BECTON

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Sarah Blanck

You can also keep up to date with her sailing career through viewing her website at: http://www.sarahthesailor.com/

Becton is excited to sponsor rising yachting star and world champion Sarah Blanck in her quest for Gold at the Olympic Games in Athens. Yachting is a sport that receives very little media coverage and it is very hard for aspiring sailing champions to gain the funding they need to compete on the international circuit. Becton has committed to sponsor Sarah up to the Olympics with an option to extend.

Just over three years ago, Australian reigning world champion sailor and Olympic medal prospect Sarah Blanck stepped out of her Europe-class dinghy and, after 13 years of hard work and sacrifice, she walked away from the sport.

It was at the end of the third and final day of the last Sydney Olympic qualifying regatta held in the tropical waters of Bahia, Brazil. Sarah had been sailing well until then and was ahead of her Australian rivals but something went wrong.

“I just did not sail well”, she says.

“We had three races that day and we ended tied on points. But (Melanie Dennison) the girl who beat me, won on the last day, which meant she qualified to represent Australia at the Games”.

Sarah, 26, has been sailing since encountering the sport as a 10-year-old on family holidays at Blairgowrie on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Over the years there has been a price to pay for her love of the water. She’s had to abandon other sports, both netball and basketball have fallen by the wayside, and her ever-supportive family has spent thousands of dollars on equipment and travel to regattas all over the world.

But failing to realise her dream of Olympic competition was simply too much. “I was so disappointed. I ended up getting pretty frustrated, thinking, Is it worth it? What am I doing this for?‚ I was so annoyed I just gave it all up”, she says.

Sarah returned to Sydney and buried herself in her work as a graphic designer, enjoying the profession she had studied at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, and took the opportunity to do “a bit of travel overseas”.

But sailing hadn’t finished with Sarah. “Around Christmas 2001 there were a couple of regattas in Australia and I thought well, I’ll go back and try it out and see if I like it”.

Sarah says she rediscovered the fun of competition. “The best thing was I didn’t put any pressure on myself, I just went out there and went sailing”.

After doing well in last June’s European Championships in Germany, Sarah decided to have a stab at last year’s big event, the World Championships at Hamilton on Canada’s Great Lakes. She still laughs at the memory: “I went and I won. The world championships had never gone to a non-European sailor before”.

“A lot of the girls were pleased just to see me racing again when I first re-started but to win the World title was a bit of a surprise”. Now Sarah has her sights set on the Athens Olympics in 2004. Her coach, national Europe class coach Craig Ferris says she is a definite medal contender. “She’s a very naturally talented sailor. She’s very intelligent with plenty of drive and the will to win is enormous”, he says.

Sarah’s World Championship victory assured Australia of an Olympic starting place but she must now qualify herself. A strong performance in January’s Sail Melbourne event, and top Australian finisher at the recently completed 2003 European Championships have put her ahead of the pack and she’s now training hard, up to five days a week on the waters around Balmoral in Sydney and sessions in the gym and on her bicycle.

But most importantly there are still two upcoming designated Olympic qualifying events, which Sarah has to compete in to ensure she gets to Athens. This year they will involve several trips to Europe including the opportunity to defend her world title in Cadiz, Spain.

Sarah estimates the total cost just to get to the starting line this year will be in the region of $55,000. A big chunk of that is coming through Becton’s sponsorship. “Becton’s support is so important because it’s getting me overseas basically”, Sarah says.

“It’s getting me to my competitions and my Olympic trials and I know a lot of other competitors are really struggling because it is so expensive”.

“It is huge support”, Sarah says.

Is Becton’s faith in Sarah well placed? &ldquo ;For sure”, says Craig Ferris. “She’s a winner”.

4th on the World Rankings!, 3rd May 2007

Hi Everyone,

I’ve just returned home from Europe and see that I’m now number 4 in the World.

After finishing the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, it was off to Hyeres. I was in Hyeres for 3 weeks. Two weeks of training and then the Grade 1 Hyeres Regatta. The weather in Southern France was just amazing, and we got to do lots of training before Hyeres regatta started. Everyday, the sun was out, the wind was perfect, and the temperature was about 25 everyday. Hyeres is lovely part of France, it’s a wonderful town, which is fantastic for fresh produce…lots of nice cheeses, crossiants & pastries and so on… It was a great place to train, I’d spend 3-4hours on the water each day, and then the rest of the time, was spent bike riding, and finding nice things eat! Also, spending 3 weeks in one place, I was lucky enough to get a delivery from Helly Hansen in Norway, with lots of nice new gear…

Hyeres Regatta, was quite possibly one of the toughest regatta’s I’ve competed in since changing classes to the Laser Radial. I finished 8th out of the 105 girls competing, which I’m really happy with. Hyeres regatta was tough for a few reasons. I’ve been trying quite a few new things in training in regards to strategy, which I’m now trying to implement into my racing, and what a regatta to start doing some of these things…it was very light wind for the majority of the time, and the fleet was close because of this. So with some of these things I was trying, if I did not do it correctly it was very obvious I’d made a mistake as I got passed by 20 boats, not just 2! On saying that, it was great, to know what my coach Ian has been trying to teach me in training, will work, when I get more practice! and will help me long term with my big fleet racing. I was really pleased to win the last race too!

Winning the last race of Hyeres, and sailing well in the Medal Race was a good feeling on leaving Europe, and come home for a 6 week training block. I’ve been home for a day now. Today the World Rankings were released after the results from Hyeres. I have moved up to number 4 in the World. It’s been exactly 1 year of racing & training for me since launching my campaign, and number 4 in the World is a show of the hard work I’ve put in over the last year and something I’m proud of.

Until next time...Bye for now,
Sarah

Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, February 2007

Hi Everyone,

After a very busy December and New Year period, January has taken me on a very long journey to the other side of the world and back.

Yesterday I returned home from Miami. It was a quick trip.... I was there for 10 days, 9 long days out on the water training and competing. I was competing in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. It was a great regatta to go to, and I'm so thankful I made the decision to attend. Even though I went to compete in light weather conditions, as sailing goes, the conditions weren't really as expected. Over the 12 race series, we only had 2 light wind races on the Laser Radial course. The rest was medium to heavy conditions. One day was so cold I'd wished I hadn't packed my beanie in the shipping container to Europe!

After competing on the domestic circuit for more than a month, it was time to go and see where I'm was at against the rest of the World. As this had been my focus throughout the Australian summer. Although I'm happy in general, the regatta didn't go so well for me as far as results are concerned, I finished 11th out of the 69 girls competing. Unfortunately this meant that I didn't get to compete in the new 'medal race' format (the top 10 boats race on the last day), but it did give me a great opportunity to watch the medal racing from the outside and learn a lot. I had a couple of unfortunate incidents throughout the regatta, but still my strengths faroutweighed some of these weaknesses and was a great experience to go through.

As far as the rest of picture, the regatta was perfect. It was my first regatta working solely with the new National Laser Radial Coach, and was so nice to have feedback and input to my racing and program after a long period of training and racing on my own. Ian's given me lots to think about, and appreciate how much there's to learn and work towards over the coming months before Qingdao. The regatta has highlighted other areas that I need spend more of my time focusing on too.

I've come home, tired, but with a renewed approach to my training, and enthusiasm in progress to be made in my racing. I'm very happy with where I'm at in preparation for a big season ahead in Europe. With only 7 weeks until I leave, I've got a nice period of training to look forward too.

For the month of February ahead, it's all training! I've got a Laser Radial training camp in Melbourne for 10 days, and then a weeks camp in Hamilton Island at the end of the month.

Unfortunately there are no photos for this months update, my camera was stolen somewhere between Miami & Melbourne, hopefully I'll get some to you next update...

Until next time, thank you for your wonderful support...
Sarah.

Latest Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 7th Janurary 2007

Hi Everyone,

December has been so busy and really successful for me with the Australian summer of regattas.

It started with Go for Gold, at Black Rock YC in Melbourne. The regatta was a great start to the summer. With 10 races scheduled over 3 days. The weekend offered every condition possible, from a light easterly to windysouth westerlies. It was a great regatta, with coaching given to us from Yachting Victoria throughout. I sailed a consistent regatta and I won...a nice start to the Summer.

From Go for Gold I had a bit of trainining time with Megan & John to keep trying to get our sailing fitness up, in preparation for the rest of summer and especially for Europe in early 2007. I also got to head down to Sorrento for a day of coaching the minnows. The new club is just amazing, and
such a lovely place to be, especially on days like the 42degree day that it was when I was coaching.

Also, I have a new boat for this coming year. So as by tradition, my boat was kindly blessed by my Auntie saying a few words and some champagne poured on the bow, my new boat is called "sea bee..." and so far she's been very good luck.

Mid December it was up to Sydney...I shared the drive with Megan which was fun. We had a great trip together, pretty much free of any hicups...welluntil 5minutes til our arrival. For some reason or another, we noticed the top boat of the two on the trailer had tilted, and the tie down rope hadcome off...we happened to be driving over the Harbour bridge....a quick stop on the bridge in peak hour traffic, and we were back on our way.

For the 2 days before Sydney International Regatta (SIRS) I had committments with the Australian Sailing Team, having a photo shoot on the harbour. It was then straight into the regatta.

SIRS was the best regatta of the Summer...we had 10 races over the 4 days, we had good competition too... girls from Mexico, Canada and the UK werehere to compete. It was also a regatta of mixed conditions from 5 knots to 30 knots on the last day, and Sydney Harbour offered nearly every randomdirection it could. I won SIRS, 2nd was Richard Bott from Sydney, and 3rd was Lizzie Vickers from Great Britan.

SIRS also came with a new coach! Ian Nealy from New Zealand, he will be with me through to Beijing Olympics. He coached me for SIRS to see where I was at, and same again, he will coach me at the end of January for a regatta in Miami. From then on, he will be coaching me at all regattas I will be doing, and also for training. I'm looking forward to having him, and I think
he's got lots to help me on!

From SIRS, I was home for 4 days, having Christmas with my Family and then Boxing Day I was on plane to Hobart for the Nationals. Hobart was great, with all the Sydney to Hobart Yachts coming down the river, there was lots to look at and sometimes hard to actually focus my racing, as the big
boats were a lot more interesting! I had my family and boyfriend with me in Hobart, and we enjoyed watching Wild Oats finish, and looking at all the yachts in the Marina. The racing for the Nationals was 12 races over 6 days. It was quite windy at the beginning, and then slowly eased as the
regatta went on. We didn't have all the internationals that we had in Sydney, but there were a few from Tahiti & Noumea. Over the regatta I had all top 5 finishes, and my drop being a 9. But unfortunately, I finished 2nd in the regatta due to protest over the Sailing Instructions, the final result of this meant that I finished 2nd, to Krystal, and third overall was Noumea.

From Hobart, I went to the Mirror Nationals to their presentation dinner. Where I gave a brief talk, and presented plenty of trophies to all of the competitors...it was a really nice night, and great to see so many kids sailing, with their families...and to see lots of girls sailing which isnice to see.

I'm now back in Melbourne for 10 days, and then I'm off to Miami, which has been my main focus for the Summer. The Australian Sailing team had to make a decision on Sail Melbourne or Miami, and we've all been advised to attend Miami OCR. I've had a great lead up with the regattas here in OZ, and it's looking to be a great regatta to attend, I'm looking forward to seeing how I go after training over here without any reference since September 2006. There is already over 60 girls entered, the quality of the fleet racing there is fantastic.

Until Miami,
Sarah

Latest Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 12th November 2006

Hi Everyone,

This past month's taken me to Port Stephens & Hamilton Island...I'm very lucky to do a sport by the sea!

After a my month off for September, I got back into training gradually in October. Just took it slowly to avoid injury and illness, and it seems to have worked generally.

I've started working on a long term plan for both on water & off water training, psycology, nutrition etc...with Mark Tonner-Joyce. And so now I get to have a recovery day every week which is pretty exciting, meaning I get to take it easy for a day. This plan also means I have to work harder on the days I am training, and then spend a lot more time on recovery on training days too (like ice baths, massage, physio & nutrition).

This months been quite busy with a bit of travel. Both to lovely destinations. In the middle of October I flew to Sydney and met with Erik Stibbe, where we then drove to Port Stephens for the NSW Coast Championships. I decided to do this regatta as I thought we'd have a reasonable amount of Laser Radials. We had 39 competing which was good for the starting practice. I had hoped to win all 4 races over the weekend, but only won 3! I still won the regatta which was nice. Port Stephens didn't really provide the weather I'd hoped for though, rain, wind and cold wasn't what I was expecting...especially when it was so nice in Melbourne. Port Stephens is still a beautiful part of the NSW coast and I'm glad I made the trip for the weekend regatta.

My next trip (last weekend in October) was to Hamilton Island. Hamilton Island now sponsors the Australian Sailing Team, so we are very lucky to have the oportunity to use the Islands facilities for our training. We had a
4 day AST camp, where we had many many lectures, sailing in the afternoons, individual meetings with nutrition, psycology, fitness etc...as well as fitness testing. It was a very busy camp, and was really beneficial. We also had a Sponsors & Patrons dinner, which was good to spend time with those who are supporting us towards our goals in Beijing. As Team Captain, Malcom Page and myself did a talk/presentation on belhalf of the team. I'm glad i was given this opportunity as it's always good practice for me! We also did some racing on 47ft yachts (muck bigger than a laser radial!), which I was skipper off (see the photos attached of my crew for the day and me as skipper!)

I'm back from the camp now, but not for long, I'm heading back to Hamilon Island next week for a Laser specific training camp. Arthur Brett will be coaching us there which will be great to have some coaching support for the
9 days.

That's all for now...
Sarah

Skippering team

Latest Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 12th October 2006

Hey Everyone!

I'm sailing quickly up the World Rankings! Just 10 months ago, after my break from Athens I did my first Laser Radial Regatta. I entered the World rankings in 83rd. Today, the World rankings have been released after the World Championships & Qindao Pre Olympic regatta, and I have skyrocketed, in August I was in 40th to now.... October, I've moved up into 11th!

I think now's a good time to just take a brief review of the last 6months since making the decision to go for Beijing 2008, before I move into the next phase of my campaign.

Almost a year to the day, I was living in Sydney, working in an amazing career moving job, living a "normal" life. I'd met with my coach from the Athens Olympics, Erik Stibbe for lunch, it was a normal catch up for us. This time though, on a lovely day in Sydney, he asked that I call Victor Kovalenko. He had something he wanted to talk with me about.

Intrigued? I was, so I rang Victor, he suggested I go to the Laser Radial World Championships, which were being held in 2 months time (Dec 05) in Brazil. It was not something I had even thought about, although the Laser Radial and Beijing was something that kept popping up in my mind. Quite often I'd be at work, see the trees moving outside and wish...wish I could be somewhere else.

I had only a week to decide on the World Championships as entries closed at 10pm on a Friday night. I decided at 9pm, got the credit card out & paid the whopping entry fee, now I knew there was no turning back from here! I thought why not? I have the opportunity, I have nothing to lose, and a great chance to see if I should stop daydreaming and consider my dreams of Beijing which have been with me since I finished the last race in Athens Olympic games. I went to Brazil and finished 13th of 80 boat...not bad since I'd only trained for 5 weeks & had not raced a boat since August 2004!

This all got me thinking seriously...So late last year I resigned from my job, moved back to my parents place in Melbourne.

6 months ago, on 30th March, I officially launched at RBYC that I will be going for Beijing 2008, going for a medal. On the night, there was lots of support from the sailing community and John Bertrand and Simon McKeon become patrons of my campaign, my new look website was re-launched and BECTON was announced as my first Gold Sponsor.

Since that day of decision & launching in March 6 months ago...it's been full steam ahead... I've been to Italy, Austria, Holland, back to Italy, back home, to the USA, back home, to Qingdao in China, and now back home...I've been back for 4 weeks now. I've just had the month of September off the water, and giving myself a bit of a break as the next 12 months are going to be very hard. Heaps of training and regattas before my Olympic Selections, which are just around the corner.

What a wonderful and challenging year its been. In the regattas I've competed in I've had all top 10 finishes against the 90 boat fleets, including a Bronze Medal at the World Sailing Games. These results have made it possible for me to compete in every Medal race (the new format of racing for the Olympic Games). And this was a goal at the start my campaign, this experience I believe will be so valuable in August 2008. I'm especially happy with this year, for a few reasons. It's not so much the results at the moment, but about the regattas and what I'm learning and how I'm adjusting to the Laser Radial, and the fleet. Another nice thing was I was the Team Captain with Malcom Page in China.

I was stuck with a terrible virus in May (during my 2nd regatta - Holland Regatta), so since then I've had to stop all training, and just competed in the big regattas so that I had the strength to get through. On top of the virus, I've been catching anything, and also had tonsilitus...twice. 4 days ago, I finally stopped my medication!

This experience has only made me more determined, more willing and more appreciative of how your health effects you not only physically but mentally. A month in bed before a World Championships gives you plenty of time to think! But trying not to think in a negative way is a challenge, and I'm proud of myself and the work I've been doing to get through this. I've definitely come out stronger from the last 6 months.

Health is so important and when it comes to Yacht racing, being able to make clear decisions, in the level of Olympic sailing is huge. One wrong decision and you can go from 1st to 10th or worse! I cannot afford any of these mistakes as my goal is the podium, not just finishing in the top 10.

The next 12-18 months looks very bright with all this in mind. Even though I've had these challenges, I've had a great time. My days are spent, going to the gym, run or cycling, a bit of work or coaching, physio or pilates and then sailing in the afternoon, its a wonderful opportunity and I am lucky to still be able to do it now. You get to travel to the most amazing places in the world and experience some very interesting cultures... Like China.

China, what an amazing place. I have just returned from 3 weeks in Qingdao, the Olympic Sailing city. It's a fair distance from Beijing, but you wouldn't think the Olympics are anywhere else. On arrival, at the airport, there are billboards on the side of the runway. You even get an express que through customs if you're an athlete!

The city is varied, it's in a huge development phase (like the rest of China!) Buildings going up everywhere. The taxi drivers are crazy, and the smells on the street and less than desirable. But all in all, the city is a lovely back drop to the sailing. Sailing in China was challenging, but a great challenge. Huge tides...Huge! Quite often you spent your time going backwards, or with your foot dragging in the water to stop you drifting away from the starting line, but as long as you have patience and focus, this venue for the Olympic Games will be an exiting one. I enjoyed the sailing in Qingdao, there was such a variety in conditions. I'm really excited about my training and racing that I will be doing there over the next 2 years.

I'm back in Melbourne now, about to get back into this week which is great. I'm slowly building up training on and off the water, for the summer circuit here in OZ. We have training camps in Hamilton Island (lifes tough!), then regattas in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart & Melbourne. Then it's back overseas at the end of January.

Thank you for your wonderful support over the last 6 months.

Cheers,
Sarah
www.sarahthesailor.com

Latest Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 3rd July 2006

Hello Everyone!

Firstly, sorry to those of you who have missed my last couple of updates...I hope I've sorted out my email list and you do receive this one.

The month of July has been mostly a very, very quiet time. I returned from Europe, unfortunately still unwell, and this has continued right up until just a week ago. Struck with a virus and tonsillitis, it’s been all sleep and rest for the last month. No sailing, no exercise, nothing. Just lots of TLC from the family!

The nice surprise for July was that I was named Victorian Female Sailor of the Year, for the 3rd year in a row for winning the National Championships this year. It was a refreshing surprise and lifted my spirits. I did make a brief visit to the awards, and it was great to receive the award in person this year.

Right now I’m in Los Angeles, in preparation for the 2006 World Championships which start in 5 days. I arrived here 2 days ago. LA is in the middle of a heat wave at the moment, where the city is struggling to keep up with power, and many shops and restaurants are closed due to power shortage.

I have to say it hasn’t exactly been text book preparation for the 2006 World Championships over the last 2 months, but there is nothing I can and would change under the circumstances that have occurred, so all I can do now is be thankful that my health is returning in time, and I will take each day as it comes and just see what happens. You just never know... as anything can happen in sailing!

Racing starts on the 30th of July through to 4th August. You will be able to find links to results via: www.sailing.org and I'll try and keep my website updated too!

Bye for now,
Sarah

Sarah Blanck, Lou Abrahams & John Burgess at the Yachting Awards

Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 3rd June 2006

A very good month continued in Europe, especially all things considering.

I'm back in Australia now. I returned a week ago. Since my update from May a fair bit has happened, but also not much at all!

Unfortunately in my last few days of Holland regatta, I was getting the dreaded flu symptoms. I'm now back in Australia, 1 month later and I am still sick....as you will read, I have had lots of tests, and now that I'm home the VIS doctors are being fabulous and trying hard to get me better. So far, it’s been a virus, in which I cannot stop coughing and huge fatigue. Last week I got tonsillitis just to top things off! I'm glad to be home, Mums are very good nurses!

Looking sad at the Hospital in Germany having tests.

So back to Europe:
After Holland Regatta, it was a big drive to Riccione in Italy. I travelled with our head coach, Victor. We went from Medemblik in Holland, up to Hamburg to pick up a new centreboard after the breakage in the regatta. Then we made our way back down Europe towards Italy. It was a funny trip. One day, as I was still sick from Holland, we decided we should find out what was wrong. We stopped at a big Hospital outside Munich. Wow, did they do some tests, 4 blood tests, a chest x-ray and 3 hours later I was allowed to go. Declaring I had a virus which takes between 2-3 weeks to get better. Victors remedy...Lets go and relax for a day or two at Lake Garda. Sounded like a great idea to me!

Lake Garda, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too. We wandered the small streets, took some amazing photos (will put some on the website when I get back to OZ), rested lots, and ate some delicious Italian food. I thought I was feeling better.

We arrived in Riccione 5 days after our trip began. Meeting up with Tytus for some training before the Europeans still coughing and not healthy, it was decided that I had to stay in bed. 4 days later, I was still in bed, I had watched 12 episodes of lost, and 9 of Sex and the City and too much MTV! Finally the day before the regatta I started to improve, the doctor was right, and the timing was perfect to get better. Thankfully.

In the European Championships I finished 6th. I’m so happy with my regatta. I learnt so much tactically and also so much about new conditions which a quite different to home, as well as psychology. It was a very valuable regatta for me. The Europeans was a 6 day regatta, but with only 4 days of racing. The conditions were very light. I only used my hiking pants for 1 race. The regatta was won by Evi from Belgium, 2nd Gintare LTU, and 3rd Penny GBR. Final results can be found here: http://www.assolaser.org/2006/euroradial/Results/Female.htm

It was a great finish to a very enjoyable trip to Europe. 3 regattas and 3 top 10 finishes including a Bronze Medal.

So now, I'm home for another 3 weeks, and then it's off to Los Angeles to the World Championships. Even with the lack of training I have been able to do of late, I am still remaining positive and happy that I can put in a good regatta at the World Championships. I must remember that what I am doing this year, is part of a long term plan, not just what happens now. I'm sure that everything happens for a reason, and this little month of setbacks is only testing me as to how much I want a medal in Beijing, and how hard I am prepared to push myself to get there.

Until next update...which will be immediately after the World Championships,
Stay healthy!
Sarah

Yacht club for the Europeans!

Sailing in Riccione - Italy

Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 11th May 2006

Hi Everyone, I’ve got two updates here as you will see why...

The “oldest” one is first.. then follows the “most recent” update.

I’m currently sitting at Melbourne airport, waiting for the departure of my Austrian Airlines flight to Europe. I’ve just had a big good bye family lunch, so I am very full, and very keen to get on board and watch some movies!

The last month has been fairly “normal.” Since the state championships at the beginning of the month, I‘ve been working very hard in the gym and have been slowly tapering down my sailing in preparation for Europe.

In the gym, I’ve been doing quite a lot of weights, as I am trying to put on a few extra kilograms to compete successfully in the Laser Radial. I’ve also been doing a couple of bike/rower sessions a week too. On the water, I’ve been mainly focussing on my boat handling skills, as now that winter has started to appear, most of my training partners have gone into hibernation, which means my training options can become limited.

So right now, I’m off on a 2 month trip to Europe, competing in 3, Grade 1 regattas. I start with an Australian Sailing Team camp tomorrow, in Varese - Italy. A fairly relaxed camp of sailing, gym and time out before the big events begin. We are sailing on a lake just north of Milan for a week, before driving our boats to Austria. In Austria, is the first big regatta.

This regatta is named the “World Sailing Games.” It is for selected sailors only - 2 per country for each class of boat. I will be sailing, along with another Melbourne girl, Krystal Weir. The regatta will be from the 10-20th March, and results can be found via the following website: www.sailing.org

Better be off, plane is boarding in 5 minutes!

Next report will be from Europe.

I’ve been in Europe for a week now. I flew into Milan, where I was picked up by my new coach from the airport, and we drove to meet the rest of the Australian team as a “team camp” for 6 days in a very ‘remote’ village 45 minutes from Milan. It was a beautiful place, called Monvalle, on a lovely lake, with snow capped mountains; Switzerland on one side, Italy on the other. Monvalle is renowned for having very light winds, and this is why we went there, in preparation for the World Sailing Games, starting in 2 days in Austria. We had a bit of down time, and this was when the AIS cycling team came and visited. We had a BBQ, played some cricket and AFL. It was nice to catch up with some other Australian Athletes on the other side of the world. They have a training base about an hour from where we were, with all facilities which we were able to access if needed, like physio.

Yesterday we left Italy and have driven 11 hours to Austria (another lake, half an hour from Vienna). Not quite as an amazing landscape, but still very nice.

We have the World sailing games starting in 2 days. This regatta goes for 10 days. We have 5 days of heats, and then 5 days of finals. I will try to keep you updated throughout. You can follow my progress following the links via www.sailing.org

I was so desperate to email, I drove around the streets of this little town until I found a house with some reception. So I’m currently sitting in a small town in Austria, in my car, with laptop on my lap, using someone else’s wireless!

Until next time,
Sarah.

Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 4th April 2006

Hi all at Becton,

Wow, where do I start? For those who’ve known me prior to Athens 2004 Olympics, you’ll know that I came so close to a medal it was a shame I didn’t get it.

Since Athens, it’s been a tough and challenging road to where I am today. But wow, what a learning experience it’s been for me, and those around me.

I decided post Athens to focus on my Graphic Design career. I took a wonderful job as the Graphic Designer for the Commonwealth Games. It was a fantastic opportunity to get my career on track again after 2 years of sailing. I was with M2006 for 9 months, and then moved to Sydney to a top Design Studio, where I worked for some amazing clients, it was a great learning experience for me.

In this time of work, I realised one thing. I knew I can do better in sailing. I knew I can. I’ve got the experience and also the past results to prove I’m capable of anything I’d like to achieve. It’s time to not be afraid of achieving and to be proud of what I do. In this thought pondering period, I decided to buy the new Olympic class boat the “Laser Radial” and see if I felt I still had “it.” And I’m pleased to say...I believe I have. And I believe now more than ever.

I officially launched my Olympic Campaign to Beijing last Thursday 30th
March, hosting a Cocktail party at Royal Brighton Yacht Club, re-launching my website www.sarahthesailor.com, and announcing BECTON as my first Gold sponsor.

Even though I launched my campaign last week, I did start back sailing and training 6 days a week at the beginning of the year. I made the decision to move back to Melbourne and resign from full time work so I could focus on my goal of gold in Beijing. Something I truly believe in. It’s been a great success so far and everything is “sailing” along smoothly.

In January, I won the National Championships, by the narrowest of margins, 1pt! This last weekend 1/2 April, we had the Victorian State Championships from Port Melbourne. We had 4 races over the weekend and I won all four races!...except...to my own error, there is a special rule in the Laser class, you are not allowed inside a certain area with 1 minute prior to the start under any circumstances. Unfortunately, I entered this area which meant I lost my 1st place in the first race. I’m glad I made this mistake now and not overseas at a Grade 1 regatta.

So after the success of my sailing over the weekend and my training being on track. I’m very pleased to say I’m happy so far with my sailing progress. I feel I’ve developed so much since my experience in Athens and I am grateful I’ve the opportunity to take my sailing and development even further.

Until then, thank you for your support again BECTON...

Warmest regards,
Sarah (the sailor)

Progress Report from Sarah Blanck, 27th March 2006

It’s official, I’m back sailing again, with one goal in mind.

Today is the beginning of my 2008 Beijing Olympic Campaign in the new Olympic Single handed dinghy, the Laser Radial.

To launch my campaign, I’m holding a cocktail party where my campaign Patrons Mr John Bertrand and Mr Simon McKeon will be speaking, and Yachting Australia President Mr Andrew Plympton will be MC for the evening. I will be officially announcing my first Gold Sponsor, BECTON, along with supporting sponsors Helly Hansen, Interlease & CMG. I will also be launching my “new look” website, and sponsorship opportunities.

With 100 guests, Singapore Airlines, Port Phillip Wines, Sanpellegrino Mineral
Water and Chandon all donating for the night it will be a great party, a fun way to kick off my campaign, a wonderful opportunity to catch up with previous sponsors and supporters, and a time to meet new ones.

Royal Brighton Yacht Club and Sorrento Sailing and Couta Boat Club, are jointly supporting my campaign, and I look forward to working with both Yacht clubs over the coming years.