SKANDIA TEAM GBR

Supporter’s Club News

January 2008

Firstly, Happy New Year to you

all, and welcome to the first

edition of the Skandia Team

GBR Supporter’s Club

newsletter for a very exciting

2008.

Since the last issue we have seen our sailors reignvictorious at the Skandia Sail for Gold OlympicClasses Regatta in Weymouth and celebrate in styleat the team prizegiving and awards ceremony at theSouthampton Rose Bowl.

There can be no doubt that 2008 is going to be atough year for the team, but with all of thepreparation and training undertaken during the past4 years, and our consistent results within OlympicClasses events, we have high hopes of continuing todemonstrate the excellence of British sailing.

It is thanks to the sponsors, partners, sailors,support staff and supporters that Great Britain isthe world’s top sailing nation, and long may yoursupport continue.

CONTENTS

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta

RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series

Skandia Team GBR Awards Dinner

Sydney International Regatta

London International Boat Show

Miami Olympic Classes Regatta

Weymouth, September 2007

It was a clean sweep for Team GBR on the medal day races atthe Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, on 23rd

September.

The competition had been strong all week, especially from thelikes of Sweden and France, with spectators witnessing someextreme conditions, outstanding performances and hardlessons for many on the water. When it came to the crunch,however, Britain reigned victorious, with Gold medals in all 9classes (the Star, the Yngling and the Paralympic Classes didnot compete), silver medals in 5 classes and Bronze medals in4 classes.

Whilst the top international sailors battled it out on the water,150 RYA youth and junior squad members descended onWeymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy to joinsome of Britain’s top Olympic athletes; Ben Ainslie, Ian Percyand Sarah Ayton. The day was intended to offer a uniqueinsight into the Olympic classes programme for Britain’syoung talent. With gold medallists lined up to answerquestions and impart their personal experiences of movingthrough the pathway. To show how the RYA system works,and to identify talent moving into Olympic class sailing. Withthe day based around the exciting medal races, it provided agreat opportunity for the young hopefuls to get a real close uptaste of the Olympic dream.

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta

470 Female1st GBR BASSADONE-CLARK2nd SWE TORG. - ZACHRISSON 3rd DEN KOCH - SOMMER

470 Male 1st GBR ROGERS - GLANDFIELD2nd GBR ASHER-WILLIS3rd GER LUCAS - SEELIG

49er 1st GBR PINK - WHEELER 2nd GBR MORRISON - RHODES3rd GBR MARTIN - MCGRANE

Finn 1st GBR WRIGHT2nd SWE BIRGMARK3rd GBR SCOTT

Laser 1st GBR THOMPSON2nd GBR GOODISON3rd GER KAMRATH

Laser Radial 1st GBR CLARK2nd GBR BALDWIN3rd GBR VICKERS

RS:X 8.5 1st GBR SHAW2nd ESP MANCHON3rd DEN NORS

RS:X 9.5 1st GBR DEMPSEY2nd GER WILHELM3rd FRA FABRICE

Tornado 1st GBR MC MILLAN – HOWDEN2nd GBR WILSON - BULKELEY3rd GBR WALSH – BARNEY

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta Results:

The RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series drew to a close in October, with both seasoned campaigners and young guns clinching victories after the final event of the three-weekend Series at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (20-21 October).

Winning the weekend by a single point over Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith, World Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also took the overall Series crown in the 49er class, while victory in the 470 class for Luke Patience and Chris Grube also handed them a second National Ranking Series title. Skandia Team GBR’s world bronze medallist Nick Dempsey put in a solid performance to top the leader board in the RS:X 9.5 class, only to then be hit with disqualification from his last two races for failing to wear a buoyancy aid.

Double Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie swept to victory in the Finn class, although didn’t quite have it all his own way after initially sailing the wrong course in the opening race of the event. However, it was Giles Scott who, with a string of consistent performances across the three events, took the overall Series crown after just a year competing in the class. Edward Thorburn took the prize for top Finn Master.

Ali Martin and Beth Carden took the weekend win in the 470 women’s class, but it’s world bronze medallists Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark who take the National Ranking Series title over Hannah Mills and Katrina Hughes.

With racing open to disabled and able-bodied sailors, SkandiaTeam GBR’s 2.4mR coach Adam May took the opportunity to race against his charges Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe, and clinched victory with four wins from the six races – Lucas finished second with Pascoe in third.

Finn1. Giles Scott2. Mark Andrews3. Andrew MillsFinn Master – Edward Thorburn

49er1. Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes2. Paul Campbell-James-Mark Asquith3. John Pink-Simon Wheeler

470 Men1. Luke Patience-Chris Grube2. Nic Asher-Elliot Willis3. Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield

470 Women1. Christina Bassadone-Saskia Clark

RS:X 9.51. Leo McCallin2. Elliot Carney3. Richard Hamilton

RS:X 8.51. Ali Masters2. Beth Williamson3. Tom Eskdale

Tornado1. Andrew Walsh-Ed Barney2. Rob Wilson-Mark Bulkeley3. John Gimson-Stuart Bithell

2007 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series Results:

RYA Olympic Classes National

Ranking Series

British sailing’s Yngling World Champions Sarah Ayton, SarahWebb and Pippa Wilson were crowned BOA Athletes of the Yearat Skandia Team GBR’s second annual Awards Dinner andPresentations at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Friday (23November).

Both sailors and backroom staff were honoured at the black tieevent, which reflected on the team’s achievements during 2007– a crucial Olympic qualification year in which they emerged astop nation at both the ISAF Sailing World Championships inCascais and the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao.

The evening kicked off with a champagne reception, courtesy ofChampagne G H Mumm, with Peter Thomas and Philip Otley ofAccenture then unveiling the winners of the ‘AccentureRewards and Recognition Programme’. Now in its second year,this incentive scheme encourages Skandia Team GBR sailors andsupport staff to vote to decide which of them had bestdisplayed one of four of the team’s core values of ‘Passion’,‘Committed to Excellence’, ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Fun’. Cashawards of £1,500 were up for grabs for the each of the fourwinners, and £500 for each of the runners-up.

“It’s been another fantastic year for Skandia Team GBR, withthe sailors and support staff all really rising to the challengeunder all the pressures that come with it being an Olympicqualification year. I’m personally delighted to have won the‘Passion’ award, but am equally pleased for all the sailors andstaff who’ve been recognised for their untiring effortsthroughout the year. It really is a massive team effort to keepSkandia Team GBR on top of the world and everyone should feelproud to have played their part in that.” Stephen Park, RYAOlympic Team Manager

Skandia Team GBR Awards Dinner

Award winners:British Olympic Association Athletes of the Year: Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb & Pippa Wilson (Yngling)

Accenture Rewards and Recognition Programme: “Passion” Winner: Stephen Park (RYA Olympic Manager), Runner-up: Peter Bentley (Technical Projects Manager) “Committed to Excellence”: Winner: Peter Cunningham (Senior Sports Science Officer), Runner-up: Adrian Campbell (Sports Science Officer)“Collaboration”: Winner: Eddie Stephens (Team Chef), Runner-up: Olivia Risk (RYA Olympic Administrator).Fun”: Winner: Jez Fanstone (Finn coach), Runner-up: Dom Tidey (RS:X women’s coach).

Golden Funnel Award, with prize donated by Panasonic: Ian Barker (49er coach).

Performance bonuses presented to: Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb & Pippa Wilson – Yngling (Gold – ISAF World Championships; Gold – Olympic Test Event), Stevie Morrison & Ben Rhodes – 49er (Gold – ISAF World Championships; Gold – Olympic Test Event), Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson – Star (Bronze – ISAF World Championships; Bronze – Star European Championships), Paul Goodison – Laser (Gold – Laser European Championships; Gold – Olympic Test Event), Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush & Lucy Macgregor – Yngling (Bronze –ISAF World Championships), Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield – 470 Men (Silver – Olympic Test Event), Bryony Shaw –RS:X Women (Gold – Olympic Test Event), Christina Bassadone & Saskia Clark – 470 Women (Bronze – ISAF World Championships), Nick Dempsey – RS:X Men (Bronze – ISAF World Championships), Nick Thompson – Laser (Bronze – Laser European Championships)

Triple Olympic sailing medallist Ben Ainslie claimed victory at the Sydney International Regatta on 18th December. Ben was sailing familiar waters as this was where he won his first Gold medal in the 2000 Olympic Games.

The four-day event was the first of a potential four regattas to be used as selection trials in the heavyweight dinghy class between Ainslie and fellow Skandia Team GBR sailor Ed Wright, with the reigning Olympic champion assuming pole position from the first day amidst a mixed bag of conditions in Sydney Harbour.

Ben said: “It was great to be back in Sydney, obviously in a different boat and a different fleet than in 2000, but I pulled off a few of the old tricks I’ve learned from racing here before – it really is a great place to sail.”

Other results in the regatta included Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith taking silver in the 49er skiff class, and Leigh McMillan and Will Howden also taking silver in the Tornado multihull event.

Penny Clark emerged as the top British woman in the Laser Radial event, finishing fourth overall in this warm-up regatta ahead of the selection trials for the women’s single-hander, which commence at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in January.

Sydney International Regatta

Finn1. Ben Ainslie, GBR (10pts)2. Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, DEN (27pts)3. Rafael Trujillo, ESP (30pts)Other GBR4. Giles Scott (30pts)5. Ed Wright (32pts)8. Ed Greig (54pts)10. Mark Andrews (56pts)13. Andrew Mills (13pts)

49er1. Nathan Outteridge-Ben Austin, AUS (28pts)2. Paul Campbell-James-Mark Asquith, GBR (31pts)3. Jorge Lima-Francisco Andrade, POR (38pts)

Tornado1.Darren Bundock-Glenn Ashby, AUS (12pts)2. Leigh McMillan-Will Howden, GBR (22pts)3. Tino Mittelmeier-Niko Mittelmeier, GER (30pts)

Laser Radial1.Sarah Blanck, AUS (26pts)2. Tania Elias Calles, MEX (45pts)3. Jo Aleh, NZL (47pts)Other GBR4. Penny Clark (55pts)7. Laura Baldwin (59pts)8. Andrea Brewster (59pts)10. Lizzie Vickers (65pts)25. Grace Tweddell (165pts)

2007 Sydney International Regatta Results:

January will see some of our Skandia Team GBR sailors heading off to Miami again for the annual Olympic Classes Regatta, from 27 January – 2 February 2008.

Over 100 teams have signed up, and many of the 25 represented nations -- including the USA, Canada and Great Britain, which have the largest contingents at 24, 15 and 11 teams, respectively -- either have sent their final teams or will be selecting who moves on to the Olympic or Paralympic Games based on results at this popular International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade One ranking event.

The competition will be raced in the following events selected for the next Olympic Games: LaserLaser RadialStarYngling.

Racing will also be held for all events selected for the next Paralympic Games: 2.4mRSKUD 18Sonar

For updated news as it happens visitwww.skandiateamgbr.com

Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta

Skandia Team GBR will be present at the Collins Stewart London International Boat Show from 11th – 20th January.

Olympic Classes feature

We will be on stand N2, with an Olympic Classes feature, housing information on Olympic Classes sailing, racing format, classes, and of course the current selections to date. The stand will also feature sailing footage on a Panasonic plasma screen, a fully rigged 49er dinghy, and two internet stations for browsing the website. The stand is proud to be supported by both Skandia and G4S. With extensive knowledge of the team and their training, Beth Woodeson and Sophie Luther will be manning the stand throughout the show and welcome sponsors, partners and supporters.

Skandia Team GBR main stage presentations

Key members of the support staff within Skandia Team GBR will be on the Main Stage every day at 1.30pm, with a presentation on the ‘Road to Beijing’. Our goal is to drum up support for, and awareness of, the team during this crucial year – so come along, show your support and keep Britian at the top!

London International Boat Show

We will shortly be launching a Supporter’s Club section of the main Skandia Team GBR website, with competitions, offers and merchandise.

The Supporters Club area will be accessed via the main site at www.skandiateamgbr.com

We look forward to seeing you there!

NEW SUPPORTER’S CLUB SITE

COMING SOON!

That’s all for this issue of the Supporter’s Club newsletter, but we will be back in April with a round up of all the latest news, including results from Miami and the Princess Sophia Regatta in Palma, and a look ahead to the summer sailing season, with all eyes on Beijing.

We hope to see you at the boat show,and wish you Happy Sailing!

The Team.

Until next time:

www.skandiateamgbr.com