Winning with a race to spare

We talk to Shirley Robertson about how she came to have the best scoreline in the Olympic regatta

"Disappointing performance" or "learned a lot for next time" seem to be phrases cropping up a lot in reference to team GBR's overall performance in Athens. Fortunately this can absolutely not be said of the GBR sailing team who continue to work their magic on the water. Come the end of Saturday and with racing concluded in four classes team GBR had secured medals in three: two Golds and a silver (at the time of writing team GBR as a whole has just five gold medals).

For the RYA it's pre-regatta target of three medals has been achieved already and there are still hot prospects for the British team in the Star and Tornado even if the present results indicate that it will be anything but clear cut. Congratulations are already in order not just to the sailors in the British squad but also to the support team at the RYA - Olympic Manager Stephen Park in particular - and the coaches and sailors who may not have made the selection but selflessly stayed on and gave up their valuable time to help those who had.

So far the final results in the singlehanded classes and 470 Women's class have been not far from the form book with Golds going to Ainslie in Finn, Robert Scheidt in the Laser, Siren Sundby in the Europe and Greek duo Sofia Bekatorou/Emilia Tsoulfa in the 470 Women as expected. This is despite a range of wind strengths including some very awkward light and flukey conditions during the regatta. All have scored a total of 59-74 points (excluding their discard) or 5.36-6.73 points on average per race in each case and have ended the regatta with a clear margin over those in silver. Sundby and the 470 girls each scored five race wins, while Ainslie had four while conversely Scheidt had only one.

Average points per race (excluding discard):

	FINN
1	Ben AINSLIE	5.82
2	Rafael TRUJILLO	7.00
3	Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ	7.18
	Europe
1	Siren SUNDBY	6.64
2	Lenka SMIDOVA	8.27
3	Signe LIVBJERG	9.00
	Laser
1	Robert SCHEIDT	6.73
2	Andreas GERITZER	9.27
3	Vasilij ZBOGAR	8.82
	470 men
1	Paul FOERSTER	8.45
2	Nick ROGERS	8.82
3	Kazuto SEKI	10.09
	470 women
1	Sofia BEKATOROU	5.36
2	Natalia VIA-DUFRESNE	7.36
3	Therese TORGERSSON	7.00
	Yngling
1	Shirley ROBERTSON	5.09
2	Ruslana TARAN	6.00
3	Dorte JENSEN	6.45

In terms of points the truly exceptional performance came from Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton, Gold medallists in the Yngling.

The British trio went into the Olympic regatta as a 'medal prospect' rather than clear favourites for Gold, following a mixed bag of pre-Olympic regatta results including wins at Barcelona and the Princess Sofia Trophy in 2003 and Hyeres this year, but also a 13th place at last year's Worlds and a complete shocker at this year's - a 16th place.

In Athens Robertson's team achieved the lowest scorecard of all the classes to have finished so far with just 39 points (including discard, 56 without), two wins and no place lower than eighth in their first ten races.

"The Yngling is a new class for the Games and we’ve had to try stuff," Robertson explained to thedailysail about their variable performance prior to Athens. "It didn’t come with a manual. It’s not like the Star where it comes with a load of settings that work. We’ve had to find out what the settings are and we’ve had to work through equipment and techniques. And tactically we’ve had to become a lot smarter in keelboat sailing. That takes a while, you have to mistakes and learn from them. That’s why the fleet has been really inconsistent. There’s been nobody that’s dominated. So we’ve won an event and gone on to the next event and we’re fifth. But obviously our focus was always here. We spent a lot of time here and obviously fine tuned our speed a bit. We knew what the issues would be and really worked hard addressing them."

While she was used to some degree of technical development work with the Europe, this was nothing compared to the clean sheet of paper they had to work with when they first stepping on board the new women's keelboat.

"Sailing a Yngling is about precision in all areas," continues Robertson. "In set-up, it could be just one turn here or there or 0.5cm on the forestay or a little bit of mainsheet trim - just tiny, tiny differences make the difference. And also how you sail the boat makes a big difference. And tactically you only have to make one small error, you go on a header for a short time or you do an extra tack - then that’s it, it costs you the race and it’s a struggle to come back from that. So it requires a bit more precision than I’ve experienced in a dinghy."

With three Olympics under her belt including a Europe Gold from Sydney prior to going into the Athens Games, Robertson was the most capped Olympian in the British team. With experience came a degree of confidence in working up the boat and gauging the feel of the boat - when it was going well and when it wasn't.

"It took a little while, but eventually we did have a good feel of how it was going and how to set it up. So we had no problems trying new things and feeling confident and making decisions on those," she says.

Crucial to the campaign was the addition of Ian Walker who joined Robertson's campaign as coach and general mentor following the last America's Cup. Robertson does not hold back in the contribution the former GBR Challenge skipper and double Olympic medallist made to their effort. "When Ian came on board, he saved the campaign. We were floundering a bit. We were struggling for money and direction and he brought direction into the whole campaign. I can’t praise Ian enough. He’s certainly the fourth member of the team.

"We feel really privileged that he picked us to work with (it wasn’t the other way round). He brought an amazing energy. It wasn’t that he had all the answers, he just never tires of trying to find a solution and it was a pleasure to work with him. He’s a really really smart guy and an amazingly talented sailor. Of all the training partners we had he was the fastest and he could get in any boat and make it go fast."

Significant for Robertson was that Walker had also made the transition from dinghies to keelboats. Aside from the technical development with the boat winning the Yngling required Robertson to up her game tactically and strategically. "It is very very different to dinghy sailing. And I am such a better tactician than I ever was in the Europe. If I knew then what I know now, I would have had won with a day to spare [in Sydney]."

During Robertson's Yngling campaign she suffered two crew shake-ups when Sam Davies departed to begin her Figaro campaign and when Inga Leask left for health reasons.

"Initially I had worked with Sam before and she is a fabulous sailor and very clever. I really enjoyed sailing with Sam, but it wasn’t for her. It isn't for everyone: It is a funny way of life just working on the minutae every single day. Then Inga was sick. So we have had our set-backs. But Sarah Ayton was a blessing and if anything when Inga left she grew. That was one of the most pleasurable experience watching her flourish. She’ll go on to win Gold medals, I have no doubt of that.

"Sarah Webb is an amazing natural athlete. We needed that, although at the time she was lacking a bit in technique and experience. But she just absolutely knuckled down and she hasn’t worked harder at anything than the last 15 months. And it has not been an easy ride for her. And I’m not easy to work with and I required 100% day after day after day and when it wasn’t coming I voiced that and she really raised her game and I can’t praise her enough."

While physically helming the Yngling was an easier ride than the Europe for Robertson it certainly wasn't for Webb. "You have to be strong to trim the kite. It is really loaded, especially on the two Meltemi days we had - she was really knackered. It’s days like that that all those hours in the gym finally pay off. The other girls looks a bit shabby towards the end of the second race on those days."

While her scoreline in Athens was impressive it was not without moments of tension. On one of the races in the Meltemi they didn't get the best start and then couldn't hold their lane. They had to tack on a header and couldn't find a lane on the new tack. Eventually they rounded the top mark second last, but as an indication of the quality of their team they fought and impressively managed to finish third.

"That was a regatta-winning race," says Robertson. "Those are the races that make it happen for you. And we just knew at that time. But we just knuckled down and got stuck in. And also because we are quite a polished crew, so even though it was really windy we could gybe on the shifts and perhaps other people couldn’t. And we showed good team work and a gritty team performance from the three of us."

So what now for Britain's first female Olympic sailing double Gold medallist? "It is so hard to say. I don’t know how my life will pan out. None of us have had time to think about what’s happening tommorow never mind a few month’s time. I am looking forward to being at home. I’d like over the winter to do some other types of sailing, spend some time with Jamie obviously [him indoors] and some time in Cowes with all those people who have helped us."

America’s Cup? "I don’t know if that is an option. Like all those type of things if you are a girl and you’re afterguard and you want to make it happen you have to make it happen for yourself, you have to sort the whole campaign out. I haven’t got the energy. I can bearly decide what I’m having for dinner tonight. But I’m sure as the weeks go by I will dying to get my teeth into something new."

Would you be sorry to leave the Yngling if you decided to move on from Olympic sailing? "Well it’s not fast. You don’t go out for a blast. But I enjoy racing it. It is so incredibly close and you have to concentrate so hard. So I really enjoy the racing aspect, but the boat doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. It is slow and heavy and it is really difficult. But in a way because it is such a tricky boat it has made it challenging. I am dying for a bit of speed now. The 49er guys use us as transits."

Being the team GBR's first Gold medallist in Athens Robertson also on this occasion managed to eclipse Ben Ainslie in terms of media coverage. "It was good timing. Ben could have stolen my thunder like normal! It’s great for the girls, because they are really wide-eyed and enjoying it all. Their smiles get bigger every hour that goes by."

Robertson will remain in Athens for the duration of the Games awaiting the moment that it finally sinks in what she's done. "Last time a week went by and I got out of the shower one morning and it was like ‘My God, I won a Gold medal’ and it is going to be like that. To be truthful we are still in race mode. We’re still looking out of the window seeing what the sea breeze is doing. I’m sure in a week’s time we’ll be overwhelmed by what we have done."