Ainslie Mk2

The Daily Sail catches up with Laser champion and team GBR medal prospect Paul Goodison

Last week saw Paul Goodison put in an uncharacteristic second place at the Princess Sofia Trophy for the Olympic classes in Palma. Goodison was nobbled on the final day as, ironically, was his predecessor Ben Ainslie in the Finn.

"Basically the last race I was three points ahead and pinched the guy in second [Swedish sailor Daniel Birgmark] off at the start and he tacked and ducked behind everybody and I couldn’t cross in front of everybody," recounts Goodison of that final day. "So I went left and he went right and the wind went right and he rounded first and I rounded something like 20th. So that was a bit unfortunate. But I managed to get back to sixth in the last race, which was quite good, but not quite enough."

Despite coming second, Goodison impressively never came lower than seventh while all his pier were up and down each day. "I think maybe at the end of day I was a little too conversative, but that’s usually a good thing," he says. But perhaps this is not surprising.

At present Goodison seems to have successfully picked up where Ainslie left off. He currently leads the international Laser rankings and last season saw him win the Sydney Olympic regatta for the second time running followed by Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, Athens, Princess Sofia, Hyeres and Kiel. Remarkably the list of events he didn't win is shorter. "I didn't win SPA. (Robert Scheidt did). I was winning all the way through and had a terrible final day and finished seventh. In the Europeans I was leading going into the last race by five points and then had a shocker and finished third. And at the Worlds, which were not really my conditions, I finished third which is what I needed to do to pre-qualify for the Games."

This year Goodison is once again on the Olympic regatta circuit, although thinks he may not take part in Kiel. He will also be taking part in the Europeans in Split, Croatia and the pre-Olympic event in Athens, but like most of team GBR his sights are firmly fixed on the mega-World championships in Cadiz later this year. "If I finish top three at next worlds I automatically qualify without trials, which is what I am hoping on."

Unfortunately because of his intense program this year, he doesn't see himself getting much chance to train in Cadiz. He recently visited the Spanish port to sort out his accommodation for the Worlds and had a chance to check out the sailing venue. He is not impressed by the Laser course."I’d rather much be sailing on a 470 or a Finn. They have really nice course areas, whereas ours is tucked in by the docks. It doesn’t look that flash to be honest."

Over the winter Goodison has been trying to improve his sailing in big wind and waves. To do this he spent six weeks in Hawaii, although he admits it wasn't as windy as he expected.

There is a school of thought that says this kind of record with the Olympic Games in Athens still more than a year away, that he is peaking too soon. However Goodison thinks otherwise. "If you look at all the medal winners last time round, they were all winning regattas two years out and generally just establishing themselves at the top. Ideally I try to establish myself at the top of the pecking order, so that I can try and strike fear into the other sailors rather than it being ‘oh yeah, he had a lucky day today’. I'm trying to be expected to win. It does add a little more pressure, but I think the other sailors look at me in a different light."

Within team GBR the main contention for the Laser spot comes from Ed Wright, while Mark Howard and Dan Holman are good in certain conditions - Howard putting in a good performance at the Worlds in 2002 and Holman in the Europeans. Like team GBR Finn squad they all train together.

"The way I see it is if we all sail together we all get better," explains Goodison. "Whereas if we all sail by ourselves we’re not likely to get better. At the end of the day, if I am going to the Olympics I want to win a Gold medal. I don’t want to get selected and then not be in contention to win a medal. So you have to get the people close to you good. And it is a worry that they could beat you but at the end of the day your main goal is actually at the Olympics."

For coaching Goodison has Chris Gower, although he says that recently Gower was borrowed by Ainslie to do some work on the Finn. "Last week during the Princess Sofia we had Mike Budd one of the old Laser sailor. It was quite nice to have someone different for a change."

Internationally Brazilian Robert Scheidt Goodison still views at his main threat and he will line up against the present World Champion (Scheidt's sixth World Championship title in the Laser) for the first time this year at Hyeres Olympic Sailing Week this coming weekend. "Hopefully Robert will be down here so we can see what he’s been up to over the winter." Aside from Scheidt there are a handful of talented Swedes including European champion Karl Sunneson and Daniel Birgmark, who beat him in the Princess Sofia.

Aside from his Laser sailing, Goodison has just completed his first race aboard 'a big boat', competing on John Oswald and John Bainbridge's Farr 40 Game On. "It was quite nice - it was here in Hyeres," he says, although he admits he won't be able to do the full season because his Laser commitments. He will be sailing the weekend after Hyeres in Capri as well as the Farr 40 Worlds in Sardinia.

"They were nice people. I enjoyed it. I was a bit worried I’d find it a bit boring, but it’s quite good. It’s good racing," he says. On board he is tactician, while his team GBR colleague Iain Percy sails on the German boat Struntje Light. "I think Iain set me up for this job. I think he wanted some company while he was away!" Goodison says that he wanted to sail the Farr 40s for experience, but has found that it also pays quite well...