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Slingsby in action at Weymouth during the 2012 Olympics where he finally slayed the dragon of Beijing. After his success in London he allowed himself to start exploring other sailing disciplines, having starved himself of distractions until that gold was in his pocket. A few months later he was busy preparing for his first Hobart race and not long after that was celebrating winning the America’s Cup
butter to me. Blackers doesn’t smile often but, mate, he was smiling that morning! Then he said, ‘This is all about you, it is not about anyone else out here. Just go out and do what you always do, and sail faster up and downwind in lumpy conditions.’ I used to love that as well. I loved sailing upwind next to someone,
looking over and seeing they are in pain, then lifting the game and just piling the pressure on them. I never looked at hiking as pain and I still don’t. Obviously it is uncomfortable, but I look at the guy next to me and I bet they are in more pain and that drives me. I love that feeling, and so I have the confidence that as a
competitor you won’t out-muscle me. Even if they are fitter I enjoy the pain and I am sure they don’t… so in Weymouth Blackers just gave me a smile and said, ‘This is your day, do what you always do.’ And so I went out and got a second and a first on day 1, and that was a great settler. On day 1 in Beijing I had a 21st and a 22nd, so panic stations really. So day one at Weymouth 2012 proved it is a totally different campaign. A disaster is not going to happen if I get in the rhythm here. SH: And later in the middle of the regatta what was Blackers saying? TS: ‘Just keep going.’ After four races I had a nice lead and, as I said, Blackers doesn’t show any emotions, at a small club regatta or at the Olympics he is the same. But then in the middle of that 2012 Olympics things suddenly started going wrong – I started making stupid errors. In one race I lost to four boats at the finish line when I was clear ahead with 30m to go. I missed a couple of waves and giving away points like that just drove me insane. Around then also the Cypriot sailor Pavlos Kontides was taking
extreme risks and it just kept working for him. Blackers and I kept saying to each other, ‘It’s working for him now but it can’t last’, but it did last. Then we moved to the Nothe Course in Weymouth and in race seven I had a 14th, my drop, and I was furious. The next race we moved inside the harbour, where it was really shifty… and by this stage Pavlos had overtaken me. I was believing I was choking again so Blackers was really trying to keep my emotions in check. There are images of me winning the last race of the penultimate
day which are published more often than me winning gold on the final day. As I crossed the line screaming, roaring and banging the deck. There were three races still to go, I had scored a 14th, but I had swung the momentum back my way by winning that race. Coming in I think I said something pretty stupid to Blackers like, ‘It’s over. I am going to win every race from now on…’ But it was as if a lightbulb had flicked on with my confidence and the next day I took two wins. I didn’t win the medal race but I didn’t have to! SH: Fast forward, you become skipper of the Australian SailGP boat.
34 SEAHORSE
Part of that job involves working with Philippe Presti, continuing a coach-athlete relationship from the Oracle days. TS: Philippe is very much like Blackers, very methodical, planning everything out, doing everything in playbooks. And so if he sees a situation on the water where we lost out, or it wasn’t clear what the right move was, he analyses it and plays out 10 different ways you could approach the situation. He then comes up with the highest percentage move and that forms part of your playbook. His playbook archive is legendary, with every situation you could
encounter for slower-displacement boats and high-performance boats, factoring in the speed and manoeuvrability. So we work through it constantly. With our first SailGP win, coming into a bottom mark with another boat ahead, are we gybing on layline for a left or right turn? That morning we were debating that exact scenario with around 30 options, working it through, coming up with a play. And sure enough with Team Japan that scenario played out, we did what we decided was the right move and it worked out well for us. SH: And the whole team can take it in through the playbook, even the newer members. TS:Exactly. In general Philippe and I would work through more plays, debating each scenario, and then in the team briefing identify the key ones we would use. So Philippe is very good at that – plus he is a really great person with a calming voice. I have quite a temper and people say he is someone who can calm me down. Usually when someone tells me to calm down I get angrier! SH: And now you are in a position to coach the younger sailors… TS: I don’t see myself as a coach yet! But I think Philippe’s analogy of a coach simply being a good sailor looking at it from a different perspective is a good one. When I am coaching Moths, Wazps or other foiling boats I guess I can give a very technical understanding – say more rudder lift to keep the bow wand connected to the surface more, and I talk about foils in-line and the lowest drag set-up. It’s about relaying or recycling my knowledge. I don’t know yet how I would go in a super high-level environment
but basically I would just take Philippe’s approach, offering the observations from my perspective, and watching the best opposition on the water and analysing them. For example, in the last SailGP in Sydney Philippe was concentrating on the British boat a lot, figuring out why they were doing well, spotting the differences. SH: With Philippe moving to the US SailGP team, you are looking for a new coach for the Australian team. What are the key attributes you are looking for? TS: Talented, technical, structured. And a good friend to everyone! Blue Robinson
ALAMY
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