Back on the Water

I launched my new boat on Saturday! Apart from being pretty excited to finally put it on the water, I was also (in part) dreading being back on the water for the first time since the last day of my National Championship in early January this year. I sail a Laser Radial now and due to injury and work commitments I've been out of the boat for 10 months which will normally lead to a significant drop in skills and specific endurance, so knowing that it was going to be relatively windy wasn't exactly inspiring as I had visions of not only spending a lot of time upside down but being in quite bit of pain while sailing upwind. As it turned out skills and endurance don't seem to have been too badly affected by the break and if memory serves me correctly I might even have been better in some areas than when I last sailed the boat - go figure! To be fair I have spent some time in the gym over the past few weeks, but it was all rehab work and I can't hold any of it responsible for the level I was at on Saturday. Must be down to subliminal learning.....big thanks in that case to the NSW Youth team sailors I was coaching for three days straight before Saturday.!