Back in the game

The Daily Sail catches up with former Olympian Cathy Foster to discuss her Yngling campaign

Last September when Cathy Foster launched her Yngling campaign in a bid to get the UK slot for Athens, it came as a bolt from the blue.

Foster won two Women's World Championships in the 1970s, but the high point in her career came at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics when sailing with Pete Newlands in the then mixed 470 class, they finished seventh overall and won the last race. In the process Foster made history by being the first woman helm since the Second World War.

Since then Foster has been a coach spending six years knocking the British Laser team into shape, followed by two years with the Spanish Laser team and three years as Dutch 470 coach. She has also been British ParaOlympic coach and was team leader to the Brits in Sydney. She is also a professional umpire.

On board the Yngling with her are 23 year old Annie Lush, a Laser 2 and J/24 sailor from Parkstone YC and a Cambridge blue and Jane Norris, a former GP14 sailor who has been campaigning Ynglings since 2001 with another now defunct team and brings managerial experience to Team Cathy Foster.

"I suddenly realised there as nothing stoping me," when The Daily Sail posed the question - why? "I’ve always enjoyed racing at top level. Club racing has never fulfilled that for me. I was doing a lot of coaching, but I was more committed to becoming a good sailor. I thought - I can still do this."

To date Team Cathy Foster's performance has not been remarkable. They've scored a couple of thirds in smaller regattas and were eighth in the US Olympic pre-trials but otherwise were 15th at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta and most recently 19th at SPA.

"We were really encouraged by this week, because we made a step up, how we were trimming, etc" commented Foster of their progress at SPA "We've done a lot of training. Unfortunately the results are not brilliant, but we knew this was going to be a long campaign."

However she admits that they may have take up the challenge a little too vigorously. "We’re tried too hard too fast too early and we have overcooked. We have never stopped learning. It takes time to regroup," says Foster.

Obviously the main stumbling block which will prevent them getting the Athens slot is Shirley Robertson's team. Robertson has a gold medal on her mantlepiece and has the full-on nod from the RYA in terms of funding. "Shirley is a highly respected sailor, but everybody has got their weaknesses," says Foster. "We are a late but there is enough reality to our challenge. I wasn’t going to turn my life upside down on a dream." With her background Foster certainly knows what it is going to take to beat Robertson.

Boat-wise they have been sailing a chartered Yngling for the last three regattas. "It caused a lot more work. It is a reliable boat, but it is not our own boat - not that that is the excuse," says Foster. The team have a new boat from Abbott on order, which has been funded by an anonymous donor.

Money as ever is a problem. "We are not on any of the Lottery funding schemes, but the RYA have given us as much as they can," says Foster. "On the practical side we get access to coaching relatively easily. There been little bits of cash when we’ve needed it, but it is nothing like funding." Although they have no specific coach they have been working a lot with Mark Nichols.

Foster has put together a number of funding packages that are available to benefactors or sponsors (these can be found on her website) and reckons she needs a further £20,000 to get to where she needs to be.

Aside from the money-issues Foster acknowledges that one of the hardest parts about running a Yngling campaign is keeping the team together, as Shirley Robertson will no doubt atest. Another team to fall foul of this was that of Spanish World Champion Monica Azon whose crew both resigned on her during SPA.

Team Cathy Foster will be taking part in all the major regattas this year including Kiel Week and the Yngling Open Worlds in Warnemünde, Germany mid-July. In between they will be training in France. Their ambition for this year is to be in the top 10 at the Worlds.