Once again the clock is ticking to get another boat ready and trucked to France.
Two months ago, the three full time Figaro sailors (Ed, Jack and Mark) made the move to La Grande Motte. Since then have sailed almost every day, tucked into french cuisine and hit the gym. The intensity of their training programme at the CEM training centre means that they are learning at an accelerated pace, training with some of the top French guys.
Meanwhile, back at Academy H.Q. in Cowes, the Mini has been undergoing a refit, to be ready for it's own move. This week we prepared the boat to go into the shed, which meant removing the graphics, taking off all the ropes and making sure the boat was ready for transport on the road. There are a few gel coat repairs to be done, a fresh coat of antifoul to be applied, and the boat to be repainted with new branding applied- I'll let you know next week what the boat looks like, but it will no longer be grey! You can watch a video of the rig being lifted on the video section of my website.
Nikki has a lot to get in done over the coming two weeks, with the aim to be in Lorient at the end of the month. Some of the tasks include researching which charts are needed for all the races this season, ordering spares, ensuring all the correct equipment is taken with the boat and most importantly, ensuring that everything complies with class rules. Unfortunately I'm not able to spend quite as much time helping to get the boat repaired, as I'm continuing with my role as Sailing Project Assistant. 2013 is going to be an even busier year than the last two seasons for the Academy; this time round we have three groups of sailors (the 3 full timers in France, Nikki and I with the Mini, and four students based in the UK), which triples the logistical planning, communication and organisation that needs to be done. Plus of course there are the corporate events and selection trials in the summer and
towards the end of the year, the planning of which
all starts now.
On top of this I've still been doing my care work; I know my rounds well know, and can whip up some sausage and mash followed by ice-cream and jelly quite quickly. Seems to be a Favorite with most of the people I see. It does however mean some very early mornings to get to the gym before starting by day in the office, which is difficult when there the sunlight hours are so short. Still getting the exercise in does seem to be making a difference- by 4 hour bike ride at the weekend wasn't too painful at all, with another 70 mile ride planned for Sunday. With some new thermals I'm all ready for the cold weather that is coming!