I just thought I would post something to let you know we are still here. Nothing too exciting has happened of late, Jen and I have been working and training as usual. There was no wind both times we tried to sail after work this week, so we did some much needed boat work. This morning we ran 20 km in our running clinic, which was looooong. It was a gorgeous morning, lovely and warm and sunny, which was great except I thought it was going to rain so I was dragging along an extra shirt and jacket! The nice weather meant there wasn't too much wind but we went sailing afterwards anyways, testing out a few new modifications to the boat. Then home for dinner, and downtown for free yoga at lululemon (they have this in every city with a lululemon, you should check it out).
I will finish up my contract as a research assistant at the end of the month and the opera Jen is stage managing has opened so we will be getting on the water even more in the next couple weeks. With the warmer weather and more daylight Jen and I have both been biking more as well. Brian Todd (National Team Coach) will be out for the last week of April to work with the Paralympic and 470 sailors in Victoria, which will be great.
Things are steadily coming together for our competitions in Europe. We have secured accommodations in Weymouth and just booked our flight to Germany, we will be leaving Canada on June 14th.
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Wind Storm!
It's Easter weekend, so while this may mean time with your families, for me it has always meant sailing (just ask my Mom). Growing up in Alberta, I've been coming out to the west coast to train over Easter since I was 14, until finally I just packed up and moved here. This year is no different, with about 15 sailors flying and driving out for the weekend.
Today was supposed to be our first day of training, but it might be a bit windy! As I write this the wind is a sustained 45 knots (that's about 80 km/hr to you non-sailors) and over 90 000 homes are currently without power. The storm started at about 4 am (at least that's when my windows started rattling) and it's a big one! We usually get some awesome south-easterly storms during the winter in Victoria, so this one is a bit late. The roads are covered in tree bits and the cherry trees have lost all their blossoms. Since its a holiday, many people are out driving along Dallas Road to storm watch. After determining that we were NOT going sailing, that's what Jen and I did and I took some photos. Then we went back to the yacht club and ran around with everyone else all excited. We re-tied boats to the dock and rescued some sails shredding themselves in the wind. If you own a boat I suggest you go check on it! I have put in some links if you would like to follow the storm. It is supposed to blow out by about midnight, so hopefully we will get sailing tomorrow! CBC Story Wind Forecasts Photos
Today was supposed to be our first day of training, but it might be a bit windy! As I write this the wind is a sustained 45 knots (that's about 80 km/hr to you non-sailors) and over 90 000 homes are currently without power. The storm started at about 4 am (at least that's when my windows started rattling) and it's a big one! We usually get some awesome south-easterly storms during the winter in Victoria, so this one is a bit late. The roads are covered in tree bits and the cherry trees have lost all their blossoms. Since its a holiday, many people are out driving along Dallas Road to storm watch. After determining that we were NOT going sailing, that's what Jen and I did and I took some photos. Then we went back to the yacht club and ran around with everyone else all excited. We re-tied boats to the dock and rescued some sails shredding themselves in the wind. If you own a boat I suggest you go check on it! I have put in some links if you would like to follow the storm. It is supposed to blow out by about midnight, so hopefully we will get sailing tomorrow! CBC Story Wind Forecasts Photos
Monday, March 29, 2010
European Boat!
Over the weekend Jen and I finalized the purchase of a 470 in Europe! We are now the proud new owners of a 2004 MacKay sailed at the Olympics in Athens. The boat will be delivered to our first competition of the summer in Kiel, Germany in June. Greece may be in trouble, but we sure don't mind the drop in the Euro!
The purchase process was interesting for us, especially given that we've never met the person we bought the boat from in Ireland. It turns out, though that the owner, Barry, is connected to us through mutual friends. When we found this out we were able to send a friend over to look at it for us which was great. What a small world. Then, after managing a seven hour time difference, we were able to get things sorted out and secure the boat. We're very eager to get to Germany in June and put it together!
I've attached some pics of our new boat, tell us what you think!
Press Articles
We had two articles published about us last week in Jen's home town of Kelowna. Both announcing that in February Jen was named to the Canadian National Sailing Team based on her results in 2009 with her previous sailing partner. This means we are now receiving monthly funding and have access to sports resources through Pacific Sport BC and the CYA. This is awesome, and we hope our results from the coming summer will qualify myself for the CST and double our funding.
Kelowna Capital News and Kelowna Daily Courier
Kelowna Capital News and Kelowna Daily Courier
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Photos by Chris Davis
These are the photos our friend Chris Davis took of us sailing last week. Aren't they amazing? Thanks Chris!
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| Spring Training |
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Spring Training
It's spring! Thanks to the time change Jen and I are now able to train in the evenings after work again, which has allowed us to sail for the last 4 days in a row. Thursday evening we had a photo shoot of sorts, with two photographers chasing us around Oak Bay. Bob Hewitt was taking some pictures for an article about sailing that will appear in PageOne's YAM magazine in May; and our friend Chris Davis was taking some photos for us. It was pretty hilarious and a lot of fun, as wind angles and lighting angles don't always work together!
Friday we worked on our downwind speed and coordinating our pumping in the light to medium breeze. Saturday we had a really good session with lots of short races which allowed us to practice our starts. Training with the single handed boats makes starting a challenge, as they sit closer to the line and can point higher then us right off the start. Then we went for a long sail out of the bay and had to paddle part of the way back when the wind completely died!
Sunday Jen and I got up early to run 16 km with our running clinic, which was very soggy to say the least, as it was pouring rain. It was definitely not the most enjoyable run ever, but good training nonetheless. After this we were pretty sleepy, but headed to the Yacht Club for race team practice. There were actually more double handed boats then single handed on the water, which happens very rarely! It was really nice to train with the 420's and be around other boats with spinnakers. The weather was variable, to say the least. Inside the bay the wind was from the NW, but outside the bay it was from the SW; there was alternately sunshine and big storm cells. We worked on our acceleration and then did some short windward/leeward courses. I think Jen was getting bored of sailing around in circles after awhile, but I was fairly excited as I felt my spinnaker hoists and douses were improving a lot with all the repetition. I managed to get the spinnaker down and packed away in time to round the leeward mark properly almost every time.
Since Miami I have been re-learning how to tack facing backwards, and I feel like I am finally starting to get the hang of it. It's an interesting challenge, trying to re-train my body to cross the boat facing the opposite direction, as I have been tacking facing forwards for approximately 15 years! The amusing part is when I think I'm going to go through the tack backwards but my body reverts to going forwards. This usually involves me falling over in a tangled mess of legs and arms in the bottom of the boat and apologizing to Jen while she prevents the boat from capsizing. Thankfully this has been occurring less frequently and hopefully my bruises will heal soon. The reason for tacking backwards is it enables me to keep my weight farther forward in the boat, which makes us go faster!
So all in all a very good weekend of training, and now back to work!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Audacious Goals
Jen here,
Last night I went to a talk given by marathon runner Silvia Ruegger. Silvia represented Canada at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She ran the first women's marathon ever to be hosted at the Olympic games. Silvia had not intended to compete in the women's marathon event, but rather the track event which she had trained for for nearly eight years. It was just four months before the games that she switched events, and the Olympic race was only her second marathon ever. She placed eighth overall and during the course of her marathon career set the Canadian women's marathon record. She still holds that record today.
Silvia's talk was amazing. She touched on many things which athletes and non-athletes alike can identify with. She talked about the promise she made to herself when she was fifteen years old and the obligation she felt because of this promise. She also talked about the training process itself. According to Silvia, it's not the outcome that makes someone successful or not, it's the process. The process of dedicating hours and hours running in the early winter mornings in Ontario made her what she is today. The thousands of hours dedicated to focused training gave her the discipline to carry out her "audacious goals" as she calls them.
Audacious goals. Silvia repeated that phrase over and over again. The idea is that someone out there has to step up and dream big. Someone has to chose the scary route and then follow it to the end. Instead of choosing the safe route and following a traditional path, Silvia chose to follow a path that seemed crazy. She chose it because she knew that if she hadn't, she would always wonder "what if."
I approached Silvia after her inspiring talk and asked her if she had any advice for an athlete who is early in her career. Just go for it, she said. Enjoy the process and the outcome will present itself. Every moment that you spend pursuing your goal will fulfill you; and don't measure yourself by other people's standards of success, only your own. Wow, those are words to remember the next time I'm wondering why my friends have all run out and got themselves careers and I'm mucking about in boats.
Last night I went to a talk given by marathon runner Silvia Ruegger. Silvia represented Canada at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She ran the first women's marathon ever to be hosted at the Olympic games. Silvia had not intended to compete in the women's marathon event, but rather the track event which she had trained for for nearly eight years. It was just four months before the games that she switched events, and the Olympic race was only her second marathon ever. She placed eighth overall and during the course of her marathon career set the Canadian women's marathon record. She still holds that record today.
Silvia's talk was amazing. She touched on many things which athletes and non-athletes alike can identify with. She talked about the promise she made to herself when she was fifteen years old and the obligation she felt because of this promise. She also talked about the training process itself. According to Silvia, it's not the outcome that makes someone successful or not, it's the process. The process of dedicating hours and hours running in the early winter mornings in Ontario made her what she is today. The thousands of hours dedicated to focused training gave her the discipline to carry out her "audacious goals" as she calls them.
Audacious goals. Silvia repeated that phrase over and over again. The idea is that someone out there has to step up and dream big. Someone has to chose the scary route and then follow it to the end. Instead of choosing the safe route and following a traditional path, Silvia chose to follow a path that seemed crazy. She chose it because she knew that if she hadn't, she would always wonder "what if."
I approached Silvia after her inspiring talk and asked her if she had any advice for an athlete who is early in her career. Just go for it, she said. Enjoy the process and the outcome will present itself. Every moment that you spend pursuing your goal will fulfill you; and don't measure yourself by other people's standards of success, only your own. Wow, those are words to remember the next time I'm wondering why my friends have all run out and got themselves careers and I'm mucking about in boats.
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