'The Doctor' and the Wing

When you list the best places in the World to sail Fremantle always feature in peoples top 10. It's home to one of Australias most influential clubs and the Aussy Americas Cup team that wrestled the Trophy away from Seppo's back in the 80's. Fre'O' is also the home of the infamous 'Doctor'. The most feared Sea Breeze in world sailing and a match for anything Sydney, San Fran or Lake Garda has to offer. This whopping breeze is fed by the desert inland from Perth that has temperatures soaring well into the late evening resulting in a massive cell that feeds a 25-30knot wind. This is made all the more trecherous by the shallow waters of the Bay that cause a wicket short chop that has broken mast written all over it.

Team GBR is in town for the ISAF World's test event ahead of the main regatta next December. This is the biggest event in the quadrinium for Olympic Classes as it has stages all class Worlds in one venue the year before each Games. Inlike the Olympics, each nation can enter up to 6-7 boats in each class reasulting in 700+ boats and an ornaisational nightmare.

We've all settled into the team Hotel and the training camp has been going well for the past 5 days. We managed to squeeze in a trip to the Maritime Museum to pay homage to the boat brought the Australia and see the faballed 'Wing' Keel. At the time this was heralded as the key factor in winning the series and really flustered the Americans. At the time the class rules were limited on the old 12 meter class to allowing a very traditional shaped keel unlike the long fin and bulb we see on the modern Cup Class boats. The idea of this keel was to turn the existing shape 'fin' upside down so the narrow cord was at the top and the long, heavy section of the keel was at the bottom. This lowered the weight and increased the righting moment but at one huge cost. The flow of water across the keel was lost at the tip, something we call leekage. This reduced the effectiveness of the keel in the amount of lift it was able to generate until those cunning convicts decided to stick on some winglet's to redirect the water back along the bottom of the keel. It's something any flyer will see now when the look at the end of a passenger airliner. It was brilliant to get the chance to see the beauty up close and toast what was a significant part of yacht racing history.

Today, we had a spot of coach swapping and I took on the role of Laser coach while my opposite number Chris Gowers rode with the 49'ers for the day. Had a great day with Nick Thompson and Paul Goddison so thanks to the lads for being open to ideas and for giving me a shorter than normal day on the water. Really impressive to see the phyicality of Laser sailing at this level and even more impressive was the speed of Australian Tom Sligsby who is quite special in the breeze.

So, The reagatta starts in 4 Days and I'll report back on the progress of the Brit Pack as they continue the quest for world domination. I leave you safe in the knowledge that whereever you may be, the beer will be cheaper than it is at our Hotel!