Orkney is sending a sailing team to the Island Games for
the first time. Ross Reid looks at the team and its chances.
Orkney’s sailing team have come on board the county’s
island games’ squad for the first time this year, they may
be unlikely to rule the waves in Shetland this July, but they are
looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
Ian Rushbrook, Lee Thomson, Andrew Leslie and Neil Brown will represent
the county in both the laser standard and the laser radial rig events.
With 11 islands estimated to take part in the sailing tournament,
Orkney are hoping for a mid-fleet finish in their introductory appearance
in the games.
Unlike the majority of teams competing, the sailing squad rely
heavily on the weather, this year’s unfortunate conditions,
however, have dealt a crucial blow to the team’s preparations
Competitor Ian Rushbrook said that the poor weather has limited
the squad’s ability to get out and practice.
He said: “We are trying to meet as much as we can, three times
a week is the plan but of course it is weather permitting. We are
also taking part in our own club racing.
“The poor weather has had a negative effect on our preparations,
it has stopped us going out as much as we would like. We are just
trying to get out on the boats as much as we can.
“We are trying to be as competitive with each other as possible
to make sure we are in the best possible shape. From a personal
point of view I am hoping to go to the Scottish nationals down south
at the end of June, which will be good preparation for the games.”
Fellow competitor Lee Thomson echoed the team’s discontent
at this year’s limiting conditions, but was optimistic, saying
that Shetland’s similar climate may prove to be an advantage
for the county’s side.
He said: “Sailing is probably the only sport in the games
that is hoping for wind and rain. The conditions up in Shetland
will definitely benefit us as they are almost the same as ours.
The sailing event will take place up in Brae, which is quite sheltered
and similar to here and we will have a reasonable idea of what to
expect.
“The preparation has gone reasonable, considering the weather.
We have not got out as much as we should have and the reason for
that is that the weather has been atrocious.”
As island games debutantes, the county’s sailors may lack
a detailed knowledge of what to expect, according to Lee. However,
the likes of Jersey and Guernsey are sure to be tough competition.
Lee added: “Some of the Channel Islands will be of a really
high standard, I think some of them will be at Olympic trials standard
so we are well aware of what we are up against. We just want to
go up and do the best we can, we would be happy with mid fleet finish.
“Shetland are also really strong, which we’re well aware
of. At inter-county level, Orkney won it in the first year which
I think was in 1969, Shetland have won it every year since then
so we know they are a strong team, they will probably be one of
the teams hoping to do well. This will certainly be the biggest
thing we have competed in so naturally the standard goes up and
if we want to reach our goals our performance will also have to
rise.”
According to Ian, it is difficult to conjecture the level of competition.
He is, however, sure that the schedule will be demanding.
He continued: “We have never competed in the island games
before so we are unsure of it, we know little about the opposition.
There will be a good set of sailors going up to the games.
“The schedule is fairly demanding up there, we have managed
to do something similar before but we will need to work really hard
to be consistent. If the weather is challenging, it will make it
more demanding.
“There is a lot of movement involved in sailing so it can
be tough physically, mentally it is also hard work, there are a
lot of tactics involved in it so you have to concentrate for long
spells of time to do well.”
Normally, teams have to go through a detailed selection process
before finalising an island games squad. For the sailing team though,
it wasn’t so taxing. Ian was surprised at the lack of interest.
He said: “We did go round the clubs, but there was little
interest. I think that was to do with the sort of boats you compete
in at the island games, there were very few interested in lasers.
We did have a sale-off earlier on to decide who would go in the
standard rig, but in terms of finalising the four, it wasn’t
difficult.”
Lee added: “We thought there would be more interest in it,
but there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm, we thought there would
be more people willing to try and compete in it. It’s a shame
but all four of us are looking forward to getting to Shetland.”
Despite a lack of enthusiasm within the county, Lee is looking
forward to competing.
“I am quite excited about it myself, the opening ceremony
is meant to be a great occasion so I’m really looking forward
to the week as a whole and, hopefully, we can do as well as possible.
“We might be a bit nervous when we actually get there but
I think it’s going to be a really good experience. We would
all like to say a big thanks to James Burgon of JDB Marine for sponsoring
us and helping to make the trip to Shetland possible.”
Fellow competitor Neil Brown reaffirmed these sentiments saying
that, although they may not be in the medals this summer, they are
looking forward to savouring the experience.
Neil said: “We just want to do the best we can, obviously
it will be difficult to get into the medals but we are going to
enjoy the experience of competing in the island games as it seems
to be a brilliant competition. As the team have felt collectively,
we haven’t had many favours with the weather so our preparations
haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked but we are
happy to be competing and hopefully can give a good account of ourselves.”
Orkney’s representatives in the laser standard rig: Ian Rushbrook,
Lee Thomson; in the laser radial rig: Neil Brown, Andrew Leslie.
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