We flew into Milan, before picking the boats up and making the short drive to lake garda. We arrived to perfect "Garda" conditions, 18 to 20knts each day. This was exactly what we had hoped for a good oppurtunity to work on our windy boathandling, and rig set up. Having not sailed in more than 14knts for the last couple of months we were pleased with how far we had improved. Our tacking and gybing, while not quite as good as the leaders was easily good enough to get us around the race track in good enough shape. Winning the last race of qualifying secured gold fleet for us which with improving our boathandling, and speed was our goals for the week. Garda is potentially a very easy place to sail, depending on your race course, a good start sailing fast into the cliffs should see you in the top 3 at every mark, however the simplicity of garda also makes it extremely hard to sail! if you dont start well and hold a fast lane into the cliffs you will be behind with limited oppurtunities to catch up, this puts starting practice and windy boatspeed very much at the front of our training thoughts over the next few months as we prepare for the Worlds back out in Garda!
