British Sailing Team Blog: Paul Goodison
26 April 2012
After a couple of days rest it was straight back out on the water. It has been good to get out on the Olympic waters and now with less than 100 days to go it's getting very exciting. At times it has still been pretty tough particularly cold and very windy so it's been tiring and the days seem to disappear so quickly.
Today has been the first day off for a while. After swapping over cars this morning for a shinny new Volvo with some sweet branding (Union Jack on the bonnet) I managed to get out windsurfing this afternoon with a bunch of other sailors. It was so much fun to get out there with friends and such nice weather, well sunny and windy! Back out in the Laser tomorrow then a big pack up as the van heads out to Germany.
Exciting times
16 February 2012
After a busy week at home unloading containers and having fitness tests and planning meetings it was nice to escape the cold.
I have just been in Tenerife training with a good group of guys at a location near the south airport. The wind has been great with strong thermally enhanced breezes most days creating some physicaly challenging conditions. It's been a good week working on a few technique changes with Nick and Australia's finest coach for the trip, Arthur.
Tenerife has some pretty cool landscapes. One day we hired a car and headed up to see the volcano. After getting the cable car up we walked to the crater. Leaving the cable car at over 3000m altitude the walk was quite breathtaking. We all felt a little light headed, dizzy and not to mention short of breath as we wondered passed people on the way up. The smell was a little unpleasant, I think it was mainly sulphur but the views were really impressive looking down on the lava fields and the tops of clouds. At parts the rock was really hot as steam seeped through cracks. This was nice as it was -6 up at the top at over 3700m altitude, the highest point in Spain.
During the trip we played a bit of tennis, we definitely need to play a bit more as we were pretty poor. Arthur's brother may have coached Boric Becker but the skills had not rubbed off too much! Cycling was also pretty cool although it was pretty much up or down and not much inbetween.
It's off to london for a few days of Olympic team building. The highlight being a visit to the velodrome on Friday night to see the track cycling.
31 January 2012
It has been a complete culture shock since getting home from Miami on Monday.
What with the Worlds in Perth, holiday in Bali and then Key West Week followed by the Miami Regatta, I have only spent one night in my house in Weymouth since 17 November and it was absolutely freezing when we got back! The heating was been on full blast from the minute we walked through the door but it took absolutely ages for it to feel warm!
We definitely seemed to have timed it badly coming back from super warm Florida, where there was a perfect 8-15 knots of sailing breeze every day, just as the weather has turned really cold. But it is ok because I'm off to Tenerife for a week's training with the Spanish Laser boys next Thursday (9 February), so I've not got to freeze for too long!
Winning the Miami Regatta was a great start to the Olympic year for me. Although the Worlds were always intended to be a process regatta, to have been in second all week and then mess it up on the last day to finish fifth was very frustrating.
I wasn't originally going to do Miami but I was in Florida for Key West Week, and there were a few things we had identified to work on after the Worlds that heading up to the Miami Regatta from Key West ended up making sense. I only had a few hours' training before the event started and felt a bit rusty because I hadn't been in a Laser since the Worlds but it felt really good to be back in the boat again.
Although there were specific things I was focussing on during the regatta, especially around gaining increased consistency and confidence in some of my starts, it was important that I stamped my authority back down in the Laser and actually won an event. I sailed really well in qualifying and then it was about consolidating the lead after that. The Brazilian, Bruno Fontes, came back strongly however, and we ended up tied on points going into the medal race so it was very pleasing to gain control of the medal race early on and build from there.
Key West Week proved to be a really worthwhile event for heaps of reasons. Not only did we win the Farr 400 class but with it being a new boat to me and the rest of the guys, it was super nice to have a new challenge while still practice the tactical elements out of a Laser environment. I only have three more Laser events on the calendar before the Olympics - Palma, the Worlds and Sail for Gold - and as the Olympics gets closer so the events become less and less about processes and more about results so it was great to get some good race practice in.
After I get back from Tenerife, the 2012 selected British team sailors are going to the Olympic Park Velodrome in London for two days for the Olympic Cycling Test Event, which will be pretty cool. I've not seen any of the other Olympic venues outside of Weymouth yet, and I know a few of the cyclists from having won gold at Beijing 2008, so it will be really interesting to see them race and just being there will be pretty inspiration and exciting.
Tomorrow I will be unloading the container from Perth, which Colin Murray is joining me for. He assures me he will be helping out while interviewing! I'm having a fitness test and a few sports science meetings.
After the gym this morning a new Orange mountain bike arrived. A super cool prototype that has been loaned to me, I had a fun ride this afternoon and the wind, mud and rain didn't stop me from grinning most of the ride. I may need to order some warmer cycling kit though!
2012 here we come.
Happy new year! I hope that you have all had time to enjoy the festive period.
After the last few months its quite a shock to return to the cold but nice to spend a night in my own bed!
The training in Perth was good and the focus around technique change seemed to have brought some positive changes and I feel I have made progress here. The Worlds was not a key event but after sitting in second all week I was very frustrated to slip out of the medals on the last day of finals after a poor performance with my mind else where, mainly on planning for the games rather than the job in hand.
Going in to the medal race there was still a good chance of Silver with the points quite tight. After a good start at the starboard end I sailed towards the wall packed with spectators. After bouncing around off the wall tacking and ducking in the disrupted water, the boats that had tacked and ducked early headed right to make big gains. After rounding towards the back I pulled back through to finish 5th which was only good enough for 5th overall a bit of a disappointment.
After the Worlds in Perth I headed to Bali with friends for a surfing trip over Christmas on the way home. It was a great away to chill and rest up ready for the hard miles ahead.
It has been quite a year to look back on with several highs and a few lows. The main aim of the year was to secure selection for the 2012 Olympics which was going to be a tough job. Medaling in the Olympic venue at Sail for Gold and then the Test Event was enough to secure selection, and a step towards 2012. The other highlights include winning at the Princess sofia regatta and medaling in Miami.
I am super excited about 2012 and with the opportunity to work with a new coach over the next few months I feel super motivated with the Olympics closer than you realise There is still plenty of work to do but with the fresh ideas of a new coach and the help of one of the best training partners in the world in Nick Thompson I feel my program will be good enough to deliver in August.
I have had to make a few changes to my program. I am pretty disappointed that I am not heading to the sun and gorgeous sailing conditions of the Dominican Republic tomorrow, instead I fly to the Alps for boot camp on cross country skis! not the nicest way to start the new year but its what is needed and Im sure some bits will be fun.
Thanks to everybody at PHB for your ongoing support and I hope you can share the enjoy the journey to 2012 with me.
21 November 2011
Australia here we are!
Its been a long trip but quite an awesome day for my first day in oz. After getting to Perth at 3am I managed a bit of sleep before being wide awake....... The only thing to do was head down the club to sort my boat out. After finding all the kit and a spot of lunch it was off out sailing. The Freemantle doctor was in with wind up to 25 knots and a steep chop. The sailing was great although I did capsize! I was pretty quick to get back in the boat after all the chat of sharks in the area. I came in pretty tired, a touch jet lagged but after hearing the lads were off to Perth to watch the Kings of Leon I thought it would be a great way to stay awake listening to one of my favourite bands. We headed in to Perth for an amazing open air gig. Its days like today when you realise how lucky you are!
I am really looking forward to the three weeks of training in warmer climates with a good training group prior to the Worlds. I'm sure a lot of guys will be really fired up as the Worlds is a key part to the there selection for the games, so it will be good to train against guys that are a little heavier and really optimising for the Perth conditions. It will be fascinating to observe how they perform under huge pressures.
The goal is still to do well in Perth but having already been selected for London 2012, I have to look at the big picture and use the event as a chance to test some of the techniques I've been working on in pressurised race situations, to see how automatic they have become.
I've been working really hard in the gym over the past month building up my strength, but by doing that I've had to compromise some of the cycling that is usually such a big part of my programme. I'm hoping we will start seeing the benefits of that strength work on the water in Perth and it will be interesting to see how the decreased level of bike work translates into a seven-day regatta.
That's the beauty of being selected early. You are able to periodise your training into blocks, whereby you can concentrate on improvements in certain areas for specified periods of time before bringing everything together to hopefully peak when it matters most.
I've had plenty of encouragement on how my campaign is progressing over the past fortnight, not least when my kit failed to turn up on time to a training camp in Tenerife and I managed to still do ok using branches retrieved from a nearby tree as sail battens! I managed to borrow hiking shorts, boots, rudder and tiller and the only thing missing was sail battens so we went and got some twigs and job was a goodun! I'm not sure if it's worrying or not that they didn't seem to make much difference to how quickly I sailed!
By day two my kit had arrived so normal service was resumed and I enjoyed a great five days sailing with guys from all over the world in a group invited by the Spaniard Javier Hernández. It is always good to check in with other international sailors. It was a great venue with a couple of days of strong breeze and a bit more lighter, fickle stuff and I was encouraged by how I fared across the range. I definitely want to go back and train there in January.
I headed straight to Tenerife from the start of the Volvo Ocean Race, which was just incredible. Although I went to the stopover in Portsmouth last time, I've never been to the start and I just couldn't get over how professionally everything was set up and run, and how it was all so much bigger than I expected. The biggest thing that struck me was all the teams had these massive Formula 1 style tents and trailers, very impressive.
The Volvo Ocean Race is something I've always said I fancied doing for about 24-48 surreal hours before I quickly change my mind and talk myself out of it! But chatting to some of the guys who were doing the race, the amazing challenge of it all, and how revved up they all were before setting off I think it's definitely something I want to do in the future now. Well until I do another two days' offshore sailing and convince myself otherwise again!
24 October 2011
I have been based in Weymouth for the last few weeks getting stuck in to the training. The weather has been surprisingly warm and the training has been good. It was nice to have some foreign visitors over to freshen the training up and a brief trip to Hayling Island for a Qualifier. On the eve of the Qualifier I attended the BOA Gold ball in London for an amazing event including acts from Tom Jones and Tinchie Strider that in the end raised £700,000 for the BOA. Unfortunately this left me with a late night and an early train down to Hayling. Nck and I had some close racing in some glamour conditions 15 knots and large waves, I eventually went on to win, winning both races on Sunday.
I have been involved with a few other cool things including a filming day with Sperry Topsider and the launch of the Volvo Sailing App. The new App is pretty cool, check it out by searching for Volvo Sailing in the App store. Its Cool and its free.....
Today has been the annual World Class day for all sailors in the RYA Squad, lots of info but quite draining. I woke myself up after with a quick ride to the gym on my new Orange bike, the cold air definitely did the trick before nailing my legs in the gym. I hope they still work for racing tomorrow. As they say no pain no gain!
August 2011
After a tough week of racing in the bay, it all came down to the medal race. With all three medals still up for grabs it was everything to gain nothing to loose. I had a few points to make up but, was determined to give it my best shot. After an early lead up the first beat a few boats came round the top mark in front. After a solid run I took the lead up the second beat and, went on to win the race. The drama was unfolding behind as Tom (AUS) made a good come back to cross the line just in front of Rutger (NED). Unfortunately this left me with Bronze. A little bit disappointed but I guess I couldn't have done much more. With plenty of things to work on over the next 12 months it is time for a brief break before knuckling down to get where I need to be in 2012...
I will be heading east for the premiere West Mersea Race week for a few days and then back to Weymouth for Thursday Evening at the RS games to help raise money for Cancer Research...
1 June 2011
It's been great to be home for some good training out on the Olympic courses.
Each week we have had 3 days of organised racing out in Weymouth bay with some special sailing conditions. Each day has produced solid breezes meaning hiking conditions and some great racing. It was a nice change yesterday to sail in some lighter conditions and it didn't seem to take long to adapt to the change which was good. Today was a bit of a blow out as we opted for a bit of RC laser racing in the little bay off the house, nice to have an easy day before back in to it tomorrow.
With just over a week to go until Sail for Gold preparations are going well. After the weekend training will start to ease a little as the regatta approaches. I feel good albeit a little tired and the sailing has been going really well so looking forward to getting started.
9 May 2011
After the disappointment of Hyeres with things not quite falling in to place and may be trying to force it to happen, its been nice to have a week at home to reflect and recover from the last few months.
Its been good to put in some quality gym training, having more time to recover not sailing helps to push things forward and with the cycling racing starting on Thursday night I have been out training with the boys which is always fun.
Weymouth is starting to fill up with foreign sailors again, as I drove to the store last week to collect my boat about 8 or 9 foreign trailers where heading the other way. Training starts again tomorrow, getting back in to a routine training from home is going be great especially as there will be several foreign teams to train with keeping it fresh each week.
August 2011
After a tough week of racing in the bay, it all came down to the medal race. With all three medals still up for grabs it was everything to gain nothing to loose. I had a few points to make up but, was determined to give it my best shot. After an early lead up the first beat a few boats came round the top mark in front. After a solid run I took the lead up the second beat and, went on to win the race. The drama was unfolding behind as Tom (AUS) made a good come back to cross the line just in front of Rutger (NED). Unfortunately this left me with Bronze. A little bit disappointed but I guess I couldn't have done much more. With plenty of things to work on over the next 12 months it is time for a brief break before knuckling down to get where I need to be in 2012...
I will be heading east for the premiere West Mersea Race week for a few days and then back to Weymouth for Thursday Evening at the RS games to help raise money for Cancer Research...
1 June 2011
It's been great to be home for some good training out on the Olympic courses.
Each week we have had 3 days of organised racing out in Weymouth bay with some special sailing conditions. Each day has produced solid breezes meaning hiking conditions and some great racing. It was a nice change yesterday to sail in some lighter conditions and it didn't seem to take long to adapt to the change which was good. Today was a bit of a blow out as we opted for a bit of RC laser racing in the little bay off the house, nice to have an easy day before back in to it tomorrow.
With just over a week to go until Sail for Gold preparations are going well. After the weekend training will start to ease a little as the regatta approaches. I feel good albeit a little tired and the sailing has been going really well so looking forward to getting started.
9 May 2011
After the disappointment of Hyeres with things not quite falling in to place and may be trying to force it to happen, its been nice to have a week at home to reflect and recover from the last few months.
Its been good to put in some quality gym training, having more time to recover not sailing helps to push things forward and with the cycling racing starting on Thursday night I have been out training with the boys which is always fun.
Weymouth is starting to fill up with foreign sailors again, as I drove to the store last week to collect my boat about 8 or 9 foreign trailers where heading the other way. Training starts again tomorrow, getting back in to a routine training from home is going be great especially as there will be several foreign teams to train with keeping it fresh each week.
I was a little disappointed by the decision of ISAF last week on the classes for the 2016 lympic games. I think the woman's skiff has been long over due but dropping the keel boat (star) I think is a poor decision with so much talent in the class. I do feel that the boats are in need of an update, the skiffs are great to watch but why can't more of the classes be? With the multi-hulls back in it will be interesting to see what boat is selected and if they go down the wing mast path. But for me I really feel that a foiling class should be in there, they are fast and good to watch...
11 April 2011
It's been a good week for sailing in Palma with a successful regatta.
The week started with some really strong off shore shifty winds, peaking at over 30 knots. As the week progressed the sea breeze became more dominant. On day 2 and 3 we had a race in the morning in a 16 knot decreasing offshore breeze and then a race in 10- 12 knot sea breeze in the afternoon. Gold fleet racing was dominated by unusually shifty sea breeze conditions.
In the strong winds on day one I lead the first race to just miss out on the final beat to take 2nd, after a mistake at the start of race two I had a massive comeback from the late 20s to 7th
On day 2 and 3 the results settled with a string of 1st despite a bit of a back injury. Physio flash did a great job of piecing me back together each day.
Tom Slingsby was also putting a good set of results together as we seemed to swap yellow and blue jerseys each day.
After the gold fleet racing was complete only 2 points separated the top 3, guaranteed a medal it was all down to the medal race to determine the colour.
The sea breeze developed for some nice conditions on the final day.
I watched the radials finish their race giving me a clear plan of what I wanted to do. After a good start I lead at the top mark with a good few boats between me and the other medal contenders. After a safe run I split on the second beat from NZL to loosely cover the guys I needed to. I was second around the top and with a comfortable lead it was wrapped up, for a relaxing final run.
Its great to have performed well under the pressure of such a tight medal race and come out on top.
I'm pretty happy with where I'm at with my sailing right now as I head back to Weymouth to fix my body and get ready for Hyere.
5 April 2011
After the disappointment of no racing last weekend in Plymouth it was back out to Palma on Wednesday. It's been a busy few days, with a mixture of meetings, media requirements and sailing.
Team GBR are here in numbers, taking over most of the dinner hall in the hotel we are staying, its nice to have the other classes around.
On Thursday I was on the water doing some filming for one of the team sponsors, Friday some filming for Meridian. This was quite a laugh; I went out cycling with Stu and Giles, a taxi chased after us with a cameraman hanging out of the winder. We did a quick interview by the side of the road and we were asked what we had been chatting about, we had just been chatting about our chances in the team sprint at the games, slim and NONE!!!
This morning I was part of a photo shoot for the Financial Times with team Volvo sailors Hannah, Sas and Nick and the other Beijing medallists before hitting the gym and then a sail this afternoon. I have registered, measured and given the boat a bit of TLC this evening. After a pretty full on day I am ready for an easy day tomorrow, maybe go and find a golf course....
The weather has definitely changed in Palma from the last camp its no longer cold and windy but sunny and sea breeze conditions. With a mixed forecast for next week I am looking forward to getting racing.
Most of the top boys are here so should be a good regatta.
22 March 2011
Its been another good week sailing in Palma and its getting warmer.....
There have been a lot of teams here this week, the Brits, Swedes, Germans, Spanish, Danish, Norwegians to name a few. After a few days of individual training we all came together for 3 days of racing at the club Nàutic s'arenal regatta. With over 40 boats entered we had three long days of racing, the first two days in a sea breeze and the final day with a strong offshore breeze peaking at over 20 knots. With a mix of conditions it was nice to race on a full length course with 15 minute plus beats rather than the 5-8 minutes we have been doing in training. I felt I raced well and had good speed, my starts left a few questions to be asked on the final day as a few of the fleet became pretty trigger happy and I was a bit too determined not to go with them starting a few lengths back in the final two races, not ideal...... It was good to win the regatta by 14 points sailing consistently and making some good recovery's to keep all my results in the top 4 in some shifty conditions. Many thanks to the club for organising and putting on a good regatta, no entry fee, bbq's after sailing and a prize voucher for €150!!!!! If Carlsberg did sailing regattas????
I feel pretty tired as I have been trying to keep the off water training up on top of the sailing. I have three more days here for a bit of sailing and cycling before heading home.
1st March 2011
ITALY
It was quite a change in scenery as I arrived from Mexico to Italy. In Carrera it was 8 degrees and raining as we put the boat in the water ready for racing. On the first day we sailed 2 legs of the course before a large wind shift caused the race to be abandoned. After this happened twice we were sent ashore. On the second day the sun shone and the weather warmed up, not much though! We had four races in a variety of conditions. After a disappointing first race we got it together for a 2, 1, 1. On the Saturday night Luca threw an amazing party in a local night club with his Melges 32 in the water and lit up like a Christmas tree!
The final day was cold and wet again, after a 3, 2 we could only be beaten by one boat if they won and we were next to last. It all seemed quite easy until we started early and had to go back..... We got back in to it with the right boat behind us finishing 4th while they were 8th. All in all a great regatta for team red, it was nice to sail with the full strength squad and be right where we need to be.
1st February 2011
MIAMI
After a good but tricky week of sailing in generally shifty lighter winds, Key West draws to an end. Team Red had a bit of an up and down week, never really getting in to top gear. We struggled a little to pop out in front and had to fight for every place. With a mixture of incidents from hooking a lobster pot to starting over in two races and having to return the guys fought admirably to get back in to each race. We finished the regatta in 5th overall and look to build on this in the coming months. The top three boats Goombay, Warpath and Leenabarca were in a league of there own last week, fast and sailing well so we need to work on closing the gap.
Results can be foundhttp://sailingupdates.com/view/39/
For me its back up to Miami for the OCR Regatta. It will be good to check in with the rest of the fleet to see where I am after not much Laser sailing this year, and to see how much work is needed in the coming months.
I'm looking forward to getting racing, fingers crossed for a good forecast...
20th December 2010
ITS BEEN A TOUGH BUT FUN WEEK IN FONT REMOU
I joined a group of twelve sailors for a fitness camp in the Pyrenees, we flew in to Barcelona all excited and ready for a week of cross country skiing. As we drove in to the mountains the sun was shining and the weather was fine, only one small problem! As we arrived at the resort it was 6 degrees and very little snow on the ground...
We checked in to the French training centre and with a promise of individual rooms we headed off to the second floor. A little disappointed that I could touch all four walls from the bed, we headed down for some five-a-side football.
Over night the temperature plummeted but unfortunately the snow didn't.
We headed out with a guide for a walk in the mountains for 5 hours. With the temperature at -11 as we left it was going to be a cold day. The scenery was spectacular and it was great to be out adventuring with the team. Reaching altitudes of 2500m, it was at times a little breathtaking on the up hills and jarring on the joints on the way down, but great fun.
After a week of training ranging from football and games in the sports hall, interval sessions in the pool, gym sessions in the weights room and walking in the mountains I feel well and truly ready for Christmas.
Happy Christmas and have a great 2011
28 October 2010
BACK LASER RACING...
After the annual Skandia Team GBR awards dinner it was back in action in my Laser this weekend. After six weeks out of the boat it was time to get on it. The awards dinner had left me really motivated, what better than a Qualifier in Weymouth to focus the mind and practice on the Olympic waters.
Forty four boats made it on to the water for the Weymouth Laser Worlds Qualifier and we were greeted by some cold but great sailing conditions. With gusts up to 20 knots it did feel like I was a little out of shape but just meant it hurt a bit more. After winning the first two races comfortably I was made to work hard in the final race of the day just holding off Eifion Mon followed by Nick Thompson to complete a perfect day.
With less wind forecast for Sunday it was a pleasant surprise to arrive out in the bay with 18 knots blowing. After a good start I lead the first race from start to finish as the breeze eased. For the final race we started in 12 knots before the wind became light and fickle on the last beat. After rounding second I passed Andrew Brown on the run to complete a perfect score-line winning every race.
It felt great to be back in the Laser and sailing well, it was however physically challenging and its time now to get back in to training before heading off to Perth at the end of the month.....
Bring on the warmth!
For overall results see http://www.kbsuk.com/data/LaserEvents/data/results/wpnsastd.5-10nh.html
and National Laser ladder http://laser.org.uk/docs/uploaded/stlad5.10nh.html
