How to prepare for a new venue

When the Extreme Sailing Series™ global tour heads to Saint Petersburg, Russia for Act 4 on June 26-29, it will be the first time most of the teams have sailed at the venue. Here are tips from two leading tacticians on how they will prepare…

“You can get an amazing feel for a venue with Google earth, and there’s a good amount of weather and tide data on the internet. However, nothing beats standing on the shoreline with your team and looking at the wind move over the water.” – 2008 Olympic gold medallist Paul Goodison, sailing on the all-British J.P. Morgan BAR.

“I would study the weather forecasts and the tidal conditions to try and learn as much as possible prior to arriving, but as each day is different you can’t get locked into a predetermined plan, so learn what you can then keep an open mind.” – Volvo Ocean Race winner and America’s Cup sailor Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand