Season In Full Swing

Since my last blog there has been plenty to report on with the sailing season in full swing once again. Now 126 days into 2019 time seems to be flying! Read on below to find out what I have been up to.

Just before jetting off to Palma I had time to film the next episode of Head to Wind. This time it was Waszp vs Moth in a racing challenge using the new Beat Racing app. Unfortunately the wind didn’t really play ball and we had some very light winds but with the new Waszp foil I still managed to give the racing a good go. Check out the video below to see who wins!

Pretty cool right!

Heading home I had a few days to prepare before flying out to Palma, getting ready for Princess Sofia regatta.

Palma usually delivers a wide range of fantastic conditions and this year was no different. Whilst a tad cold (its colder than it looks!) we had nice wind on all the training days.

I had a bit of a nightmare with my accommodation and had to change places on the first day. Whilst not convenient, I did manage to share with some friends in a lovely villa just on the outskirts of Can Pastilla. The views were amazing!

Racing got underway in some light and tricky winds. I had a pretty average start to the regatta but got into gold fleet, where the real work then began.

On day 4 racing became incredibly wacky, with the wind coming straight off the mountains and over the old Palma city. It was great, fun racing and I spent most of the time laughing at the crazy events unfolding across the race course.

After a tough week of racing i finished 39th out of 190 boats. Whilst I was reasonably happy with the result there was still a lot of points left out on the race track and I know I can do better!

Post-pack up sunset. See ya later Palma!

After flying back home for a few days I did a lot of mountain biking with my good friend Max. We had some lovely weather and got quite a few miles under our belts exploring the Jurassic coastline.

A few days later and it was time for the next event: the Genoa World Cup. I made my way to London and then flew out to Italy. Genoa was an amazing city full of bustling tiny streets and the feeling of mad chaos really surrounded the city.

The sailing club was some kind of old art exhibition centre which actually worked as the perfect boat storage facility. We never had to de-rig so it really was a dream.

Whilst we had some nice winds for every training day beforehand, the regatta started in incredibly light winds. The windiest we raced in was about 5 knots!

Above: Exiting a roll tack on day 1.

Below: Launched off the start.

After 5 days of incredibly light winds, racing was over and it was time to pack up. Whilst I had a rather disastrous result it still was incredibly good learning and has taught me some valuable lessons to move forwards with.

After racing I had three days free before travelling to France for the next competition so decided to use them exploring the city and hitting the gym pretty hard. Here are some photos from my travels in Genoa:

I love climbing and stumbling across a wall in the middle of the city I couldn’t resist but jump straight on. Great strength training as well.

After a great three days it was time to head to Hyeres for the SOF regatta. After a short 4 hour drive across the border we arrived and promptly unpacked.

After last years amazing start here at the Hyeres World Cup I had very fond memories of this very pretty place.

We had some very nice weather as well - finally a taste of summer!

Unfortunately the heat also meant with had some light and peculiar winds so there was a bit of waiting around…

But for the last few days the wind really stepped up a notch and we finally had some windy weather sailing for the first time in almost a month.

A slight weakness of mine in Palma, I have been working hard on my starting. Pleased to say that this was much better at Hyeres as this picture shows!

The final day of fleet racing brought some incredibly strong winds and with 3 races it really was a game of extreme endurance and perseverance. Apart from a slight mishap in race 1 (where I almost sunk after a mis-understanding) I came back strong and got my best result in the last race, taking an 8th place.

Above: The start of the last race - it went 20 degrees left about 5 minutes after this was taken so I managed to cross almost all the boats further up the line.

So part 1 of the European tour is over! With Hyeres finishing last week I have travelled home and am spending a week here preparing for one of the biggest competitions of the year; the European championships.

Held this year in Porto, Portugal, I fly out next Monday 13th May and have a good few days to get used to the conditions (supposedly big wind & waves) . Buzzing is an understatement.

I’ll keep you posted how I get on!

Cheers,

Sam

Marlow Ropes Award

Very excited to announce that I have won the Marlow Ropes Award. This prestigious award is only handed out once a year and I am honoured to now work with Marlow Ropes to develop the best lines in the world. Below is the press release, which you can also read on Yachts & Yachting here.

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British Sailing Team Laser sailor Sam Whaley has become the latest recipient of the Marlow Rope P3 Award marking a breakthrough year for the 22-year-old in 2019.

Marlow Ropes works closely with the British Sailing Team and is committed to helping develop new talent by making this award to a member of the P3 group, the Team's Podium Potential Pathway sailors transitioning from Youth sailing into full-time training. The Award is presented to sailors who best demonstrate the core values of passion and commitment to excellence.

After taking up sailing relatively late at the age of 14, inspired by his father who sailed around the world, Whaley has progressed quickly through the British Sailing Team pathway displaying a determination and focus that has meant that he has quickly established himself as one of the best sailors of his age and earning a place in the British Sailing Team's Laser P3 squad.

Whaley is a keen all round sailor, and as well as winning both the British Laser Nationals in August and Laser Inland National Championships in October 2018 he also earned a world title in the RS Aero and is regularly seen sailing his Waszp near his home in Swanage, spending a much time as possible on the water.

Leisure Marine Sales Director Paul Honess commented:
"Partnerships with our BST award winners are very important to us; we enjoy being able to help them progress in their sailing by rigging their boats with quality products and it is a great way for us to gain product feedback and insights. These partnerships help all of us to be the best we can be. Sam has produced some outstanding performances over the last 12 months and we're sure he'll go from strength to strength so we are delighted to be working with him."

Sam Whaley commented:
"It is a real honour to win the Marlow Ropes Award, following in the footsteps of some incredible sailors. While we don't have many control lines on the Laser it still is incredibly important to make sure you have the very best rope to eek out every possible gain. I am delighted to become a Marlow Ropes ambassador and I'm especially excited to have the opportunity to help them continue developing the best ropes in the world."

Find out more at www.marlowropes.com

Monthly Blog

Hi everyone,

Once again time has flown by and here we are already 72 days into 2019. Since the last post I’ve been very busy chipping away as per normal, and have been lucky enough to visit some pretty cool places along the way. Have a read on to find out what I have been up to over the past month and a half.

Going back all the way to the end of January, I took this photo back home in Swanage just before leaving to get on my flight to Miami. I love exploring and seeing sunrises/sunsets so this did put me in quite a good mood heading to Heathrow.

Miami

I love flights and this was my first long haul for quite a few years so I was feeling good heading over across the pond.

Arriving in Miami this was our accommodation for the week. Quite a nice pad with a good bunch of friends meant it was good fun.

The regatta park at Coconut Grove.

Some nice views on the walk home.

With some cool buildings!

After a couple of days pre-event training we had a rest day the day beforehand and went to the local mall, which is quite a big experience in America! There there were some HUGE shops and even a Tesla store. Personally I love the Model 3 so it was pretty cool seeing one in person.

Okay so definitely slightly off-topic now….

Back to sailing and back at the boat park this photo perfectly captures the moment my UK Sport stickers wouldn’t stick to the hull properly… Doh.

So rest day was over and racing got underway the following day.

Unfortunately racing did not exactly go to plan and I had a mixed week in some tough conditions. Read more about it in my blog post here.

Soon enough I was back on the plane and flying back to the UK having thoroughly enjoyed my time in the US but with lots of thoughts on how to move forward.

Back in the UK

First thing that hit me was just how cold it really was back in Dorset. Yikes!

But getting straight back into ‘work’, I was off to Weymouth the next day to film the next Head to Wind challenge with British Sailing Team mate Jack Cookson. This time we were sailing oppies against each other. For people who don’t know, oppies are tiny little boats designed to be sailed from ages 5-15 with a maximum weight of 55kg. So with us both sitting around the 83kg mark it was sure to be fun.

We hit the water in 18-25 knots and quickly set about racing, capsizing or in my case, sinking.

Despite only sailing an Oppie once before (back in August when I already was 30kg overweight!) I had a great time and enjoyed razzing around Weymouth Harbour at roughly 2 knots.

After a few practice runs we got straight into racing. Check out the video above to see who wins!

Back Out To Portugal

Having had a good few days back in the UK recharging I was ready to head back out to Vilamoura for the final winter training camp.

It’s a lovely place and a world away from the UK in the winter so it really allows us to get about 4 times as much sailing volume in as we could back home, making the trip very much worth it while. Plus there are some great bargains on flights, with Ryanair doing promotions over the winter of only £9 each way.

After a few days training with our coach we got straight into a small regatta with some big names, including Robert Scheidt, who is making a return to the Laser for 2020. It was pretty cool sailing against him.

A few days of high winds and big waves meant there was always going to be some carnage, with this guy accidentally getting crashed into and subsequently sinking. Never seen some abandon ship so quickly!

Ouch.

Chilling with the squad on the final day, waiting for the wind and waves whilst simultaneously looking like a boy band from the 90s.

With the event wrapping up I finished a respectable 12th overall. A good mark but by no means my best.

That was it for my time in Portugal and what a fantastic few months it had been. By easily quadrupling the amount of time on the water compared to the UK I really feel like I had emerged out of winter a good 10 steps forward and ready to start the season.

Flying back to Bournemouth I flew past the Jurassic Coast and saw Weymouth & Portland from a new and cool angle.

Back in the UK & Off Again

Arriving back in the UK I had a single night at home before I went on a family holiday for a week. It’s funny but this time of year is the only time any of us are free so we all clubbed together and went off for a nice relaxing holiday in an alpine environment (definitely was not skiing!).

Back in the UK (for good)

After a great week chilling out I was reset, focused and ready to hit the ground running. Flying back to London I went straight to Alexandra Palace for the RYA Dinghy Show, possibly one of my favourite events of a year. There always seems to be an incredible buzz around the place and so many friendly people to talk to.

It was an awesome couple of days and I spent a lot of time on the Sailing Chandlery stand, helping people out and giving advice for suitable bits for them and their boat.

All questions here please. Hahaha.

Whilst at the show I received fantastic news that I have won the British Sailing Team P3 Marlow Ropes Award! Read more about this here.

After the fantastic dinghy show I headed back home and slowly returned back to normality and general training. A few days hard at the gym was enough to set me up well for the first spring Noble Marine Laser World & European qualifier, held at Weymouth last weekend (9th/10th March).

Despite no racing on Sunday (due to winds of up to 50mph!) I had a good Saturday and was happy to have consistent speed with some solid decision making to finish 6th overall. Bit painful to be just outside the main bunch as I left 5 points easily out on the race course which would of set me up much more nicely but that’s racing and I’m happy to be moving in the right direction.

On the Monday after the qualifier I saw conditions in the afternoon were a solid 15-20 knots WNW. With this in mind it got me thinking about doing another Weymouth - Swanage downwind run. Having done a few of these in 2018 the thought of doing another was pretty exciting.

It’s hard to explain the feeling but there is a massive sense of satisfaction/progress/adrenaline/fear when going for 4 hours downwind in some of the toughest conditions found on the south coast.

So with conditions still perfect on Monday morning Micky Beckett and I set off from Weymouth for the run back home.

And we made it! Took a bit longer than usual, mainly because the tide was against us the entire way. Not usually too much of a problem until we got to St Albans Head, where there was huge breaking white water waves everywhere and it really became quite sketchy.

We also had our by-now-normal meeting with the Ministry of Defence, who were as usual thrilled to see us and advised us to change course unless we wanted to be shot by a tank shell. Happily we obliged and sailed further out to sea (hence the banana half way through the picture above!). All in all a fantastic day and some real progress forward, particularly in decision making.

Battling with the boat and conditions off St Albans Head.

So what now? Well tomorrow I head to Stokes Bay in Southampton for the second instalment of the Noble Marine Laser World & European qualifiers. After that I have another in Plymouth the following weekend before heading out to Princess Sofia regatta in Mallorca, where the Olympic trials officially start! Exciting times.

As always follow my progress on here or my social media:

Instagram: @samwhaley97

Facebook: Sam Whaley Sailing

Twitter: @samwhaleygbr

Thanks for all your support in these exciting times!

Sam

At the RYA Dinghy Show? Come watch my talk!

Hi all,

Exciting news. Tomorrow the RYA Dinghy Show starts at Alexandra Palace in London and I am lucky enough to be doing a Laser top tips talk as well as much more.

I’ll be around all day but will be at the Sailing Chandlery stand from 11-12pm with my Laser Top Tips talk starting at 1pm at the RYA Knowledge Zone.

Visit the Sailing Chandlery stand for a chance to win a days coaching with me. Don’t miss out!

Sam

Darwin Escapes Joins The Team

Very pleased to announce Darwin Escapes as a new sponsor for Sam Whaley Sailing.

Darwin Escapes is one of the UK’s fastest growing travel brands with a growing portfolio currently standing at 22 holiday resorts. Each holiday park has its own unique character to ensure we can provide a wide variety of customers with the perfect setting in which to create a lifetime of happy holiday memories.

They strive to help their customers have the perfect holiday and with over 22 UK holiday parks, you are sure to find the perfect location for you regardless of whether you are looking for family or singles holidays, short or long breaks, city or beach holidays.

Have a look at their website here:

www.darwinescapes.co.uk