Paul Goodison

Britain's new Ben Ainslie talks to Peter Bentley about taking on Robert Scheidt at Hyeres

If Paul Goodison is to inherit the crown left for him by Ben Ainslie, he will ultimately have to overpower Robert Scheidt, the man he regards as the best Laser sailor ever. In Hyeres last week, Goodison did just that.

How, I asked him did it feel to beat the great man? Clearly delighted, Goodison was most pleased with the mental jump victory had given him. "Just now, knowing that you can beat him is one big mind set," he says, adding that having jumped the hurdle once, it will be easier next time.

Like many of his fellow competitors, Goodison had been critical of the group-racing system used in Hyeres that saw him pitted against Scheidt in every race. He was not however slow to recognise the personal advantage he had gained from such a direct victory. "In the end it worked in my favour. It meant that I could get points on him".

Again the mental aspect of victory was uppermost in Goodison's mind. Though he clearly respects the Brazilian he is not overawed by him. "I try not to look at him as the best Laser sailor ever, which he is, but that he is just another guy on the race course".

At the beginning of the week Goodison had let slip that he was a bit psyched-out sailing against Scheidt and indeed spent some time watching him racing rather than getting on with his own sailing.

In the end Goodison managed to focus on his own performance but I was interested to find out how useful it had been to watch Robert sailing from close quarters. "It probably wasn't the best thing to be watching him," he conceded but by the end of the week when confidence was starting to run high it did at least provide a good opportunity to really test his speed against the undoubted master. To be able to say, "I felt like that I was just as quick if not faster than him," having raced tooth and nail all week can only boost Goodison’s confidence for the battle to come.

Unusually in a fleet that normally displays a huge depth of talent, Scheidt was the only one of the 'big names' in Hyeres. Though he recognises and acknowledges the strength of the other top competitors, Goodison gives the impression that it will ultimately be Scheidt he has to beat. "I think when everybody is there it is pretty similar because although you do look out for the top guys a little bit more, at the end of the day you are just racing everybody out there," he points out.

In Hyeres, Per Moberg and Daniel Bergmark where the main guys missing and Goodison was keen to point out that he had raced Bergmark in Athens earlier in the year and got the better of him there. He did however concede that he had not sailed against Moberg yet this year.

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