breeze but still ended up sitting around waiting to start for several hours, to then only squeeze one race in before sunset. I made the most of the race though and won by the biggest margin I have ever won a race by which was very satisfying. To finish qualifying we did two more races where I had and 8^th and 2^nd to be 4^th overall going into finals but only 3 points off the lead. Everything was going exactly how I wanted it to go which should have been a warning sign.

Finals was a different beast to qualifying and the wind for the event started to build and the temperature started to drop. The swell was huge and the drift massive as it started to blow stronger and stronger from the North, normally a condition I am very confident in. Too confident unfortunately. Because of my great speed I decided to start sailing quite conservatively and this was not the play at all in these shifty conditions. You had to still be aggressive and position yourself well for the advantaged left-hand side of the course. Race one of finals again we had been left waiting for several hours in 15-20 knots and 10 degrees as the race committee sorted themselves out. We got 1 race in and it all seemed a made scramble as all of a sudden, the orange flag was up after 3 hours of waiting and we were away. I had my chance to get myself back in the race on the second beat but just couldn’t convert, finishing 23^rd.

Day 5 of the Europeans was a big one with 3 races on the cards and a race committee that wasn’t messing around anymore. We got straight into it but I just couldn’t get it going. I was always putting myself in tough places around the course or having really bad starts and just not being able to use the great speed that I had. I finished the day with 16, 27, 16. Not the kind of day needed to win a regatta, especially in conditions where I would normally struggle to finish outside the top 10. I was disappointed I had let this happen and that I had let this old habit of conservatism creep back in. We had one more day to go and it was the windiest and coldest yet and I was fully hoping to get two races in that could turn my regatta around. Again, I had a bad start but this time I wasn’t going to back down on strategy and committed to the left as everyone knew you had to. I rounded in 10^th or so, took 7 boats on the run, rounded the correct gate mark and was clear first up the second beat of the race. Unfortunately, I missed the last bit of pressure on the run to the bottom and had to settle for 3^rd in the race. The race committee tried half-heartedly for a 2^nd race but quickly gave up after a general recall and that was the end of the European Championships for 2021. I ended up falling to 10^th overall, a personal best at a European Championship but far from where I wanted to be. There were mostly positives to be taken away from the event but the way I handled the gold fleet was a warning and one I’m going to have to watch out for in future events.

After Varna it was time to finally return to my one of my favorite places on earth, Lake Garda in Italy. We had a little time to kill before the worlds and there’s no better place to refresh and relax. Elyse and I had a lovely little apartment by the water in the town of Tobole and much pizza and coffee were to be consumed. We had hired bikes and did plenty of cycling in the beautiful mountains as well as the traditional Santa Barbra church climb. The weather was stunning and I even managed to get a windsurf in one of the last Oras of the season. We only had 10 days but it was exactly what I needed before the pressure really intensified.

I hit the ground running in Barcelona going straight into training the day after I had arrived. Rafa was already there and we went straight to work with him giving me as much of his 7 years of sailing experience there as he could give me. The weather was light and the waves were massive and sloppy, not exactly conditions I normally perform in. We had a really good group to train with including the Kiwis and Max the Russian again. As we got closer to the event, we picked up our charter boats and started to plan our taper into the event. The forecast was marginal at best but we felt pretty prepared for what was to come. I don’t think anyone could have forecast the week that was to come.

We lost the first day of the event to no wind at all, staying in the boat park all day waiting around for the AP over A flag to go up. Day two was an early start with 3 races planned, we got the first one away after several nervous tries and everything seemed to go my way. I was ready for what was to come and confident in the conditions and I lead to the top mark. I kept my lead most of the race, briefly lost it around the top mark the second time then quickly regained it on the run and never lost it again to win the first race of the World Championships. Not sure if that’s bad luck or not? After another half race that was abandoned due to no wind we went ashore and waited. The next time we launched was several hours later in a very different day, 14-18 knots of wind with some of the biggest waves I’ve ever raced in and a massive tide going upwind. I messed my start up in this race by putting myself too far away from the favored end but managed to claw my way back into it and save an 11^th. Not the score I was after in conditions I’m normally really good in but it could have been much worse.

Day three was another waste, we launched early and started a race only to have it abandoned due to lack of wind on the outer loop of the course. We moved course area and tried again only to have the thermal breeze come in on the run and turn it into a beat. We waited several more hours until the day was abandoned. Day 4 was another very early start, arriving at the boat park while the street lights were still on! We got two morning races away and despite sailing well in both of these races it wasn’t well enough. I got sucked back into the pack on the first race after hitting the top mark and had to take a 17^th. I was in the fight on the 2^nd race as well but a slow first downwind let me down and put me back in traffic. Not long after that on the final run of the race the wind glassed out and the race was shortened to finish at the gate. Unfortunately, I was swallowed by the fleet as they carried the final bit of pressure down to the finish and I had to take a 30^th. A very frustrating morning of racing for me when I knew it could have been so much better. We went to shore and waited before launching once more in a light seabreeze later that afternoon to try and finish off qualifying. I had my best comeback of the event in this race, I had hedged my bets and played it safe on the first beat, not trusting that the right-hand corner of the beat was as good as it looked. Turns out it was and every single boat that had hit the right was well in front of me. It could have easily been a 40^th but I had a great run and changed my fortune to finish 24^th, but even that didn’t satisfy me as I knew I could have been higher again. I left the water feeling frustrated with the day and very fatigued mentally.

Day 5, the first day of finals, was another very early start with the street lights and freezing cold air there to greet us. We had 3 races back-to-back and the race committee wasn’t messing around, smashing them out as quickly as they could. I was on another level of focus this day, desperate not to let a repeat of Varna happen again and see my sailing fall down when it mattered the most. After a good start and excellent top reach, I had gone from 15^th to 5^th by the bottom mark and held that position to the finish. The next race was another great start but didn’t quite get the first shift right and was left in the middle of the fleet fighting. I pulled through with another great run to make places up to 23^rd in what could have been a much worse race. To finish the day, I had another great start and beat and put myself in the top 10 at the top. Things started to get funky after that with the wind dying and shifting a lot, similar to the final morning of qualifying. After a shortened second beat the fight was on just to save what points I could as the fleet was starting to flip on top of its head. Luckily, I was at the front and held onto a 9^th place at the finish line. With those consistent scores I had elevated from starting the day in 27^th overall to 10^th. We were promised a massive final day of racing with 20 knots of breeze predicted and massive swell and I couldn’t be more excited to see what I could do.

We got to the boat park to start the final day and nothing happened. The wind was glassy and the waves were so big the race committee was having a hard time just getting in and out of the harbor. More and more time passed and the less and less likely it seemed we would get out on the water. At around 2pm the race committee raised the AP over A and the event was over after just 8 races. I was sad not to race on the final day and see what I could do with my good form but on the flipside, I was really happy for my friend Tom Saunders for winning the World Title. He had sailed an amazing event and came through clutch on the final day with some amazing racing. If I wanted anyone to win a world title it would be him.

Two days later I was on a plane back to Australia but not to WA. With covid restrictions still being in place I couldn’t get a flight into Perth and had to settle for Sydney instead, the benefits of this being I didn’t have to quarantine once getting off the plane. Now I’m waiting here until I’m allowed to go back to Perth which hopefully won’t take too long. There are worse places to be though. I’m probably going to have some good time out of the boat now to refresh and reflect before a massive season begins next year. See you in 2022!

Swifto

• 

After my extended time in Sydney (nearly 3 months straight) it was time to round off the trip with some racing in a different venue. Swansea is a small community on the ocean side of Lake Macquarie, just south of Newcastle where we decided to run a mini regatta with as many boats as we could muster. We had all of the squad and the full attendance of the futures program and the NZL laser boys which made a total of 12 of the best boats in the southern hemisphere on the start line. The venue was predicted to give us lots of swell and some lumpy onshore winds. However, the forecast had another plan. We got all the swell but mixed with some very shifty offshore conditions which kept the swell coming from behind most of the event. I must say it was one of my worst weeks of sailing of my life. Not just from a performance standpoint but from a mental perspective. I was so burnt out from all the training in Sydney and a strong lack of purpose hung with me for that week. I hated the sailing and just wanted to go home more than anything, thoughts of quitting even crossed my mind. It was that bad. Sometimes sport and send you down a bad spiral and it takes stopping for a while to shake it off and start anew.

• 

Fortunately, after that event I did manage to get a flight home after a brief scare that a few covid cases in Perth might holt my chance of leaving. The time was spent seeing my team at WAIS and having a few heart to hearts with Belinda about the road ahead. The time home was most important to me and allowed me to change my mindset for the coming training camps in Queensland. Changing my attitude towards something is always in my control, sometimes it just takes a bit of help from others to put me on the right path again.

My next stop was the Sunshine Coast for the start of our tour through Queensland, a choice we had made to seek out the most relevant conditions for Japan and warmer weather. We had done a block of training last year in Mbar and knew it was a good venue to train from. Luckily for me Elyse had a family friend that could lend us their apartment for out time there so we had stunning views of the water and easy access to the boat from out accommodation. The camp was a success with a great variety of wind and my new attitude, I definitely feel I made the most of my time during this camp. Once it was over, rather than travel all the way back to WA, Elyse and I decided to stay on for the 10 days between our next camp in Yeppoon, a town about 9 hours drive north of the Sunshine Coast. We spent our time cycling and exploring the beautiful sunny coast, arguably one of my favorite places in Australia.

When our time in Mooloolabar was done we packed up the car and trailer and started our journey further north. It was quite and adventurous rode with lot’s if twists and turns, not the easiest driving with such a big rig. We made it safe and happy though, meeting Zac and Stefan at the Airbnb we had booked around 10pm that night! None of the team had ever been to Yeppoon before and I think we were all pretty impressed with the conditions it provided for us. The swell and waves were fun and the cycling through the cattle country was really scenic. A highlight for me was our day off when we took the rib offshore to Keppel Island for the day. The Island itself was beautiful and this being the southern most tip of the barrier reef it had some reef to snorkel! We had a magic day swimming with turtles and rays and walking on deserted beaches. All to soon this 6-week trip had come to an end and it was time to go home to refresh.

When I got home, I went straight into a coaching clinic for the weekend with the WASS group, WA’s underpinning youth development program. We had a beautiful sunny weekend but not much wind unfortunately. It’s a great group of sailors though and they’ve all developed really quickly compared to the last time I saw them at Westsail 6 months ago. A few training sessions of my own later and a couple of rounds of golf and it was time to head back to Queensland one last time, this time to far north Queensland. 

I had never been to Cairns before but I had heard good things so I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. After catching the red eye flight in my expectations of the place had changed immediately. I though it would be a flat dust bowl but it was the complete opposite with massive, jungle covered mountains and beautiful blue skies. Nearly all of us were staying in university accommodation which has been great with all the facilities we needed. The sailing was the best yet with 26-degree water and steady 10-15 knot trade winds blowing from the south east everyday like clockwork. The kiwi team had joined us again as this would be the last camp we do before the Olympics so we were all looking to show off our best stuff. My friend Tom had rejoined the Laser class as well and joined in with the camp which made for some extra competition too (on the water and the golf course).

Cairns being the center of the Great Barrier Reef we made sure not to miss our chance to properly explore one of the natural wonders of the world. We had and amazing rest day exploring the reef on a professional charter, seeing some of the best stuff the reef had to offer. Upon returning from the reef, we started to learn that Sydney was going into lockdown due to a covid outbreak which now caused havoc for our logistics and return home! The repercussions of the lockdown are still in effect now, stopping me from going home to WA and as I write this I’m still here in Cairns over a week after the official camp had ended. Luckily in some ways I wasn’t the only one in the same boat and Finn, Richo and the Kiwis didn’t want to or couldn’t go home either. So, with the nothing to do other than train we went back to work and did another solid week on the water, this time us Aussies working with the Kiwi boys and their coach Mark. We definitely made the most of our time.

As of today, the Kiwis have just left for Japan and Wearny and Blackers are already in Japan getting ready. The Olympics is only a few weeks away and everyone is starting to migrate over to Tokyo. Now Finn and I are the only two left in Cairns and will start our drive south in a few days. I have my good mate Kenno’s wedding to get to in Noosa before going home and starting my 14 days isolation in Esperance. After that I’m hoping to start planning for worlds but I’ll keep you all up to date with that as things unfold.

See you on the water

Swifto

It’s been a bit of a break since my last post again, mostly due to a lack of major competitions to report on but I want to keep the blog continuous so it’s time to fill in the gaps. The last time I wrote on here I was doing my 14-day quarantine in Perth after returning from NSW which is funny because I’m back in Sydney as I write this. Here we go:

• Finished quarantine at the end of September and went straight to work coaching at Westsail (in its new location, Hillary’s Yacht Club) with the next generation of WA’s Laser sailors.

• I backed that week up with a week coaching the learn to sail course in Esperance. This was an amazing week and I had the best group of kids I had ever coached. All were aged between 8 & 10 and were fully frothing on sailing. It was great!

• After spending a few extra days at home, I went back to Perth and started getting to work. I started slowly coaching a few shifts a week while juggling normal sailing (3-4 times a week) and my normal training load (gym twice a week and cycling 3 times a week) but pretty quickly it became 7 days a week coaching! Summer was near and all the clubs in Perth were buzzing with courses and group training which was awesome.

• Towards the end of October the first major club event of the summer came around, the Sail Freo Regatta. We had a cracker two days for it and I sailed really well, unfortunately losing my picket fence scorecard on the last race of the event, on the last upwind of the event. Wasn’t meant to be I guess.

• Amongst all this I was also preparing to do the Tour of Margaret River, a six-man, three-day, five stage bike race through the best wine country of Western Australia. The race covered 235km with three team time trials and two stage races with nearly 3000 meters of climbing. I was with my friend Tim’s team and we had an amazing time, earning our spot in C Grade through our opening TT efforts and holding our own the stage races. Elyse came to support me and we stayed in “The Bird House”, my sisters tiny home based just outside Margret River. It was honestly one of the highlights of 2020 for me.

• Back to 7 days a week work for me and sailing in-between. Something that was great was coaching the Freo Laser Gang, especially Zac and Ethan who I got to coach and train against every week. The boys progressed massively throughout 2020 and are with the Australian Squad now training against Matt and I in Sydney.

• The WA state championships camp around, hosted by FSC. It was run over two days and for the first time ever I won the event. I hadn’t done a state titles in many years just because I’m usually away overseas or interstate so I haven’t been able to compete in it. Ethan pushed me hard most races and pipped me in one but I was fortunate to win the other five which was very nice.

• The International Classes Regatta came and went, RFBYC’s annual event. It was a cracker weekend of racing with a tight race course and Freshies classic, unpredictable conditions. Zac got off to a hot start winning the first two races but I was able to hold steady and claw back the regatta to win, just not comfortably. It was great fun.  
• Christmas was spent in Perth with Elyse’s family and my family came up to meet them for the first time. All went very well and it was a classic hot summer day for it. Elyse and I got away out to Rottnest Island a few days later and had a great time. New years was spent at Crown Casino which was a heap of fun and before I knew it, it was time to do some racing again

• ‘Nationals, not nationals’ was the unofficial title of the event because it was replacing what would have been the nationals if Covid hadn’t cancelled the real nationals. We had a few people come from interstate so we had a good little fleet and some very fresh and shifty Easterly winds to race in. I had a bit of a shocker despite sailing quite well I thought. My outhaul came undone on day one of racing while leading around the bottom mark. I managed to fix and finish the race but finished almost last. The next day I made a judgement error and broke the line to get myself a UFD (max points penalty for being over the line. To finish up I did the same mistake on the last day so with that many big scores I finished 4^th overall.
• Not long after that there was another event on at South of Perth Yacht Club which was great because we had Matt join our racing as well. Unfortunately, he was far too strong this event and I couldn’t even get a race win off him so I had to settle for 2^nd place. To be able to get to do racing like this at home was great and isn’t something I’ve been able to do in ages.

• By now it was looking certain I would be heading back to Sydney in early February so Elyse and I decided to get away to Esperance for one last trip away. I hadn’t been home since the coaching clinic so we took the chance to explore for a week and I could enjoy some nice time with my family. This trip was perfectly timed because a few days after arriving at home Perth went into a 5-day snap lockdown due to a Covid positive test in the community. Esperance was outside the lockdown boundary though so we had the freedom to enjoy our holiday which was a great stroke of luck!
• The time at home went way too fast and before I knew it, I was on a plane to Sydney. It would be my first-time training in Sydney since October 2019 which is crazy to think because I usually come here 3-4 times a year!

• I came over with the plan of training for a few weeks before we all went off to Hyeres to compete but just a few weeks ago we got news that the Mayor of Hyeres had made the call to cancel the event which ended our hopes of going over. Just the way it is.
• We started off with 2 weeks on, one week off, twice. In the second week off I had a bit of a whoopsie and crashed my bike giving myself a concussion ☹
• I had to go through the full concussion protocol which meant not much activity all week unfortunately but luckily, I was able to get back on the water for the following week when the kiwis came across to join.

• I’m now a further two weeks into training with the kiwis which has been great. I hadn’t seen Sam or George or Mark since the Melbourne worlds and it’s been so good to see them and catch up. The way things are going we’ll be doing a few more weeks in Sydney before we start to migrate north in search of warmer weather.
• Now we’re waiting to see if and who can go to Japan to train and when that might be. Our time line is quite unclear but we have to keep pressing on as best we can to get Wearny prepared for the Games. Here’s hoping all the effort pays off. I’ll do better to keep this up to date as more action starts to unfold.

See you on the water,

Swifto

I’m writing this on day 13 of home isolation after finishing a 10-week stint on the east coast of Australia training with the national team. Its September and a lot has changed since the world championships came to a conclusion back in February. For the first time in 7 years I haven’t gone overseas and won’t be for the foreseeable future either. The world has been changed pretty dramatically since COVID-19 became a global pandemic and has wreaked havoc with what was normal life. I haven’t written much because I felt like there wasn’t enough content to keep up to date with but since I write this journal for my own memory I thought it was time to document things a little more. Here’s a brief shopping list of what this year has contained since the worlds:

• COVID-19 hits and all the planning for the European season goes out the window. Flights are cancelled, accommodation bookings called off and all plans put on hold while we battened down the hatches planning for the worst.
• Training at WAIS is cancelled and everyone has to get ready to train from home while society went into lockdown.

• Started living in Fremantle at my old coaches’ house across the road from Fremantle Sailing Club. I stayed here for 3 ½ months helping clean up the house a bit and tending to the garden while they finished renovations.
• I picked up surf skiing after my girlfriend introduced me to the sport and I started going on the regular. Great sport and lots of fun, plus great rehab for my shoulder.
• My bike riding became a much more consistent while we had some great Autumn weather. Luke ‘Parko’ Parkinson lived close by as well as my mate Tooley so we did some hot river loop laps with a PB 36.5kph average one morning!!

• I started training again in the Laser as things normalized a little after 6 weeks out of the boat. After some time, we were allowed to train with a coach as well and to assist me with my training the Team bought me a near new Laser to train on.
• I got really good at baking muffins while everything was locked down and become temporarily known as the muffin man!

• After several weeks of training 3 – 5 times a week with Wearny, Zac and Ethan plans had been made to head over east for some training camps in swelly conditions.
• Managed to get a quick week down in Esperance with Elyse and we had some amazing weather before we I left for over east. It was a great little refresher and somewhere she had never been.
• Flew to Coffs Harbor, a small town about 7 hours drive north of Sydney for some swell training with the rest of the national team. We stayed here for two weeks cycling, gyming and sailing in great conditions. I really rated Coffs and probably would have never gone if it wasn’t for COVID.

• I stayed on for another two weeks as travel was limited with the pandemic and Elyse was in town for her training camp. I even raced against the girls for 5 days of their camp before we packed up and moved north to Queensland.

• The second leg of our camp started in Mooloolabar on the Sunshine Coast, about a 90min drive north of Brisbane. Another two weeks of training here was great with up to 10 boats racing was about a good a sized fleet as we could find. Again, we had a great mix of wind directions and got the swell we wanted which was exactly what we were looking for.

• Post that camp I stayed with Zac and Ethan in an Airbnb for a week and did some cycling and gym work while exploring what Mbar had to offer.
• For my fourth week on the Sunny Coast us three moved north to Noosa to do a unique style of training camp with Palky in his home town where we learned about foil boarding, sailing in current and through waves.

• The circus then moved south once more as boarder restrictions had become tight again and we couldn’t keep Finn and Blackers in Queensland for the whole trip. We moved back to Coffs Harbor for another two weeks on the water in a very nice house near the beach. We even had TB come for some of this camp which made it really valuable time on water.

• Too soon it was time to return back to WA though for the dreaded mandatory two weeks of isolation. Even this became difficult as our flight was delayed leaving Coffs which meant we missed our connection to Perth that evening. Luckily, we could get to Sydney that night, stay in a hotel, then catch another flight the next morning into Perth where I met Elyse at my aunt’s house to do the two weeks of iso
• Now I’m a few days away from freedom before I start Westsail and the annual learn to sail clinic in Esperance.

It’s bee a funny old year not have much competition and maintaining focus through everything. I’m learning I can still live a high-performance life while having balance and spending my time across several projects, not just one. This summer will be a very unique one as it won’t have the normal nationals competition which we would usually have so it will be my first time in 13 years without some form of sailing in the summer time. I’ll have to find a way to keep myself busy.

See you on the water soon hopefully,

Swifto  

 “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out” 

I’ve never had a major injury before. I take a lot of pride in that and give myself a fair bit of credit for it. I eat well, train well and feel pretty in tune with what my body and mind need on a day to day basis. The last thing I expected before the worlds was to get injured! My training preparation had been as good as it’s ever been and mentally, I was ready to give my all again. Then, just like that, everything turned for the worst. I’d just finished a really good four days of training and was planning on having the weekend off to recover when that night I woke up in the worst pain in my left shoulder. There was no way I was getting back to sleep and no way I could get away from the pain. I send a message first thing to our physio on site, Warrick, and he straight away took the time out of his weekend to see me. After some tests we weren’t sure what was going on but we knew I had lost all my external rotation in my shoulder. I literally couldn’t rotate my left arm out wards at all!

After a stressful and painful Saturday, I had to keep moving. Sunday was time to pick up my new charter boat and rig it properly. There was still no improvement by the days end so by Monday morning I was in the Melbourne CBD seeing our team doctor, Dr Kathy Yu. An ultrasound and cortisone shot later and I was back at the boat park to do my final sailing session and see if I could actually still sail a boat at all! The boat felt great and the new sail looked mint. I could still hike but I’d lost a lot of control of my left shoulder and was pretty out of control going downwind. It was going to be an interesting regatta, but at least I could still get out there.

Qualifying – The stage was set; it was time to race. After a little bit of time under AP to get everyone’s nerves up, the 126-boat fleet got out in a nice 10 -14 knot southerly. With the fleet split into three, low numbers where going to be important to making the cut. I started with a bang and was first to the top mark in a hot red fleet but couldn’t quite hold off JB (the Frenchman) or Elliot (GBR) so had to settle for a 3^rd. I backed up the next race with a 6^th which was a solid comeback from 11^th at the top but still had room for improvement considering I got up to 2^nd at one point. Still, a good first day.

Day two was a cracking southerly breeze, 12-18 knots, with sunshine and nice waves. I sailed the day really well with some good speed and walked away with a 2^nd and 1^st to win the day in my fleet. It came at a cost though. That night, I didn’t sleep and wink, my shoulder was in so much pain. By now I’d figured out I couldn’t sleep lying down anymore. The only way to find some relief was to place some pillows behind me and try and sleep lying upright. It was far from ideal and make me feel horrible the next day.

I was pretty cranky on day three. The pain was bad and I hadn’t slept at all. We had a strange south easterly wind blowing as well but I managed to navigate it fairly well with a 10^th and 5^th place but found myself losing places throughout the races which is something that hadn’t happened yet. Rafa (my coach for the event while Blackers focused on Matt) didn’t let me get too frustrated by it though and told me I should be happy with how the qualifying had gone. I was in 5^th place overall, well on track for my goal of top 10.

The pain in my shoulder was as bad as it had been and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to sleep much again and I was right. Dr Kathy agreed it was time to see what was going on and arranged an MRI for the first morning of finals racing. Luckily my Dad had been in Melbourne since the start of the event to support me, otherwise all of this would have been that much harder. We went to the MRI that morning before rushing back home again to get ready for racing. Fortunately, I had some luck on my side with the bipolar Melbourne weather delivering some strong storm cells to Port Phillip bay, cancelling racing for the day. This gave my shoulder a much-needed rest day but also meant I was going to have to deal with 6 races over the next two days of sailing. It was going to be an important weekend.

Finals – We were greeted to the first day of finals with dark clouds, rain, cold and lots of wind from the south west. Classic Melbourne conditions. The racing was hard but I held my own. I was 10 at the top and banked a 6^th in the first race to start finals strong. I backed that up with a really hard fought 10^th and finished with a solid but very disappointing to me, 15^th. It was disappointing because I was leading the race with only a few minutes of sailing left to the top mark. I made choice to duck and starboard tacker (Jesper, SWE) and continue to the lay line. He chose to cross the fleet and approach the top mark from the left lay. I was 20^th at the top and he was 1^st and won the race. It’s moments like those that keep you awake at night about what could have been. After all that my consistency was paying off and I was still holding down 5^th place but the points were compressing with a bunch of really top yachties just behind me. It was going to be a super Sunday.

Sunday was by far the most extreme conditions we had seen all event. East south east winds with diagonal waves, big pressure differences and massive shifts. It was nothing like any of us had really trained in yet and the potential to get caught out on the wrong side of the course was huge. Again, I set myself up for consistency and just had to hope my speed would carry me to the top. I was so exhausted by this point in the week. I had barely slept; my shoulder was really painful and I was so irritable I felt like I could snap just from someone looking at me the wrong way. I just wanted this to be over, which isn’t the way I really want to be ever, let alone when I’m doing what I love. I banked a 14^th in the first race but with lots of small mistakes throughout the race. I felt like I should have easily been in the top 5 that race. The next race I had a good start but was rolled by someone sailing exceptionally quick, quicker I think than I’ve ever seen a laser sailed upwind. I was assuming it must have been on of the big guys like Buhl (GER) or JB (FRA) but to my surprise it was my friend Wannes (BEL). We were the head of the fleet but I didn’t want to stay in his bad air so I split away which turned out to be a costly error. With the majority of the fleet set up to my left I was looking great but as we got closer to the top the left continued to reward those out there and I ended up with my worst race, a 24^th. Again, a race where I’m left kicking myself for the chances I had blown.

For the final race I saved my worst start of the event. I got spat out so quickly but managed to work some shifts that put me back in the game by the top. I had a solid run and great second beat and all of a sudden, I was putting away a 10^th place and sealing the deal on 7^th overall! It was a huge relief to have finally finished in side the top 10, I goal I have had since I was 15 years old and one, I have tortured myself with for a very long time. For a long time, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to do it but here we are. The points were so close in the end, as it turns out I was only 8 points away from a bronze medal! So now I’m back to kicking myself for all those points I’ve wasted throughout the week just like any other regatta. But overall, I’m stoked. And exhausted. And in pain. And just want to go home. It’s a weird mix of emotions when I come up the ramp for the last time.

About the shoulder – When I got back to Perth, I went straight to my WAIS Doctor and I had another cortisone shot put right down on the nerve this time. I got on some new medication and after about a week the pain was next to nothing and I could start to lay down when I went to sleep. In summary my supra scapula nerve had suffered some trauma, whether from a virus or inflammation they’re not sure but either way, that why my shoulder couldn’t rotate. The signal from my brain wasn’t getting through to my infraspinatus muscle, which has seriously atrophied now. I’m on a physio program to help get it back but it might take 6 months or more until it’s close to normal. At least the pain is gone now. Nerve pain is no joke!

It’s only fair that after a long summer I name the people that really helped my campaign and made it a success. I know it wouldn’t have been half as fun or rewarding if these people weren’t apart of it.

Coaches: Rafa, Blackers, Arthur, Belinda, Tristan, Palky, Ben and Ash. All of these amazing people helped contribute to my sailing a lot over my life and have shaped who I am today. This is a team sport played on an individual level. I know I wouldn’t be here or be the sailor I am without them.

Team mates – Kenno, Wearny, Finn, TB, Jezza, EJ, Zac, Wongy, Ricko. All these blokes have put in massive hours with me sailing and have become some of my best friends. I hope I have had as positive influence on you as you guys have had on me.

Friends & Family – Kate & Fitzy. Ben & Kath. Greg & George. Meechy. Liza. Elyse. The Duncan Family. The Lloyd Family. Mum & Dad and everyone else who came along for the ride, hosted me, let me use their home gym, fed me, was a friend to me and supported me this summer and on every other occasion, a massive thank you. You all enrich my life and make the whole experience what it is. The sailing is just a bonus.  

 /kənˈtɪnjʊəns/
noun

FORMAL
the state of remaining in existence or operation.
"his interests encouraged him to favour the continuance of war" 

“If in doubt, don’t tack”

One of Stewart Walkers golden rules of racing and one that guided me through my choices off the water as well. I had been having a tough time deciding what the future would hold for me after the 2019 season had ended but this simple idea ended up having a big influence. I’ve been living for the last seven years what my dream was as a teenager, and even though it has its challenges and differences to what I might have imagined it would be like, it is ultimately exactly what I asked for. ‘Tacking’ away from my Laser sailing would be walking away from my Olympic dream after so much struggle to get to this position in the first place. Once made, the decision to continue has been a simple one and has given my life clarity again. The last few months have been some of the most enjoyable of my sailing career, and now, on the cusp of doing my 8^th Laser World Championships, and first in Australian waters, I couldn’t be more excited.

Staying true to this blog though, I’ll keep it chronological and go back to where I left off in September:

After I had decided to continue in the Laser, I had to start thinking about how I was going to do it? I didn’t want to fall into the same traps as I had in the past, I wanted to do it a bit different this time, using the experience I had gained from the past 10 + years of competing. The aim was simplicity and enjoyment.

Perth: After Esperance I went back to Perth and found myself with time on my hands for once. Out of habit or maybe because I truly wanted to, I started going to training at FSC again, just like I used to when I first moved to Perth. I wasn’t really thinking too far ahead with it, I was just doing it and found myself really falling in love with the sport again.

Sydney: Whether I was ready or not, the last two weeks of October was spent at Middle Harbor Yacht Club training with Matt and Finn. It had a very different feel to it with there only being three of us there, but none the less it was a productive camp. The strength was starting to come back and the feel in the boat was getting better.

Perth: Back West again for two weeks. I used this time to continue my training from Sydney. My fitness and boat feel were way off what I wanted and this was a great chance to improve those things in the best training ground in the world. Also, Perth in summer time is just the best place to be, sailing or not.

Melbourne: Starting to get real now. The last two weeks of November was spent training at Sandringham with some of the worlds best. We had almost 30 boats which consisted of the Scandinavians, Kiwis and some European and American teams. 5 days of training was backed up by the Victorian State Championships, where I finished 9^th with a confidence boosting win on the last race. That was then followed by a brutal four-day coaches regatta, mostly in strong winds and with long days. Great conditioning but once again, I was feeling my fitness still wasn’t in place yet.

Perth (Again!!): Returning to Perth was signing off on a solid six-week block of training. It was time for a rest from the Laser and to enjoy some much-needed therapy (time on the golf course). The Moth World Championships were in Perth as well so it was a great chance to catch up with friends and watch some of the best foilers around do their thing. I couldn’t just take the whole month of December off though so I made sure I got another five-day block in, just to top up the tank before I checked out for Christmas. It was getting close to business time now.

Esperance: Now was time for some much-needed family time. It would be the first Elliott Christmas with myself and two sisters there in ten years, so safe to say it was a special time. I even got out on a Laser, (sorry fam), but for a different kind of training. This was more of a nostalgic throwback to my high school days when I used to sail around the bay for hours on end by myself. Plus, the seabreezes in Esperance are epic and it’d be a shame to waste such a good opportunity to get out there. I obviously also got plenty of golf in and made some new friends while at it. It was a great holiday and just what I needed.

The Nullarbor: Now was my time to drive back to Melbourne (so much back and forth this summer!!). I had my car loaded with my toys and I set out for the three-day journey across the country. I’ve done the drive two times before but this was my first alone. Not that that’s much of a problem for me, I like road trips, they help clear my head. I was sleeping rough as well with my sleeping bag and camp bed wherever I decided to pull up which added to the experience. I even managed to play a couple of holes worth of the Nullarbor Golf Links, the worlds longest golf course.

Australian Laser Nationals: Finally!! The racing. Months of prepping and planning and thinking had finally come to a head and it was time to see where I was at. We had the strongest nationals’ fleet in recent memory competing with 70 sailors lining up at the start, including the kiwis, Americans and Dutch teams. I started with a 16^th and 25^th ☹ funny old game. This was not the start I was hoping for. Fortunately, I was able to adjust quickly and got on a run over the next 7 races to move through the fleet into 4^th going into the final day. It was tight, and there was a chance to move up or down on the scoreboard but unfortunately, I made the worst of it and fell to 8^th. I didn’t have a disastrous day so much, but my close competition had much better days and that made all the difference. Still, I managed to take some confidence away from the event and felt good about the next one to come.

Sail Melbourne: After a few easier days of training and some time spent with friends (I was living with Jez and Eliza for a week) it was time to race again. It took a good few days to feel fully recovered after the Nationals so I only spent two days in the boat before the event started but my mind felt ready to pick up where I left off. The fleet was about 70 strong again but much deeper in competition with the British, Scandinavian, French and other various European teams representing. It would be a real test of what the worlds would be like in a couple weeks time. I got off to a hot start, leading around the top mark in race one and finished with a 5^th in challenging conditions. The next day of racing wasn’t as successful but some great comebacks and a good attitude kept me in the game to move up later with a 18, 3, 19. The conditions became quite tough for the race committee after that with us only getting another three races in for the event. My consistency was paying off though, banking a 2, 10 the next two races pulled me up into 6^th with a chance to move up or down again on the last day, just like at nationals. This time I held my nerve and put another solid score on the board with an 11^th, which was enough to jump to 3^rd overall with my competition all having bad races. I was stoked to be on the podium in such a tough event and it was a good confidence booster in the last event before the worlds.

Perth (Again, again!!): Time to have a break from Melbourne and refresh. I only had ten days back west but I needed them. The weather was gorgeous and sunny and I was home at the perfect time to watch the Warren Jones Regatta being hosted right in front of the city. The thought of the worlds being only a few days away was never far from my mind.

Melbourne (the last dance): I returned fresh and ready to race. I’ve completed three days on the water and I can honestly say I’ve never felt so good. Not just in speed but in my attitude and decision making. Maybe the event will be a flop but it won’t be from a lack of effort and preparation. I’m very excited to see how things play out.

See you on the other side,

Swifto

Flux                                                                                                                    /flʌks                                                                                                                  noun: continuous change

The last few months have been some of the most turbulent of my career. With our Olympic trials coming to an end and a decision being made on who will go to the games looming closer, its been a time of reflection and contemplation the last few weeks. Before I get into that though I’m going back to the ending of my last post to tell the story in order.

The 2019 Laser World Championships:

The biggest event of the year and also the most remote, we had over 150 sailors arrive into the unpopulated district of Tottori, in the middle of July to compete for the world title. The small city of Sakaiminato seemed crowded with sailors or maybe that was because pretty much everyone was staying in one of two hotels that could host us. Our team stayed in the hotel Nono which was quite traditional but very nice. I don’t usually stay in hotels but with a lack of Airbnb’s in the area it was the only appropriate choice. It turned out to be a really good time and a nice way to see some old friends and make some new ones.

The sailing was tough! The venue threw up a real mixed bag of conditions for us in training with each day bringing its challenges. Coming from a cold Sydney winter the heat of Japan was taking a bit of a tax on me and I was struggling to feel the kind of form I would expect of myself going into such a big event. I wasn’t too concerned at the time, not that I could have changed anything by then anyway, but there were warning signs that this was going to be a tough event for me.

The first day of racing set the tone of the event a little for me. A good start at the pin heading to the side that had paid for the first two fleets (I was in red fleet day one) only for a massive right shift to come through and put me in the pack. A dropped mainsheet on my first tack in the second race rattled the nerves but I scrapped through with a 13^th.  The wind increased for the next two days with awesome onshore wind and waves, normally conditions I excel in. A BFD in the first race of the second day, then a mixed bag of results rounded out qualifying and saw me scrape into gold fleet. The form wasn’t there and I knew it and there’s nothing I could do about it. Too little, too late! It’s probably one of the worst feelings you can have as a sailor, knowing you don’t have the speed you need but still having to slog through and event either way. You’re trapped between a rock and a hard place.

The wind lightened for the start of finals and produced some of the most challenging conditions with variable wind and some big swell. It was one of the hardest days of sailing I’ve had. The two days after threw up similar conditions. Moderate wind, chop and plenty of shifts. I had one good race in finals, the second last race of the event. A good start in the middle, I held a long lane and a small pack of us extended away from the fleet. A good first run moved me up and I held onto a 5^th place which was nice. The damage was done though and I had to settle for a 38^th overall. However, at the other end of the fleet something special was happening. Tom and Matt were fighting out at the front and ended up placing 1^st and 2^nd respectively. It was Australia’s first world title since Slingsby in 2012 and TB’s first. It was an awesome result and I was really proud that those guys had come out on top.

The next day everyone was packing up and starting to get ready to fly home. Not me though. We had a training camp back at the Olympic venue in Enoshima in 10 days and rather than fly home and back again I decided to stay in Japan and go on an adventure. I’d spent plenty of time in Japan but had never gotten out to see much. That was about to change.

I’m not going to say everything I did and saw but as a quick rundown:

• Two days exploring Hiroshima including the A Dome and the world-famous Itsukushima Shrine
• Two days riding the Shimanami Kaido trail from Onomichi to Imbari which is a road connecting six small islands between the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku.
• One night in Okayama
• Two nights on Shodo Island with Kyotas (my Enoshima host) cousins’ family. Amazing, authentic taste of a different side of life in Japan.
• One night in a back packers in the city of Fuji
• One night at the 9 ½ station (the closest to the top at 3550m altitude) on Mt Fuji. Yes, I climbed to the top!
• Back to Enoshima and my lovely host family.

It was one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had and so different to the normal sailing travel I do. I’d hope to do more travel like it someday.

Training camp:

The ten days of travel went really slow and really fast at the same time. Before I knew it, I was back in the whirlwind of the sailing world and the buzz of the Olympic venue. We had two weeks of training in a variety of conditions finished off with a three-day coaches’ regatta with pretty much all of the Laser world rankings top 20 in attendance. I didn’t sail amazing but I didn’t make too many mistakes either which lead to me finishing the week 8^th overall.

Perth:

After six weeks I finally got back home to Perth. The weather was colder but it was great to be back in a familiar environment and to see my friends again. I also ended up spending quite a bit of time coaching at FSC which was really fun and nice to be a part of. I knew it wasn’t going to last long though as I was going back to Enoshima after only 20 days in Australia. This time it was for the final event of the season, the World Cup, Japan.

Enoshima (again!):

The unique thing about this trip was that when I arrived an event was already being run, the Olympic test event, that has a closed entry. Tom and Matt were our representatives at the event and were already fighting it out when I landed. This left Finn, Mitch and I to find our own training partners for a bit and make the most of the venue on our own. The first day of the event we had a really soft seabreeze that I didn’t sail very well in. We lost the second day of the event because of too much wind before we settled in to three of the biggest days of Laser sailing I’d done. Eight races were crammed into those last three days and every day was over 15 knots with big waves. The beats were long and physical, everyone was hurting. By the end I was barely holding on, my speed had been similar to that of the worlds and my determination had faded. I ended the regatta feeling pretty crushed. Not so much about the result but because of my poor effort. It’s one thing to lose when you’ve given everything like in Aarhus the year before. These last two events were something different. I’d lost, I hadn’t put in the work and I knew it.

Now we get to the part that gives this article its title. On top of my poor sailing in Japan, I knew this meant that my selection for the Olympics was over. I’d made all of my plans for the season end at the World Cup in Japan. By the time this event rolled around though I knew I wouldn’t be going and was struggling to think of what the future would hold for me. Then, on top of that, I’d been given some really enticing opportunities that would see me leaving the Laser class, at least for a while, and maybe even the country. It had sent my mind spinning and had me struggling with my integrity as a person, made me question what I valued most in life and put doubt in my mind that continuing on this Olympic path was the right one. Since the European Championships I’ve been in two minds and it has really made me appreciate the value of single mindedness in sport, something I’ve never usually lacked.

Home:

After the World Cup I went back home and had a proper rest. I had time and space to think, reflect and write. I’m always learning from this sport and not in the ways I always expect. This period of time has made me question everything and check in with who I am all the way to my core. Its been a time of growth and introspection that I probably wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the unique situations sailing has put me through. I’ve come out the other side with a different perspective that will hopefully guide me to better success in the future. I won’t commit to anything now but I see myself continuing on the Laser path for the foreseeable future. There’s just nothing quite like it.

Swift/

Yet again I’ve let time get away from me and have left it far to long between these blog posts. I can’t give a complete summary of what has happened in the time since I was training in Sydney in March but I’ll do my best to summarize it location by location.

Auckland, New Zealand – After several weeks of training in Sydney we had a change of scenery coming up to keep things interesting. I had been to Auckland before but not since 2015 and was really excited to go back. It’s a great city and I was keen to see the kiwi boys who we hadn’t sailed against since December. We were sailing up on Gulf Harbor, about an hour north of Auckland and we had rented a massive team house for the week up there but not before I had played a few rounds of golf with Greg at some of his local courses. The hours on the water were long and it was bloody tough training but I left New Zealand battled hardened and ready to race.

Genoa, Italy – I had never been to Genoa before and neither had most of the worlds sailors I think but this was the new location for the World Cup instead of Hyeres so we all had to get used to this new venue. I flew from Perth with Richo just a few days after I had got home from Auckland and was on the water in my new Laser exactly a week after my last day on the water in Auckland. The venue was known to be notoriously light which was great for me because that was exactly what I wanted to work on. We had a strong 120 boat Laser fleet racing and I was keen to see where I was at. I started the regatta with a 3^rd place then wobbled up and down a bit as the week went on. A few unfortunate things didn’t go my way including a race win that got scratched because the other fleet didn’t complete their race but I got what I wanted out of Genoa and left feeling better than I arrived which was the main thing.

Hyeres, France – This was my 7^th consecutive year racing in Hyeres, a venue that has continuously challenged my racing. I don’t think I had ever posted a top 20 result in Hyeres to date but I came into the event feeling confident and prepared. In stark contrast to Genoa we had too much wind for part of the training leading into the regatta and spent most of the lead into the event sailing in 15 knots plus. The 70 strong fleet started the regatta in some light winds and though and again I started another regatta with a 3^rd place. Day three I had one of my best performances to date in classic 15 knot onshore conditions with 1,1,2 which was awesome. I continued that form onto the first day of finals with a 1,6 to move me to second overall. I had a tougher last day of finals racing with a 4,14, 17 but was still holding onto 3^rd place going into the medal race. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out my way in the medal race and I painstakingly watch a silver medal turn into a 4^th place in a tight medal race. I took some great lessons away from this event though and was keen to use them in the last and biggest event of this trip, the European Championships.

Porto, Portugal – I had never been to Portugal before but I had heard a lot about it and was keen to explore. The city of Porto was vibrant and busy which made it a fun place to visit. Good coffee, great pastries and beautiful architecture were just some of the highlights. The venue also provided some world class sailing with mostly sunny weather and a variety of conditions. The most challenging factor here was the massive Atlantic tides that ripped up and down the coast. The European Champs is second only to the worlds in significance this year so all the who’s who of the Laser world was here to put on a show with a maxed out 165 entries. The event started in very light conditions, not unlike Genoa, and I believe my time there was paying off as I won the first race and backed it up with a 10^th in conditions I’m not known to excel in. The next day was even better in lovely seabreeze conditions and I pulled out another 1^st and a 3^rd to be the overnight leader on the second day of the regatta. The last day of qualifying was light and lumpy but I kept my cool and had a 7^th and 10^th to round out my qualifying and put me in 4^th going into finals racing. Finals didn’t quite go the way I had planned though. I started it with a BFD which compromised the rest of the series and made my starts really hard unfortunately. Even when the conditions where some of my favorite I couldn’t piece together the first beats and I was stuck trying to make up way too much ground to have great scores. My best race of finals was my easiest race with and 8^th place to finish the regatta 13^th overall. Not how I wanted to cap of my European season but I was happy with how I had sailed; it just didn’t turn out this time.

Western Australia – Once I got back home, I had a quick few days in Perth before I drove out to Kalgoorlie to seem my friends Tooley and Karis and meet their new baby Lachy. That wasn’t the only reason I was there though, I was there to do the Goldfields Cyclassic again, a two-day handicap race I had competed in two years ago. The weather was amazing and as always, the riding was tough but fun. I met some new people and caught up with some old friends which was great. I then hit the road again and had a few relaxing days in Esperance before I was in the air again bound for Sydney.

Sydney – The next two weeks were dedicated to preparing for the World Championships in Japan. The turn around from the European Championships was really fast but everyone was in the same boat and this wasn’t the time to be taking it easy. Unlucky for me I caught a nasty virus for the second week of training which meant I really didn’t get a lot of benefit out of training for that second week in Sydney. Luckily, I had shaken the majority of the bug by the time I got on the plan to Japan.

Sakaiminato, Japan – Now I’m here at the venue of the biggest regatta of the season, the 2019 Laser World Championships. I’ve completed four good days on the water and I’m finalizing my preparation for the event. Let’s just see what I can do this time, I’m sure it will be challenging and interesting either way it goes.

It doesn’t seem so long ago I was writing about last summers adventures and now here we are at the beginning of Autumn. Time really does fly when you’re having fun. So, back to where we left off.

After my time at home in WA, which was mostly spent staying in shape, windsurfing and trying to master my new hobby, golf, it was time to get back in the boat for proper. The Aussie summer is a big natural advantage we hold over our friends in the northern hemisphere because we can train and race while most of them are snowed in or have to travel away from home to get time on the water. The last two weeks in November were spent at a training camp in Sydney leading up to the first event of the summer, Sail Sydney. We had a great little fleet including the Kiwis, one of the best British laser sailors, some good dutch sailors and a hot bunch of young Aussies coming up. The regatta started in some very tricky south easterly breezes with our course set up between shark island and the land. I held my own with some great comebacks but struggled with my starting and first beats.

The last two days of the regatta turned it on with great seabreezes and a course area change. I had a few race wins but made a crucial error on the last race of the event which cost me the podium. I finished 4th, same as last year funnily enough. A few days later I got in a car and drove the team trailer down to Melbourne for the next event of the summer. I had a bit of a late night drive trying to get in which made finding my airbnb a bit of an adventure but I eventually found it. I had a nice house for the week with Mitch, Greg and Etienne, a french sailor from New Caledonia. The first race of the event started off pretty breezy but as the day went on it got progressively lighter to the point where we were finishing the second race in a glass off. I had one of my best comebacks in that second race after a bad first beat but sailed through the fleet all the way up to 4th. The next day we only got one race in before a big storm front rolled over but I managed to finish 2rd in that race. The third day was a write off because of no wind so we had three races scheduled early on the last day to make up ground.

This was an interesting day for me, on and off the water. Unfortunately my head wasn’t really in the game and was more stressed about checking out of the airbnb, packing up the boats and getting onto the Spirit of Tasmania that evening. I went from an equal first position with 4 other boats to finishing 5th overall. Disappointing again to miss a good opportunity on the last day of an event. After speedily packing up in the rain Blackers, Ash and I got in our cars with our trailers in tow and made it onto the ferry with a little time to spare. Pheww! I’d never been on the spirit before and it reminded me a lot of the ferries I’d caught from Barcelona to palma. The next morning Blackers and I met up with a local sailor who helped us store our boats on his property just out of Devonport where the nationals were to be held. It was a beautiful morning and made me remember just how pretty Tasmania is. After dropping the boats it was onto the airport and back to Perth.

I had a lovely two weeks in WA, mostly spent in Esperance which was amazing. It was my first christmas at home in 10 years and I loved every minute of it. I had my friends from Perth, Mark and Elisa, come down to stay for a few days which was sick and we even had a BBQ on the deck with Ki and Issi making an appearance. I’m very lucky to have such great friends and family and to be from such a special place like Esperance.

Too soon I was back at the airport and on my way to Tasmania again. I was staying with Blackers for the regatta in a nice apartment near the Mersey river. The weather was quite nice for our event and even though we didn’t race on the first day to a lack of wind the rest of the event went smoothly. The only drawback was the days on the water where especially long with each day averaging about 5 hours on water. I had my moments throughout the event with a few race wins but lacked a little consistency which put me down to third behind Tom and Matt. I had a fun time in Devonport. It’s a cool little town and when I wasn’t sailing I spent my time on the golf course or riding with Indi in the mornings. We found a great cafe that we went to everytime with the best waffles I’d ever had called Laneway.

The day after the regatta I drove with Zoe and Caelin to Hobart via Launceston to begin coaching at the youth nationals. I was filling in for Tristan coaching the NSW State Team, most of which I’d already coached at the Radial Worlds last year. I hadn’t been to hobart since the 2012/13 Laser nationals and it was great to be back. It’s such a beautiful city and reminds me a little of home for some reason. Other than the coaching I had one goal in mind I had to complete, I had to cycle up Mt Wellington, something I didn’t do last time but had always wanted to do. The regatta went quite smoothly and the kids where great to work with as always. Too soon came another big few days of travel. On the last day of the regatta I had to pack up and drive back to Davenport to catch a late night ferry back to Melbourne. Then the following day I drove all the way to sydney before finally catching an early morning flight the next day back to Perth. Getting good at doing all this travel.

This was my last time in WA for a while now. I did some more coaching, went back to Esperance for a little more time with the family then was back on a plane headed for Sydney. This next few months is just sailing now, focusing on the season ahead. I’m excited to see what this year brings, it’s going to be full of challenge but I’m feeling prepared for it. I’ll keep you posted.

/Swifto

Where do I begin? So much has happened since the last post, it seems like a year has gone in a few months. As I sit in this cafe looking back it’s hard to put everything into a simple few lines that makes sense. I guess I’ll do my best and try and not make it sound too boring.

2018 Aarhus Sailing World Championships:
Months of preparation had led to this. Now was time to let go and give everything I had. The first day is usually the most stressful and it was no different this time. The fleet is unsettled and eager, everyone wants a good start and everyone is on edge, especially in the moderate seabreeze conditions we had. I was in blue fleet day one and the only Aussie in that fleet which was kind of nice. I had a tough first race not getting clear very well but had a great second beat to move up to a respectable 13th from the 55-boat fleet. The next race just fell in my lap. I had a simple start a third down from the pin then tacked 5 minutes later and crossed the fleet to be first at the top. I had a good battle with Phillip Buhl and Nick Thompson on the next run but held them off then extended on the second beat to win the race.

After that day the results took a long time to update and the only race they had up was my second race putting me at the top of the leaderboard for some reason. I had a lot of people commenting about it that evening.

The next day the wind shifted to an offshore westerly with massive shifts and gusts. I was yellow fleet so off first. I won the pin race one and managed to round the top mark in the top ten. A solid run kept me in the game but it was a close battle. I avoided a massive hole on the second beat though and went from 11th to 2nd. I was pretty happy with that. The next race was even tougher, rounding the top mark in 19th but a good run and second beat again put in up into 7th. Later that night someone in front of me got disqualified saving me a point and pushing me from 7th to 4th overall. This meant I went into the next day racing in red fleet, the last fleet to start.

We had a stronger westerly day today, very shifty and choppy. I raced hard, hiking harder than I ever have before. I rounded the top second in a close battle with Pavlos and TB. I took the lead briefly on the second beat but couldn’t hold it and finished 3rd. The next race I extended left and rounded the top 1st. After that I never looked back and one the race easily. When I got to shore I checked the score and I was in second overall behind Sam! I couldn’t believe it.

We had a lay day the following day so I had a whole day to sit in second. I didn’t do a lot and spent the day trying not to think about it too much. We had all found a few very nice cafes so Sam and I would meet every morning before racing to have a brew and talk about anything other than sailing. Today was no different and we met with a bit of a crew to have a few coffees. Tomorrow in my mind the regatta started again, gold fleet racing is a different beast and the forecast was looking marginal.

No one teaches you how to lead a regatta, you can only experience it and learn it for yourself. Today was going to be one of those learning experiences. We did three quarters of a race in next to no wind before it got abandoned. I was deep so I couldn’t complain. The next race we did in nearly as light a wind but they finished the race. I had a poor start and sailed near the back the whole race. The next race we had some more breeze and even though I had a bad start I clawed my way up to 15th at the top mark the second time but lost 6 on the last run to finish 21st. A frustrating day and nearly 6 hours on the water.

The next day we woke up to no wind and were postponed for many hours before being sent out late in the afternoon. Again, we did half a race before the wind died and got abandoned, this race I was actually doing ok so I was a bit disappointed it got called. We tried again and I had a horrible start to put me deep. It was a grind trying to make ground and I lost a lot of my hard work on the last reach to the finish losing 6 boats. Ouch!

I was now in 11th place and the event decided to use its lay day to make up the last race. My goal was always top ten and I was so close. I had one of the worst nights of sleep stressing about the outcome of tomorrow. We raced in a light seabreeze and one big shift and a bad start took me out of the game early. I finished 15th overall, a really disappointing and painful way to end my regatta. I didn’t sleep the next two nights thinking about it. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by lots of great friends and family and they helped me keep perspective on what had happened and made sure I didn’t get too depressed about it.

Even if I wanted to dwell on the regatta I couldn’t, two days later I was on the road to Kiel to coach the Radial Youth Worlds. I was excited to coach a Radial Worlds as I hadn’t done one before and I hadn’t coached many of these sailors before. On top of that I had the opportunity to work with another coach, Danny Fuller from Queensland. The two weeks flew by and I learnt a lot from the sailors I worked with and got in touch with myself as a coach again, I’d been out of the game for a while now.

The day after Kiel finished I was jumping on another plane, not for home though but for Trieste, Italy. I landed at midnight and met Paul Gilham of all people to pick me up. I was headed to Koper, Slovenia to coach the Finn Silver Cup (U23 World Championships). Jock had contacted me a month before asking if I could come and coach and I jumped at the opportunity to coach senior athletes at a world title. I got in at 1 am, found my accommodation and crashed before getting up early and finding my coach boat. Straight away I was into a week of coaching a regatta, talk about hitting the ground running.

Slovenia was great! I’d never stayed there before and it really impressed me; sunny, clean and nice people. It wasn’t even that crowded. We had a bit of an adventure in the rib down to a coastal city called Piran where we went for diner then realized we were out of fuel and couldn’t get home. All part of the job.

After the Silver cup finished I was off again and in a rush. I left the night of the regatta on bus trying to get to Zagreb and so begun one of the craziest few days of travel I’ve ever done. To start the bus was late by and hour. I then waited in Trieste for another 90 min for the next bus then finally hit the road at 11pm. From there I had to cross the border out of the Schengen zone when I was well over my visa time. Bit stressful at 2am in the morning getting off the bus and walking across the border to get your passport stamped but I made it through all ok. I arrived in Zagreb at 3am and was walking around a bit trying to find my hotel. Luckily, I made it and had a nice 4-hour sleep. Then I hit the road again headed to the airport. From Zagreb I flew to Dubai, then Dubai to Perth. I had 20 hours in Perth to sleep and repack my bags before I was on the red eye to Melbourne. From there I had the morning flight to Narita, Tokyo to land just in time for Super Typhoon Jebi to hit the coast. I landed ok but the train to Tokyo was very delayed so I didn’t make it to my home until 11pm. What a way to spent 4 days of your life!

Somehow, I made it without getting sick, losing a bag or missing a connection. Once there I was very happy to be back with my Japanese family. Why am I in Japan I hear you asking? I was there to compete in the Olympic Test Event. All 15 of the top 15 from worlds was there as well as 25 of the top 30. It was set to be a tough event and I was well under prepared. Some teams had been out there training for weeks, when I rocked up I went straight into a two-day coaches’ regatta in 20 knots of breeze and big waves. I thought I had no chance but I surprised myself and finished near the front a head of a lot of good sailors. Even though my body was broken from it I had some confidence going into the event.

Not that performing in those conditions meant anything. Come day one of the regatta the wind had completely changed again and we had shifty offshore winds with strong tides. I wanted to redeem myself this event and show that I could perform in a gold fleet equivalent fleet and make up for my poor gold fleet performance in Aarhus. I held my own for the first two days then the wind went very light. We got one race in on day three and it was my best race finishing 4^th. The next day was even lighter and I held in to get a 14^th and moved to 7^th overall. The final day we had three races planned and race one I got 4^th only to learn after finishing that the race was abandoned!!? This messed with my head a bit and the next two races didn’t go so well. Only after we got to shore after a very long day did the first race get reinstated as a mistake by the race committee. This helped me overall but I missed the medal race by 1 point. Once again, I had fallen down at the last hurdle. But this was different. These conditions have always been an Achilles heel of sorts and to finish 11^th in that fleet was a great outcome. To keep things in perspective Pavlos who won the worlds three weeks ago finished 14^th! That’s just how tough Laser racing is these days.

Other than the sailing my host family took me to a baseball game and I even got a few nice surfs in with some left-over typhoon swell pulsing around. I really love Japan and my family there and it was sad for everyone when I had to leave. I can’t lie though I was excited to finally be going home after 4 months on the road. It had been a much longer trip than expected. Now I have two more weeks of coaching before having some down time in this part of the off season. All to soon I’ll be back in Sydney and back to work getting ready for the summer regattas.

Talk soon

/Swifto