After an extremely tough summer of racing, Queensland Academy of Sport athlete and windsurfer Johanna Sterling ( aged 18) headed across the Tasman, for the New Zealand RSX Championships for 2011. Run out of the Manly Sailing Club situated in Whangaparaoa, the regatta was sailed in Big Manly Bay, said to be one of the nicest areas to race in New Zealand.
The scene was set with a fleet of 21 athletes racking up to compete for a shot at the title. For any sailboarder perfect 15 – 20knot plaining conditions are ideal, unfortunately Whangaparaoa couldn’t deliver and the week was plagued by light, hot and shifty conditions.
With consistent results in the top 10 and racing alone as the only Australian, Johanna battled it against international competitors from the Netherlands to Italy. In what she commented to be “not my favourable conditions…” Sterling consistently pressed against the New Zealanders to find she had a score card of an 8th, 4th, 10th and a 7th halfway through the regatta. Sterling commented at that point that, “I have been working hard on my skills and fitness and was very happy to see some improvements…”
“Racing was very challenging physically so it was pretty tough just to keep motivated and focused”.
By the end of the four days Sterling had secured seventh overall, in a field of mixed youth and women. This impressive result was attributed to hard training and hours on the water at her home club the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. Sterling says the result was credited to some different training at home and at the venue.” I also had a month of fitness and sailing training at home before heading to NZ which ensured that I was ready to face two challenging regattas. My results also improved a lot at the NZL Nationals which can be attributed to the time I spent training in New Zealand”
After some much needed rest and relaxation from the busy schedule of a young Olympic hopeful, Sterling heads for the Queensland and Australian Championships. “We have the Australian RSX Nationals and QLD State Titles coming up in the end of May…”
“My plan for these two regattas is to just keep improving and learning in preparation for competing in Delta Lloyd, Kiel and Sail for Gold a little later in the year”
Training with coach Adrian Finglas as part of the Queensland Academy of Sport will mean multiple on water sessions and staged gym sessions during the coming weeks.Words from the young but talented sailor sum up her focus for the upcoming months as he settles down to training and a more ‘normal’ life in Brisbane. “My main focus at the moment is my starts and I’ll be focusing on my skills and tactics aiming to achieve “the perfect race” rather than being too concerned with results”.
Andrew Gough