Shirley Robertson

Windless Wednesday, Day 11, was a reserve day for the Europes and Lasers anyway, so madforsailing took the opportunity to talk to Shirley Robertson, currently in silver medal position in the Europes

mfs - You’re lying second overall, have things gone to plan so far?

SR - I think if you’d asked me three weeks ago, would I be happy being one point off the lead with three races to go - then yes, I would have been pretty chuffed. I’m glad I’m in contention for a gold medal, and we’re near the end of the event, so I’m pretty pleased. In Sydney Harbour, it’s very difficult to have a plan. It’s not really a speed venue, you have got to be on form and you have got to have a bit of luck and to keep yourself together. The only plan I had was to try and stay relaxed throughout the racing.

mfs - Today is a reserve day for you, how do you usually occupy your time?

SR - It’s very difficult to switch off but you try your best to relax, but generally I just have lunch, or go shopping or to the cinema. There’s generally not much in the way of boat-work, but today I washed my boat ready for tomorrow. You can’t really do anything, I mean you can’t go surfing or anything like that, and I don’t want to be outside too much. So it is difficult to fill your time and you’re never fully relaxed.
mfs - Sydney is your third Games, how does it compare to your previous Olympic experiences?

SR - In Barcelona I was a nipper, and hadn’t been doing it for very long and although I had great expectations, I was never going to win a medal. It was a great Olympic experience and I went to see everything and the sailing was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was more focussed in Savannah and I suppose the lesson I learnt there was not to be so desperate. Being older now, I think you put things more in perspective. Getting a medal here would be great, but it’s not everything in life.

mfs - Do you feel more pressure this time round?

SR - No, less pressure. Most of the pressure comes from yourself, although obviously everyone wants you to do well that only really affects you if you let it.

mfs - Are you feeling confident for the rest of the regatta?

SR - I think tomorrow, which isn’t the last day of racing, the plan will be to sail relaxed and to sail normally.

mfs - People talk about trying to treat the Olympics like any other regatta, how much are you able to do that?

SR - It’s important for me to do that and to do things as normally as I can. I mean, I don’t have my parents here because they don’t usually come to regattas. My boyfriend Jamie’s not here because he doesn’t usually come, and I’m working with the same coach, so there are less surprises.

mfs - Mark Littlejohn is your coach, how much has that helped you in your preparation and out here in Sydney?

SR - We’ve worked together over the last 18 months and I badgered him to come and work with me. He didn’t really want to come and coach at all, he much prefers sailing. He’s a very good sailor and that was something that I was really lacking, someone to bounce ideas off, and someone who understood the pressure and difficulties of sailing in my sort of boat and level. He understands all that.

It’s very difficult racing here and I can discuss things with him and ask him if he has any hunches. One thing that is difficult in single-handed racing is that it is just you and you have lots of ideas going through your head and it’s nice to have somebody who you trust and who you can bounce ideas off. We’ve done all the major regattas over the last 18 months together, so we’re used to working together in all circumstances. We’ve done regattas together where everything has gone well and it’s low stress, but we’ve also done some where we’ve been up against it. At the worlds last year, I was leading and was penalised for Rule 42 twice, we were in protests every night and it was really hard. Because we’ve been through the highs and lows together, we know how to react to each other and it works well.

mfs - How has seeing the 49er boys getting a medal affected you?

SR - There’re two sides to that, it’s great what they’ve done and the team is very buoyant at the moment. There are a few of us doing well in the second half of the regatta, and you can feel the confidence going round the boat park and at home. But it’s been quite difficult with a lot of people finishing, and with the medal ceremony and everything, it can often make you think about the outcome. But it’s really important for me and for other people, to just think about it one race at a time, one day at a time. So you really have to try and re-focus on the racing.

mfs - The single-handers in Team GB are famously good. Everyone expects them to place top three at every regatta they attend. Why do you think that is so?

SR - We have a good culture in Great Britain for single-handed sailing. The Laser is one of the strongest classes and all three of us (Percy, Ainslie and Robertson) have come from that. So there is a history of having good single-handed sailing at home and good training. I think you get a good level of competition early, both nationally and internationally. I’m a bit older than Ben and Iain, so I haven’t come through the same programme as them, but we have worked - to some extent - together. Iain and I have used the same sailmaker and sometimes the same coaches. Out here, we can always use each other’s opinions about weather or equipment so there is a bit of cross-information.

mfs - Thanks and good luck.