Planes were taking off above our heads as we practiced and raced for two moths on the Santa Monica Bay. I often wondered how I would feel about leaving the LAX at the end of the Star Trials. Would I look down at the place were we had been sailing as a member of the Olympic Team, or would I avoid looking at it?
I'm finally motivated to post this last report from the Star Trials. We are not sure where we went wrong, but we know that the best team won, fair and square. Mark and I joined the Dane/Sperry victory celebrations at the Chart House on Sunday night. Their program prevailed in a big way. Our two-month campaign and focus could not be compared to their 4-year effort. They spend more resources than any other team and they won. Incidentally, Paul Cayard had the largest budget in 2004, when they qualified for the Athens Olympics. There must be a correlation between moneys spend and chances of winning? I remember Carl Buchan, while in Vancouver, saying: "it will be interesting to see what happens when one can thrown unlimited money at the problem." Well, it seems like that's what one has to do to win, judging from the past two Olympic Trials.
Nothing much was missing in our camp either. We made a great effort, had everything we needed; support from friends and family, a great place to stay, two good boats, a fantastic training partner in George Szabo, the greatest coach in Ed Adams and, on top of that, I had the best skipper in the fleet. I'm not simply saying this to be nice to Mark, I really mean it. As soon as there was enough wind to stear the boat in waves, he excelled. He is an unbelievable talent and a proven winner. He provided everything that we asked for. We could have won if the breeze had been up like it was during the first half of the regatta, but it didn't and besides, they are good at it too. The light air down wind speed is mainly what did us in. I'm talking about 4 knots of breeze or less. We did get better at it towards the end, sort of got the idea and if we would have given it another two moths of preparation and partaking in other regattas we may have pulled this one off. Our starts were not as good towards the end either and it just seemed as the side we were on was never the favored one. But it is all history now and nothing can change the outcome of it. We lost it as a team!
What made the Dane/Sperry machine so awesome? Their long time focus on "winning" and how they would get there, is in my mind the main reason for their success. I'm sure that both John and Austin have been side tracked along the way and their "moments", but their long term focus was key in their victory. They were totally organized, as professional as it has ever been. If you add the quantity and quality of their deep coaching staff, including time spend in LA, having, among others, Robert Scheidt as their training partner. it is a machine, very hard to beat. In a 16 race series, "cream floats to the top". One of the top coaches, for an opposing team, talked about their much lighter fiberglass boom as the main difference on their light air performance. This coach knows what he is talking about. The lighter fiberglass whisker poles did make a, perceived, significant improvement on down wind performance and parallels could be drawn to benefits of a lighter main boom. Having said all this, nothing should be taken away from their victory. They put themselves in a position to win, and they did. John is an ace sailor as well as Austin, possibly the best crew in the world. Austin did an incredible job for his team and has certainly paid his dues in the Star Class. No one deserved the Olympic spot better then them. We were beaten by a better team and that is all there is to it.
Another observation that I made was the body language of the players, as the clocked ticked towards the final gun. I know for sure how Reynolds and I was able to change the momentum in 2000 and this is very similar in parts. There is no right or wrong and I can only wish that I had a picture of myself. But John and Leslie Dane came over to our table while we were having dinner at the Ritz, Melinda, Val, Paul and me. It was the night before the last race. JD, drink in hand and all, was laughing, telling jokes looking very relaxed. He also explained how he would file for rule 69 (fair sailing) if anyone, not in contention, would tack on them during the last race. He seemed sure of what to do and proved it the following day, in a big way, winning after blowing people a way in the final race. My guess is that he had a great night sleep, too.
I'm a big believer in that things happen for a reason and for the best. Any time that you are in a sailboat race and have a chance of winning going in to the last race, be a contender, is all that one could ever ask for. We had our chances but couldn't do it. New opportunities opened up for both Mark and me, as soon as the regatta was over. We do plan to sail the entire winter circuit in Miami together, ending it with a shoot at winning the Star Worlds. How about that?
Well, I never got a window seat on the plane, I just didn't care and even if I did get one, I would not have been looking out!
Thank you all for your support. Sorry for letting you down, but there is always another chance in 2012.
Best,
Magnus
2000 Olympic God Medallist
PS That's right, they can't take that away from me, hi, hi, ho.