EYC Sailing news from "Down Under"
Posted On: December 22, 2009
CLAY JOHNSON HEADS HOME WITH SILVER IN HAND Laser sailor Clay Johnson is heading home
from Australia where he won an impressive silver medal at
Sail Melbourne Saturday, his best performance yet at an International
Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup event. In the 43-boat-strong
Laser class, Johnson grabbed two bullets and a second place during the
qualifying series and finished second overall to Canadian Michael Leigh
by a mere two net points. US SAILING interviewed the Laser up-and-comer
about this important result, his strengths on the water and how he
handled the time difference down under.
* How does it feel to win a silver medal and be on the podium at Sail
Melbourne?
I'm very pleased with my overall result, and am excited to start the
2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup season so strongly. Going into the event, my
goal was to make the medal race and hopefully finish in the top five, so
a podium finish exceeded my expectations. I've been training hard over
the past few months so it feels rewarding to see all of my work pay off.
* What were your strengths this regatta? What were the keys to your
success?
For most of the sailing in Melbourne, the left-hand side of the course
was favored. The Race Committee and most of the sailors knew this and
skewed the course to make the starting line and all gates right-side
biased. I think an important part to my success this past week was
knowing when to go for the left and when to take advantage of the skewed
course. I think I did a good job of processing the conditions and making
quick decisions. Having good starts also helped me, as I had the freedom
to go where I wanted.
* What were your challenges?
One thing that was different was the later start time than normal.
Racing each day started at 3 p.m., so it was tough to alter my regatta
routine around a late-afternoon start. There was a lot of free time in
the morning! I also think that mentally it was tough to sail at 6 or 7
p.m. when the sun was going down. The days felt longer than normal
sailing days because we had so much time in the morning, and then it was
a fire drill in the afternoon with sailing late into the day and all of
the after-race tasks to do. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/y9z68y7
