Ben Ainslie diary

News from the maestro at Hayling Island

Last weekend I competed in my first UK-based regatta for a long time - the Olympic classes qualifier at Hayling Island Sailing Club. The club at Hayling has changed a huge amount since I last saw it 18 months ago; all this is due to funding from the lottery in an effort to turn the club into a centre of excellence. Along with the centre in Weymouth it should provide two great bases able to host both training and events at a World class level.

The regatta was a slightly odd one for me as I am not actually able to qualify for anything this year and events from last year still are being used for qualification. I can race in the Worlds and Europeans as it is possible to get wild card spots, but it means that I am unlikely to get the chance to race in the pre-pre Olympic Regatta this August in Athens. Missing out on the Athens event would be a shame as it will give invaluable experience of the Olympic Venue at a similar time of year to which the Olympics will be held.

A light NE breeze on Saturday morning raised hopes of a postponement and the chance to watch the FA cup final (unfortunately I’m a Chelsea fan), but it wasn’t to be and we all left the beach at 11am for the 12 noon start. There was a huge amount of confusion in the Finn fleet as the race committee had altered the standard sailing instructions, sending the Finn fleet on the outer loop along with the Europes as opposed to the normal inner loop.

The RC also caught us napping by hoisting a blue flag (with a number 1 on it) as their version of numeral pennant 1. All these changes conspired to send the Finn fleet into a frenzy of groups all sailing a different course and all sure they were right. Actually, only 2 of the 18 boats sailed the right course and so the whole race was a farce. Fortunately the other fleets just sailed their normal courses and had a decent race. In race two Chris Brittle and I lost out when we missed leaving an incidental mark of the course to leeward.

As a result John Greenwood took the lead but was kind enough to inform us of our mistake before it was too late! By this time it was 3pm and a light sea breeze pushed away the gradient breeze, leaving very little wind on the course area. We waited for an hour until Bev Moss, the race officer, made a good call and sent us home. As we all know Chelsea lost 2 - 0, so all in all it was not a good day!

Sunday was a much better day with a brisk Northerly breeze. This time we all new the course and it lead to some really intense, close racing. Andrew Simpson won the first race of the day and I took the last two races to win the regatta. It was a pleasing performance in that amount of breeze, as strong wind sailing and light downwind sailing are my Achilles heel. I feel as though I am getting better all the time and there is nothing more rewarding than that. I was also pleased with my fifth place finish in Hyeres, although I made far too many errors. Most of my mistakes are being caused by having my head in the boat too much, working out which ropes to pull and when. With time I should be able to sail the boat on auto pilot and so have more time to look at the tactical aspect of the race.

The biggest hurdle at the moment is a long term knee injury which has now started to worsen. I have to make the decision whether or not to have an operation and if so whether I should leave it until after the World championships in July. Any surgery would mean 8 to 12 weeks out of action, which is really bad news when I am trying to spend as much time on the water as possible. Just lately the injury has started to impede my sailing performance and if that continues then I will have to take action sooner rather than later.

The hunt for sponsorship is as always a long and slow one although I have been fortunate to get support from Volvo and Bainbridge International. So, I am driving a nice car and have the best hardware on my boat. I am already onto my third mast and fifth sail and am realising it’s an expensive game. The support from UK sport and the lottery is fantastic but I am still looking for additional funding to help go about this campaign in the proper manner.

I’m still eating loads but the weight seems to have levelled of at 93kg and I have a feeling that the last five kilos will only come from a lot of hard work in the gym!