Beadsworth down but not downhearted

The GBR Challenge skipper tells Peter Bentley about some valuable lessons learnt in Fremantle

Andy Beadsworth and the GBR Challenge Team won two races from four on the penultimate - but for them the last - day of the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup.
Though out of the competition, Beadsworth was far from downhearted, seeing the Swedish Match Tour as a great opportunity to learn valuable lessons quickly. "We need to work on our teamwork and preparation. You need to be able to sail the boats fast and efficiently. We have won most of our matches in the light stuff. We are fast and have our heads out of the boat in light conditions. In the breeze we are just sailing."

For Beadsworth, a win in his match against Chris Dickson was perhaps the high point of the regatta. " We controlled him all the way through the pre-start. After the start, he just sailed away in more pressure but then we got the pressure and led by 10 boat lengths at the windward mark. Dickson looked like he was going to sail around us on the second beat but then we got the pressure and it was very close at the windward mark. We were engaged all the way down the second run and we were just one boat length apart at the finish."

Set against this Beadsworth felt he had been unlucky in his match with Gilmour. "On the first cross, Gilmour came in on port and both boats luffed head to wind. "We were not that confident he had completed his tack," said Beadsworth. "In fact we thought he was still on port. We engaged and tried not to have a collision, but we did make contact and we were penalised."

With a big programme to run and not a lot of time until the America's Cup, GBR Challenge will be fielding a team in most if not all the Swedish Cup regattas this season. "We have a lot of people we need to get used to match racing," said Beadsworth, "so it probably won't be the same crew for all the regattas. That will make it hard for us to win but the final result in the Swedish Match is not our goal. The goal is the America's Cup."

Like all the GBR Challenge team, Beadsworth is now looking forward to the arrival of the Japanese boats in the next few days. "That will be exciting," he said adding, "I am looking forward to opening the box and seeing our new toys."