How does it feel to be in Galway?
It is mindboggling. I had some idea that it was going to be big here in Ireland, this ia a huge part of what our project is all about. Its not just about the sailing and shore team but the stopover as well. For me personally and for Justin and Ian to sail on this race on an Irish Boat back into Ireland that’s the stuff that dreams are made of. It is just brilliant, fantastic!
You didn’t just come home, you came home to a podium position!
That’s right, this is a leg that ultimately should have suited us a little bit more than some of the others but then you have to go out there an realize it. I think we did it in great fashion we have a really, really good team and I don’t think any of us regret the boat we’re on, the team we’re with, This is just fantastic, we’re still all great mates and looking forward to seeing this all the way through to the finish.
Some good decisions made in this leg as well, for instance not focusing on the scoring gate, and saying let’s make sure we finish the leg properly, was that true?
Absolutely. I think it is pretty clear where we’re at during the first section of the race which is flat water and very much more stability dependent which we knew wasn’t going to suit us too well so it was obvious that we weren’t going to race for the scoring gate. More importantly then we just needed to stay in touch and least during that period. We did lose a few miles. Telefonica Black had a lot of miles on us as we left the scoring gate, but once we got into the heavy air running the guys pushed the boat properly and the three of four gybes that we took. Ian and Ian nailed them and we had some good leverage and we were able to realize that and put it into miles ahead of the other boats. We were only a few minutes behind PUMA and a few ahead of Telefonica Blue. This is where we wanted to be coming into Galway.
What are you going to be doing in Galway over the next couple of weeks?
I have the family here so we are going to take a little bit of time together, but I think we’re all going to be very busy here as well, but ti is great. It is going to be a really fantastic two weeks and it is great to be able to show case a little bit what the sport is all about here in Ireland.
