ROAD TO TOKYO: TEAM GB NACRA
Anna Burnet is one half of Team GB Nacra duo, alongside her sailing partner John Gimson who are campaigning for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Anna has actually been heavily inspired and influenced by the success of the Team GB that performed out in Rio last summer. Alongside her own sailing ambitions, this has been a huge catalyst driving her ambitions and focus for the next 2 and a half years of her Sailing career.
In pursuit of this, Anna’s route to the Games has continued to change and maneuver in different ways, moving out of the 470 class after a 7 year Sailing partnership with one of her best friends. Last year was a period filled with challenging but exciting transitions in the 47erFX class. An opportunity opened up for Anna, when John approached her about crewing for him in the Nacra 17 class. Nacra 17 is a multihull and the only mixed team event in Olympic Sailing. It is extremely crucial to assemble the right partnership with each partner in order to complement each other’s strengths. Anna believes that John and herself can be a winning team. Towards the end of last year, Anna and John spent some time sailing in Weymouth to get to grips with the Nacra. With Nacra being one of the most physically demanding boats that Anna has sailed and the toughest class for Olympic crews, she spent some time in the gym to deal with physical demands that Nacra brings. Interestingly enough the prototype foiling Nacra 17 has been available for sailors to test in Holland. The boat that will be used for racing for the next 2 and half years and ultimately at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Back in November, Anna and John had their first racing opportunity with RYA National ranking series in Weymouth, where they claimed the series win after placing 2nd and 1st in the respective events. Anna and John went on to win a bronze medal at the World Final in Melbourne at their first international competition and it was clear that their development and chemistry as a team was continuing to go from strength to strength. Although we are now half way through the year, 2017 started off extremely hectic, due to being in and out of the UK with the British Airways lounge being a temporary home for brief pit stops in between competitions as well as being a base for team meetings.
The Tokyo 2020 clock continues to tick and the hard work continues to take place. In May the duo headed to Hyeres, France for the 2nd leg of the Sailing World Cup finishing 2nd in the medal race and 6th overall. They were ranked at 4th in the latest world rankings which qualified them for the World Cup Final in Santander, which they returned to at the end of May.
Anna and John are currently working towards the European Championships at the end of June alongside 45 other teams. For now it’s a race against time to up-skill themselves as much as they possibly can.
It will be interesting and exciting to see how their journey continues to unfold over the rest of 2017 and beyond. I am certainly excited about covering the road to Tokyo for Team GB Nacra.
