Former Upton High School pupil Chris Grube and sailing partner Nick Rogers hope to win a place on the GB team for next year’s London Olympics. The 26-year-old from Mickle Trafford has flown to Australia to prepare for December’s World Sailing Championships and, during his time Down Under, he will be writing a weekly diary for Chronicle readers, charting his progress. Here is Chris’s latest diary
AFTER a week’s break in Sydney, I returned to Perth to launch our new boat KX, named after the top London health club who sponsored her.
To cut to the point, the boat is dynamite quick and we are so far unbeaten in any speed runs or races against any other teams, which is amazing.
We are still ironing out some of the teething problems you get with a new boat and Nick, Nathan (our coach) and I haven’t stopped since we returned.
We are working incredibly hard on and off the water leaving no stone unturned in our strive to win the World Championships. I’ve learnt so much from Nick and Nathan (silver and gold Olympic medallists in Beijing 2008) since we started this campaign last December.
The effort that we are putting in right now I am sure is way above any other team in the world and you know what they say, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’!
We had planned on competing in the Australian National Championships this week but having requested an entry for the event, we were refused despite them allowing most other nations to compete.
It’s a shame when the politics of the sport get in the way.
Instead we will race in a pre-worlds competition organised by the coaches. It will give us the chance to do some racing and make some final decisions on our equipment, as well as put some doubt in the minds of the competition.
The sailing conditions here in Perth are epic. This is some of the best sailing that Nick and I have ever done in our careers and the conditions so far have really suited our style of sailing.
Follow our campaign at www.gb470gold.co.uk.
