Team GBR update - 4

Peter Bentley surveys Britain's chances in the keelboats for the coming season and 2004

Tornado


Hugh Styles and Adam May

Narrowly missing out on a medal in Sydney, Hugh Styles and Adam May came good a year too late for the 2000 Games. Brim full of confidence and enthusiasm, they finished second at the European Championships and third at the Worlds in 2001. Hugh is an immensely talented sailor, who in the dim and distant past won the Laser Europeans, in itself no mean feat. Adam's skills as a crew are complimented by a meticulous eye for detail. Both are qualified engineers which should stand them in good stead in an immensely complex class undergoing a period of rapid change following the introduction of the new rig.


Rob Wilson and Will Howden

Rob Wilson and Will Howden have beaten Styles and May in several European events, though never in a major championships. They are both as keen as mustard, learning fast and liable to give Styles and May a run for their money.

The four boat squad is currently completed by youngsters Leigh McMillan and Mark Bauckeley together with past 470 campaigners Steve Lovegrove and Martin Sellars.


Leigh McMillan

In a slightly unusual move, Tim Hancock, a man with little multihull experience, has been appointed class coach.

Internationally the class is just starting to settle down after a long period of technical flux. The introduction of a bigger rig, twin trapezes and spinnaker two years ago upset the established order and only now is it starting to become clear who has mastered the changes best. The top of the ranking list looks like a who's who of Tornado sailors from the past five years with Austria's Hagara brothers - now both helming their own boats - featuring in the top five. Hugh Styles and Rob Wilson are in at two and four respectively. The biggest surprise comes with Mitch Booth at six. It not the sixth place in the rankings that surprises (unless you expected him to be higher) so much as the fact that native Australian Booth is now listed as sailing for the Netherlands. Having paired up last year with Herbert Derecksen, for one last attempt at an Olympic medal after six Olympic cycles, you can be sure that Booth is serious. And so are many others. This is a class brimming over with talent and experience.