On arriving in Hyere I was looking forward to seeing how i would cope with the strong winds as i was now a bit lighter in preparation for China, I knew it was not going to be easy but I should benefit in the lighter winds.
Day 1
The breeze was onshore between 18 – 25 knots with a large sea. i didn’t start particularly well in the first race and had to duck pretty much the entire fleet leaving me on the right hand side of the course and in trouble as the left was favored. I climbed back from rounding in the 20s up to 16th by the finish.
Race 2 saw the breeze increasing again, with a heavily biased port end I started at the pin but struggled to get out of the line. This time i managed to stay to the favored left side of the course and round in contact with the leading bunch ending up 6th.
Day 2
Strong winds again, but this time off shore and shifty. It was snakes and ladders as the wind shifted and the gusts rolled down the course. I sailed a good first run to catch the leaders and ended up 4th. The second race of the day again saw an increase in wind, after a poor start i struggled up the first beat to pull back to 12th. After racing i went cycling for 50 km to think things over.
Day 3
The wind blew and blew with gusts of over 40 knots, the racing was cancelled just after 12. I tried to go windsurfing but the hire shop was reluctant to let anybody to take any equipment out in that much breeze. I sat at the beach frustrated and watched the pros looping around before going to the gym for an hour and then playing football with the guys, the Laser boys beat the 49er boys with ease nice work lads!!!
Day 4
The first day of finals and it was gold fleet racing. Race 1 saw fighting sea breezes increase slowly from two directions. The race got underway in shifty conditions. I got a great start and lead to the left hand side before a new breeze came from the right leaving a lot of work to do. I sailed a good reach and run before getting becalmed on the second beat to leave me in the last 10 boats and very frustrated!
In the next race i again started well leading out to the left before crossing the fleet and rounding the windward mark 2nd. I caught the leader and then passed on the run to lead up the last beat, the breeze switched directions and the race was abandoned to my frustration.
After a long wait and a tour round the bay we started again. I had a great start again and lead to the left, the wind wound right and i was unable to cross the boats on the right. A climbed a few places round the course but because of the large shift it was hard to make gains, finishing in the 20’s.
Day 5
I needed a good performance to make the medal race and with a 5-10 knot breeze it was all to play for. I started well in race 1 and crossed to cover most of the fleet, I rounded in the leading bunch and sailed through to finish 2nd.
In Race 2 i started well again but the right hand side was favored as i came from the left, I sailed a good run to leave me in the leading bunch. I sailed through to second on the next beat. There was a change of course and a mix up as we headed down to the leeward mark, the race was abandoned and the mark turned out to be the 470s windward mark.
It felt like the week was not meant to be as another race was called off when i was in a great position.
The time neared 7pm before another race got away again with the right hand side favoring i crossed from the left to round just inside the top 10, on the second beat i protected the right hand side to move up to 2nd. On the final run the wind started to die and it was a nice to cross the line in 2nd before the breeze disappeared.

Day 6
I had just made the medal race and was still in with a chance of medalling.
After watching the Finns race before us it was obvious it was going to be a tricky race as the wind wobbled around. In 7 knots of breeze we started. A managed to pick the breeze and the shifts well up the first beat to round 2nd before over taking the Canadian on the run. I extended up the second beat to sail a relaxed run to take the win. The Austrian sailed well on the last run to get back into 3rd overall leaving me with a 4th place overall.

After a mixed week of conditions I was happy with how I had sailed just a little frustrated with my starting early on in the week and disappointed that two races where abandoned one that i was leading the other 2nd, they never seem to get stopped when Im at the back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im back in the UK for a while off to Plas Menai for some Olympic team building and some UK based sailing before leaving for China in May
The games are getting closer and i cant wait