· Canadian Bronze Medal winner John McRoberts and his new crew Brenda Hopkin boosted their campaign for more Canadian medals at London 2012 with a win at the Robie Pierce one-design regatta at the Larchmont Yacht Club, Rye, NYC
· The attraction of the regatta is the relatively large fleet of 18 boats. This gives sailors valuable experience with more crowded start lines, mark roundings and boat-on-boat tactics. In this regatta the disabled sailors have to sail with an able-bodied assistant – who is not allowed to initiate action or give advice, only respond to requests from the helm or crew – and this enabled McRoberts/Hopkin to bring in their coach, Craig Guthrie, from Halifax to observe communication, tactics and strategy for de-brief after the racing.
· ‘Our aims for the regatta were to build our strategic skills,’ said McRoberts. ‘We wanted Craig to observe how we executed our race plan.’ With confident starts and good boat speed the team were in joint first after the first day and then consolidated their position with consistent results on day two. ‘Consistency won us the regatta,’ said Hopkin. ‘Other teams won races and placed well but everyone else had at least one bad race, which was significant, as there were no throw-outs.’
· ‘We were delighted with this unexpected win,’ said McRoberts. ‘We came here to train for the World Championships next month in Holland, so were focused on routines, processes and communication. Clearly these factors can win regattas.’ It also enabled the team to identify opportunities for improvement and focus areas for further training.
· John and Brenda now have one more training camp, with US sailors Jen French and J-P Creignou, before they depart for Holland.
· The IFDS World Championships will be held from 9-14 July in Medemblik, Holland. http://ifdsworlds2010. John and Brenda will be aiming for the podium and to qualify Canada as a country for the 2012 paralympic games in Weymouth, England.
No comments:
Post a Comment