Luke Elliott

Right now I sit at the Noges Cafe in Can Pastilla about to have lunch before I go cycling for the fourth consecutive day. The mountains of Mallorca aren’t as steep as Garda but just as challenging. The boat park is mostly empty now except for a few hangers on and the wind is blowing nearly 30 knots. In the last six weeks I’ve done some of the best travelling I’ve ever done and some of the best sailing. The first stop was Auckland.

After training in Sydney for ten days I flew to Auckland, New Zealand for a small but competitive regatta creatively named Sail Auckland. This was my first time in New Zealand and I really didn’t know what to expect of the small island nation. I met with Keno and together we made our way to our Airbnb in Murrays bay, just a 10 minute walk from the yacht club. Sam Meech, a good friend and competitor in the Laser, welcomed us with open arms and showed us some great Kiwi hospitality, driving us around the island to all the good spots and even taking us for a surf trip to the rugged west coast of the island. The regatta was very light which was perfect training for me and I had some great tussles with the locals and internationals alike. I placed 5th overall with Sam taking out the win.

After an action packed seven days in New Zealand I was back in Sydney training with the team, doing the final preparations for Rio. This was a hard block for me, motivation to train was low and my body was beyond exhausted. I was only too happy when it was over and it was time to jump on a plane to a place I never thought I would see. Going to Rio de Janeiro is like taking a step back in time in many ways. Most of the buildings are built in the 1900’s, as well as the streets and infrastructure. The back drop to the city is incredible with Sugarloaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer overlooking Guanabara bay, the CBD and the infamous favelas. My first night in Rio was one of the most interesting. A huge storm rolled through soon after we landed and once we were at our accommodation (the Australian Sailing Teams apartment nicknamed “the hub”) we walked, bare foot, through knee high water and a sea of floating rubbish in the search for dinner. After our failed attempt to find the restaurant we were looking for we ended up settling for Subway, dripping wet and jet lagged to the max.

I spent 13 days in Rio and sailed 9 of them. As expected I got a pretty nasty tummy bug for about 36 hours and spend most of the night on the bathroom floor but other than that I had an excellent time. Tom, Wearny and I were there along with 20 other top nation sailors training and racing everyday. The conditions were amazing and the sailing was super complex with the current shifting as if it was the wind. At the end of the trip we did a four day coaches regatta where I managed to place 6th against some of the best sailors in the world, including wining the final race. The day after the event I was back in the air, rushing to make it to Mallorca in time for the Princess Sofia Regatta.

Amazingly the flight went really well. I thought for sure I would lose my bags or miss a connection as I traveled through Columbia on my way to Europe but some how it all worked out and I arrived in Palma on time for registration. The other difficult part of my late arrival was having no time to test out my new boat. While I was in Rio Sam and Will Phillips, one of Australia’s 49er teams, had collected my boat from Holland and drove the long haul down to Palma with my new boat in tow. Once I arrived I barely had time to sleep, eat, set up my boat and register before the event started so I had no idea how the boat would perform in the mixed conditions Palma always throws up. Needless to say it was a busy two days before the event.

The 152 boat fleet was met with perfect conditions on the first day of racing. 15 knot westerly winds with fun waves and sunshine couldn’t have made for a better day and a pair of third places for me saw that I was fifth after the first day of racing. Can’t complain about that. The first day of finals racing was a bit of a hiccup from me. I didn’t adapt to the conditions or the competitive fleet as quickly as I should have and I didn’t get out of third gear all day. I made sure the next day would be different though. The next 4 races were great. 1, 9, 1, 4 made up the back of my regatta placing me solidly in the medal race and 6th overall. Mathematically I could have finished the regatta in third if things had worked out but that was not the case. After a poor start I worked my way into second place in the medal race behind the great Robert Scheidt but on the final run the wind abandoned me and I had to watch five boats pass me in the last 20 metres of the run. Tough to take but it is what it is. 6th place is one of my best results to date and I plan to keep building on my performance as I prepare for World Cup Hyeres at the end of the month.

Now I’ve just finished my cafe con leche and bocadillo and have to go cycling so until next time.

/Swifto

There seems to be a lot of anticipation in the air at the moment. Not just for the new adventures about to begin (Sail Auckland next week and Rio next month) but also for team contracts and funding. Any day now everyone will (or will not) receive an email containing their new contracts for the 2016 season outlining out funding and level within the squad. It’s a stressful time as the entire year can be based on that email and know one other than the selectors really know whats coming. All going well though I’ll be in the squad again and racing overseas this season. Fingers crossed.

Since leaving Esperance I’ve spent a week in Perth with my WA coach Arthur. He’s currently coaching the Japanese Radial representative and I was lucky enough to get to join in for the week of training. I followed that up with the Royal Perth Mini Series, a weekend regatta sailed on the river. I had a lot of fun and managed to win the regatta pretty handily. The next day I flew out to Sydney to do three days of training that has just been back up by a “mega” camp over the last five days. We had all the team guys plus some of the countries most promising youth come together and race which was really valuable. I’m exhausted now but I felt I needed that hard week to get me back up to pace for New Zealand next week. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

/Swifto

Training didn’t stop after Sail Sydney was done, it just changed. Since Mark Spearmen and I didn’t have much to do we went into lifting mode and spent almost every day in the gym then capped it off with a tough rowing set on Christmas morning 🙂 Boxing day was spent watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race from North Head before we drove up to Belmont to get ready for the Australian Laser Nationals.

Lake Macquarie proved to be a very tricky venue with flat water and light winds for the majority of the regatta. I was happy to find I got better as the regatta progressed as I kept myself process driven, really paying attention to my downwinds, my biggest weakness in light air. I started to feel really good by the end, similar to how I felt coming off the back of my European trip earlier in the year, and that more than anything gave me some confidence. I finished up 3rd overall, topping off a consistent summer of sailing. No time to relax though, the very next day I was on Botany Bay coaching the WA Optimist Team at their National Championships. With 21 sailors split between Alex, Chris and myself, we had the massive task of trying to look after everyone, all while we faced some of the wettest conditions Sydney had ever seen in January. Luckily the sun came out towards the end of the week and everyone could walk away feeling happy with the event.

Time to relax you say? Nope. Straight onto the the Australian Youth Nationals for me, coaching the WA 4.7 Team. It was an action packed regatta with plenty of spills and thrills for my team but the group did really well in the end and I’m really happy with how everyone conducted themselves throughout the regatta. Time to go home now you say? Yep, let’s jump in a car and drive 48 hours straight. Chris and I teamed up to smash out the country wide drive and went through two nights to arrive in Perth, my first time since the beginning of October. Now I’m finally back home in Esperance for a brief stint before I head back to Sydney.

/Swifto

Eight weeks of consecutive training changes the way you look at things. Your sport. Why you do it. Why you love it. Why you hate it. It can be a soul numbing experience to say the least. Waking up and knowing in some way or form your day will be based around improving at sailing. I’m happy to say I’ve come out the other side mostly unscathed and feeling in incredible shape. The summer has begun and I’m two regattas deep. Here’s the wrap up before the new year.

Sail Melbourne: This was now my fourth Sail Melbourne and everyones first at the new venue of St Kilda. The location change made the event really accessible to the public which added a really nice vibe to the regatta. To cap it off we had some glamour weather which is quite a rarity for Melbourne. I was fortunate enough to stay with Adrian and Kate again, a lovely couple who have hosted me for the last two years now.

The first day of the event was great, medium to strong winds and nice waves helped me post a 1st and a 2nd to take the event lead. Day two was a bit more difficult with some lighter winds and harder to read conditions. I placed 11th in the first race and 2nd in the second race but was later scored BFD for being over the start line which was quite disappointing. We had a day of waiting around as it was just too windy to go sailing so I ended up hanging out with everyone at the club. The final day consisted of three races in some very random conditions. I placed 17th in the first race followed by a 5th and an 8th. The BDF was really hurting me now seeing as I couldn’t drop my big 17th score. It was all coming down to the medal race now with only 13 points separating 10th and 2nd overall. Collin Cheng from Singapore had a handy lead over 2nd and was going to be hard to beat. I was 9th going into the medal race but after placing 4th in the race I moved up to 6th overall to finish off the event.

I was disappointed with the result and how it played out especially since I felt like I was sailing more than well enough to win. It just felt like something was missing. No time to dwell on it though as the next day I was driving with coach Ash up to Sydney to start preparing for my next event.

Sail Sydney: A smaller event than Sail Melbourne but still fun to do. There’s much worse things to do with your time than spend three days on a buzzing Sydney harbor in sunny conditions. The competition was much the same as in Melbourne as well which meant I could have a rematch with a victorious Collin. The first day was really tight racing in light winds but I was happy to stay consistent with a 5th, 2nd and 6th. Day two saw some more wind but a few spins early in the first race sent me back to 11th for the first race. A 1st and 2nd after that lifted my spirits a bit. On the final day we had four races on a hectic Saturday morning. The wind was light and the current was strong. A 3rd was followed by an 11th after rounding second at the bottom mark. Another 3rd was backed up with a 9th to finish off the event and see me 3rd overall. Giovanni from Italy sailed a great regatta to take the win with Collin piping me on the last race.

I still feel my game is the best it’s been but I’m not trusting my intuition enough which is making my decisions over complicated. I’ve got some off time now which will be great before the Nationals kicks off after Christmas. Talk soon.

/Swifto

 

Yep that about sums up the last few weeks. Non stop sailing, cycling and gym work. It’s one of my favorite parts of the sport but it’s also the hardest. It’s easy to feel like you’re not improving fast enough or not winning enough in training so you get frustrated but that’s all part of the learning. Dealing with emotions is half of what I do. I just got back from two weeks up in Queensland. One in Brisbane where I stayed with my coach Ash, and the other in Mooloobar where I stayed with Mitch. It was really fun to sail somewhere different and get to meet some new people. Now it’s back to the grind down in Sydney with Tom and Wearny who finished 1st and 3rd respectively at the World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi. It’s good to know you’re training with the best.

After my brief stay in Esperance it was time to get back to Perth and get training again. I hadn’t sailed a boat for nearly four weeks so it was time to hit it. The first thing I took advantage of was the amazing new WAIS (Western Australian Institute of Sport) facility. They gym was the best I have ever been to and it was great to see my physiologist Greg again and get stuck into one of his challenging programs. It was also a time for me to catch up with the rest of the WAIS team along with my coaches Arthur and Belinda who I hadn’t seen for some time. In all everyone was really happy with my progress over the season and is looking forward to seeing how I develop further.

September wasn’t just a pure training block though. It was also a time to see family members and friends I hadn’t seen for months and to spend some time reconnecting with the people I can’t see due to the life I live. Despite it’s perks the road to the games can be a lonely one. To finish off the month I got the offer to coach Westsail again. It was great to go back to my grass roots and see how youth sailing in WA is shaping up. I love coaching that week so much, especially since I did it as a youth sailor myself and remember how great it was.

I flew out just two days later to arrive in Sydney to begin my training again. The sailing has been great and I’m in a place where I’m really enjoying my sport. Next week I’m going up to Queensland for two weeks to train in some new waters and work a bit more with my new coach Ash Brunning. Exciting times ahead.

/Swifto

After my fall from grace at the European Championships the last thing I wanted to think about was sailing. The weather in Denmark matched my mood and it did’t stop raining for two days straight. I drove away from my bungalow without any plans and no one to tell me where to go. I was cut free and drifting. Eventually I found myself staying in a fancy B&B in the Dutch countryside, about an hours drive from Amsterdam. I spent my time playing the tourist and explored a city I had flown through dozens of times but never actually explored. Having a bike of my own to ride on made the experience all the better although my carbon racing machine stood out in the sea of basket clad bicycle goers. After my sojourn in Holland I made the short drive up to Medemblik to begin the final leg of my journey.

For my second year running I had been hired to coach the 4.7 youth team but with a radically different team this time around. I only had two athletes that were the same as 2014 so I had to hit the ground running to make up lost time with the sailors and get to know everyone as quickly as possible. The team bonded really well and I’m sure everyone made lasting friendships over the two weeks we were together. The weather was mostly kind to us even if the wind was fickle. On the final night of the event I went to diner with all the parents of the sailors and we had a great time swapping stories about the event and how well it went. Everyone was heading home the next day and I must admit I felt jealous of those who could hop on a plane and leave immediately without any attachments to Europe. Things are not so simple for me with a van and the responsibilities it comes with. The final days of a trip this long can really drag. In all I’ve been overseas for 157 days and 191 days away from Western Australia. Time stands still…

Journeys like this are always full of surprises, even when they’re nearly over. On my way back to Hanover, just three minutes away from Karl’s house I get pulled over by the police. They’ve noticed my trailer isn’t registered in Germany and have a hard time trying to figure out what to do about it. Eventually I get a 10 Euro spot fine but I’m left with a feeling that this could have gone much worse. Then I get the worst piece of news for the entire trip. My van isn’t going to pass the pits and the expenses to repair it are too great. It’s time I say good bye to the green machine. After three years of faithful service and 14 different countries explored I have to part ways with the old girl.

Sad that the van is gone but also liberated from its responsibility I catch the train to Amsterdam and finally make it to Perth for the first time in seven months. After two I’m on another plane to my final destination, my home town of Esperance, and the first time I’ve been here since Christmas. It’s great to come home and feel like I can finally relax. I sleep deeply every night. This reminds me of a passage I read in a book on my travels that resonated with me and I feel this is the right time to share it.

               “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs,                         and returns home to find it”

/Swifto

Sorry for the long delay in posts. I’m going to make a resolution to be more frequent with my updates. I’ve done quite a bit since my last post so I’m going to try and do my best to abbreviate all of this.

ISAF World Cup Weymouth: The second European world cup of the season and another chance to race the very best in the world. This was my first time in Weymouth and you could still feel the presents of the 2012 Olympics looming over the place. I was staying in a three story apartment with Mitch, Palky and Jez so it was going to be a good time. The weather really turned it on for us with hot sun and gentle wind making the sailing really enjoyable. That changed pretty quickly come day one of racing.

Unfortunately the event didn’t go my way. The execution was good and I had some great starts but I couldn’t find my way up the first beats very well and found myself on the wrong side too many times. We had two days of very tricky racing followed by a day of no sailing due to lack of wind. On the final day of racing we had three races scheduled to try and make up for lost time and a traditional SW breeze was blowing, the first time for the event. I had my best day yet finishing off the regatta with a 7th place finish  to move up to 21st overall. The next day we watched on as Wearny battled it out to try and win the regatta only to see him fall just one point short of the regatta win. It was great to watch though and everyone was smiles still as he had achieved his first Olympic nomination. That evening I hit the road in what was about to become a hectic 48 hours.

Iceland & Toronto: After dropping my van off in Hanover with Karl I caught the first morning train at 5 am  to get to Amsterdam by 11 am to get my flight at 1 pm to arrive in Iceland by 4 pm. Busy day but once Palky and Mitch picked me up it was all good. We had a sweet apartment in Keflavik, a town about 40 minutes away from the capital, Reykjavik. We spent two days in Iceland exploring the sights and natural wonders of the small island nation. We swam in the Blue Lagoon, looked at glaciers, walked behind waterfalls and had great time in general. It truelove was like nowhere I had been before. All too soon it was time to leave, this time headed to Toronto. When we arrived we were greeted with bright sun and a warm day, very different to the cold and grey of Iceland. We checked into our hostel, surprised by the size of the city, and went out to eat dinner on top of the CN tower, the highest tower restaurant in the world. It was a revolving restaurant and we got to watch the city move by as we ate our meal. I had never experienced anything like it. Breakfast in the Laundromat Cafe in Reykjavik to dinner in the CN tower in Toronto. What a day.

The World Championships:  The next day we caught the 3 hour bus into Kingston, the lakeside university town where the 2015 Laser World Championships was to be held. The venue was amazing, I had rented out a small apartment for myself to live in, the sailing was good and it was nice to be racing in an English speaking country that wasn’t England for a change. I had never been to any of the Americas before so this was all a new experience for me. The training had gone great pre regatta and I felt like I had all the ingredients to perform well.

In the very first race of the worlds I sailed well to place 3rd but couldn’t quite back it up, having to settle for a 19th. Fun fact, I have placed 3rd in a race on the first day of every Open Worlds I have done, so that makes three years running now. After that the party ended. Day two was a nightmare with patchy 3 -5 knots of wind playing havoc with the fleet. It was doing my head in and I had two massive scores. My second race of the day took over 90 minutes to complete. We didn’t race the next day due to lack of wind followed by the same tricky conditions on the fourth day of racing. It was touch and go whether I was going to make Gold fleet but I pulled my ass out of the fire with a 5th in the last race of qualifying to place 45th going into finals racing. So far I have made Gold fleet at every Open Worlds I have entered but that was the closest I have ever come to missing out. Talk about stressful.

Now just remained the job of trying to move up the score board. Easier said than done I’m afraid. When guys like Robert Schiedt are just in front of you, you know the racing must be tough. The wind stayed much the same as it was though qualifying. Light, stable, patchy and impossible to pick. I had great starts but that didn’t mean much when you went the wrong way. To give you an example on the first day of finals racing you had to go left in the first race, right on the second race and left in the third race if you wanted to be near the front at the top mark. I went right, then left then right. The venue really was making life hard for me but I tried to keep a good attitude. In the end I placed 41st out of the 158 strong fleet. Not at all what I was after and the event really highlighted my weakness in that type of breeze. Time to forget about that though, it was time for a holiday. I was going to New York.

NY: I have never been to a city that can compare to New York but I have to say it was probably one of the coolest places I have ever been. The city was buzzing and we (Palky, Mitch and myself) did so much stuff in such a short space of time that I feel like I’m still processing what happened there. We had rented a small apartment for the week and spent every waking hour exploring what the city had to offer. We all felt by the end of it we needed a holiday from our holiday. Then I had to say goodbye to the boys as our pack was splitting up. Mitch was heading home, Palky onto DC and myself back to Europe to compete in the European Championships. It was starting to feel like the trip that never ended.

The Euros: Another new country ticked off the list, this time Denmark. I was staying in a small bungalow with Mark Spearman, my friend and training partner from WA who had come over for the regatta. I had had zero preparation for the event and my first day of sailing was the first day of the regatta. Somehow after the qualifying series I found myself in 6th place with one of the lowest score cards of the event. That was were it all started going wrong though and I had a nightmare finals series, seeing myself fall to 31st overall. I know why and I will never make that mistake again. I still found it a valuable event to have done and I look forward to correcting the issues that I have. I have more confidence than ever I just need make some adjustments.

What now? Now we have caught up to the present. I’m in a small B&B situated in the outskirts of The Hague enjoying some downtime and doing some things away from sailing. All too soon I’ll be in Medemblik helping the younger generation to perform at the 4.7 World Championships before returning back to WA for the first time in 7 months. Looking forward to it.

/Swifto

 

The last time we talked I had just arrived in Italy to compete in the Italian Olympic week as well as complete a big fitness block. The racing is always interesting in Garda and provides some local knowledge tricks that you need to be aware of. We had over 100 boats racing in the event so it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. The first two days the lake really turned it on for us with beautiful blue skies and strong Oras (the name for the southerly lake wind). I had some great results, including two race wins. This was the first time I had ever won a race in Europe so I was very happy. Unfortunately the qualifying wasn’t all sunshine as I got a BFD (black flag disqualification) on the final race of qualifying when I placed third in the race. The next day we were left without any wind so I went for a light cycle before we completed three races on the last day. The gold fleet was made up of the top 30 in the event and it was getting tight at the top. I had a good first race but I couldn’t back it up and had two poor scores. This saw me drop out of top ten contention to finish the event 19^th overall. I was pretty disappointed with the way the event worked out but I put the frustration to good use and took it out cycling up the surrounding mountains.

The next few weeks were great. I got to do all of my favourite things and all in good company. I spent many hours sailing, cycling and windsurfing on the lake but all too soon it was time to leave but not before one more surprise. On my last evening in Italy Ryan, Jeremy and I were invited around to dinner at Robert Scheidt’s house with his wife and children. For those who don’t know Robert is the greatest Laser sailor to have lived with 9 Laser world titles and a medal from every Olympics he has sailed in. Yep, all five of them. It was a memorable experience and I was grateful to get to know him a little bit.

The next day I began the 1200 km journey to Medemblik, Holland for the next event, the Delta Lloyd Regatta. After 19 straight hours of driving we arrived in the middle of the night at our destination. Safe to say I had some time off after that journey and did my best to be fresh for the regatta starting in a few days. The regatta had 150 entries and a lot of people who were trying to gain a spot for the World Cup in Weymouth. I had a solid qualifying series, placing myself 18^th after the first four races. I then had a very good finals series, winning the first race of gold fleet and backing it up with a 6^th, 10^th and a 15^th. Finally, for the first time I got myself into a European medal race! I was super happy and to put the cherry on top I placed second in the tricky Medal race, bumping me up to 7^th overall.

The next day I was on the road again, this time with England in sight and another World Cup. Hopefully this one can go a little better than the last 😉

/Swifto

Cycle camp Palma was a success. After some great riding and awesome weather the team geared up and got on the 10 pm ferry to Barcelona to start the next leg of our journey. The ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyeres is normally a tough event. Many consider it the Wimbledon of the sailing tour but this year is special. Not only is it a pre-Olympic year, not only does the event count as Australia’s first qualification for the games, but this year only the top 40 Laser sailors in the world get to compete.

The training leading into the event was intense and focused. Everyone feels the pressure of events such as these and as the regatta got closer, so the team separated into their own space.

Day 1: Not the start to the event I wanted. After a poorly timed bail out at the start and being pushed to the fringes of the beat I had a tough time gaining any ground on the fleet. Race two saw an excellent mid line start and good speed but some fantastically terrible decisions equaled that out pretty quickly and brought me to the back. I was placed 38th after the first day. At least I couldn’t go back much further.

Day 2: Bad starts make bad races. This statement isn’t always true but it was this time. In medium airs with small wind shifts and the top 40 one design racers in the world to come up against I had a hard time keeping my results steady. I did manage a 15th in the final race of the day but it wasn’t enough to save me. I was placed 33rd by the end of the day.

Day 3: Flat water and light air. Tough conditions to differentiate yourself in at the best of times but this was something different. As my coach Ash said “this is definitely a school of hard knocks”. A strategy that went wrong gave me a big score in the first race. The second race was different though. A breakthrough of sorts. I had an amazing start and this somehow put me at the front of the fleet. It was great while it lasted but in a fleet like this it doesn’t take much to be back in the bunch and unfortunately that happened to me. However this race did change things for me. It gave me the belief that I can be at the front, even among the best in the world and it gave me confidence leading into the final day. I was placed 32nd.

Day 4: Much better starts and some confidence goes a long way. I felt I was in the game and even when things didn’t go so well I was making the most of each situation. I even had the thrill of getting a start – first beat combo together, allowing me to round the top mark in a close third. I placed 9th in the race but if a few other things had gone my way I would have won. I finished the regatta 26th overall, the best I had been all week and even though I didn’t get what I wanted to achieve, I was happy with the way I handled the situation and improved as the event went on. A year ago I wouldn’t have come close to a performance like that and it shows I’ve become more mature in my thinking and the way I conduct myself.

Now I’m back in my favourite place in the world, Lake Garda, Italy. It”s probably the most famous sailing location in the world and also happens to be the best training ground in the world. In the 4 days I’ve been here I’ve cycled 150 km, done 2 sessions in the gym and done 2 sick windsurfing sessions. Life doesn’t get much better.

/Swifto