The Robert Scheidt Interview

Andy Rice spoke to the Laser World Champion in Rio, and asked him what he really thinks about Ben Ainslie

Superb downwind technique has stood Scheidt in good stead over the past few years, and seems to be a forté of Brazilian sailors. Scheidt's predecessor in the Laser, Peter Tanscheit was superfast downwind in the Laser during the late 80s and early 90s, and Grael is known for his offwind pace in the Star. Scheidt's sees a fundamental difference in approach, compared with other nations. "Brazilian sailors are very natural and instinctive sailors. The Americans and Europeans are very tactical sailors. They think a lot about the start and the first beat, but the Brazilians go with the feeling a lot, and they know when to move their body to go with the wave and when to move the sail, almost by second instinct.

"Also, we don't do much short course training here. We do long upwinds and long downwinds here. We work even harder downwind than upwind. I think that is where sailing races are won and lost these days. Everybody goes a similar speed upwind, whereas downwind you can win or lose easily.

"Here in Rio and Sao Paolo we used to do a lot of wave sailing and the conditions allow us to sail all year long. We try to sail by the lee and as you're surfing down the wave and see a good spot to head up or bear off, you change angle a lot to keep your speed going. We use a little rudder to steer, but we use a lot of body movement too. If you want to head up, you lean in, and if you want to bear away you lean out. So you don't have to use too much rudder.

"Another thing is we are not sailing a straight line to the mark. It might be the shorter way but it's not the fastest. We have been using the S-curve, doing a lot more distance but going faster too."

Now that the rest of the world has spent some years watching and analysing his technique, Scheidt will not find it easy winning that elusive second gold in Athens. "There are a bunch of guys who are looking strong. There is Gustavo Lima from Portugal. Paul Goodison is the best of the British but there are plenty of guys coming up behind him. A couple of Swedes, Daniel Birgmark and Karl Suneson. A Polish guy Maciej Grabowski who won the Europeans, some promising Aussies and Kiwis. The Worlds in Cape Cod USA will be a sign of how things are likely to look for the next two years."

But at least Ainslie will not be there, although it seems like Scheidt would have preferred the opportunity for revenge after Sydney. "It would have been nice to have Ben back to race against him, but I have to respect his decision to go racing in the Finn. Despite everything that happened, I think we will respect each other on the race course again, and it would be nice for us to race each other again. But we are both young and sailing is a sport that you can do until 45-50 years old provided you are fit, so I think we will sail against each other again sometime."

Scheidt was said to be very angry about the way Ainslie match raced him out of contention in the final, nailbiting heat of the Sydney Games. He admitted: "Right after the moment I was upset, because I saw that I had a really good chance of winning a gold medal. But after I gave it some time I realised Ben did what he had to do, that's sailing, and I realised I should celebrate winning a silver medal. It was Sydney Harbour after all, and any of the favourites could have done badly. I was on the podium with a medal. I was sad at the beginning, but afterwards I was really happy. I think it was a great Olympics for all of us."