After six intense months of sailing in Grandson, Switzerland, the season is coming to an end with training sessions involving teams from Australia and the Czech Republic. Once again, the Swiss venue that hosted this year’s SSL Gold Cup qualifying events lived up to the expectations of the sailors.
In the final week of August, teams from Australia and the Czech Republic arrived in Grandson for their last training sessions ahead of the SSL Gold Cup in Brazil.
For the Australian team, this is not their first visit to Grandson. The team already spent a week training at the venue last year. Australia will enter the SSL Gold Cup competition at the Round of 1/8, scheduled for 7–10 December.
“We're all super excited to represent Australia. I think it's an awesome format, an awesome competition, and how we're preparing is getting out there as soon as we can and spending as much time on the water because we know we've only got five days before Brazil,” said Cole Tapper.
For the Australians, the focus of the training week is not only on performance, but also on building cohesion within the team and developing the right boat-handling routines.
“We're here training this week. We've got five days and it's just a big team-building exercise, with a big focus on trying to get the boat mechanics right first. Then, from there, we can start worrying about the actual racecraft side of things,” said Ben Lamb of SSL Team Australia.
The team has already started progressing from basic boat handling towards more race-specific training.
“We had a good boat-handling day yesterday, and we'll just continue to evolve in our first session this morning. Then this afternoon we'll try to do some laps where we're actually going around the course, doing some practice starts and engaging with the other boat. That's going to be exciting,” he added.
Part of the Australian team is new, making this training camp an ideal opportunity to test the boat, establish roles on board and develop communication between the crew members.
“A lot of us haven't sailed this type of boat before, so it's really important just to get all the mechanics working. We've had one training session so far, and we're definitely improving. I'd say we've got a pretty vertical rate of improvement, which is great. So we're just working through the mechanics. I think we need lots of time in the boat to do that,” said Zoe Dransfield.
One of the most significant changes within the Australian team is the appointment of a new skipper. The team will now be led by John Bertrand, one of the world's most accomplished sailors. We will be publishing an interview with him soon.
Czech Team Focused on Building a New Crew
The Czech team is also using the training week in Grandson to integrate several new members. Among them are 49erFX sailors Zofia Burska and Sara Tkadlečová, who represented the Czech Republic at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Czech team qualified for the SSL Gold Cup through the ranking and will join the competition at the Round of 1/16 stage, taking place from 26–29 November.
The first training sessions have been about finding the right positions on board and establishing responsibilities within the crew.
“I think we have a very good vibe. As you said, we have new guns in our team, so this was the first training. Everybody is trying to find his or her position and understand what their duties are.
“For me, for example, it's a new position on the grinder, so there are a couple of new things and a couple of mistakes. But there was an improvement in our sailing today, so that's great.
“The main goal for me this week, I suppose, is to survive, because it's a very tough position. For the team, it's about getting to know the boat, understanding the positions and sailing faster and faster,” said Czech grinder Vojtěch Lambl.
With the final training sessions in Grandson complete, both teams now turn their attention to Brazil. The days in Switzerland provided valuable time on the water, allowing the crews to refine boat handling, establish roles and build the teamwork that will be crucial when the SSL Gold Cup gets underway.
