Double Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie has returned to the Skandia Team GBR fold for the 2006 Qingdao International Regatta (18-31 August) the first of the Olympic Test Events for 2008.
The 29-year-old is taking time out from the America s Cup to get back into Finn competition for the first time in almost a year, and is relishing the opportunity to get back to dinghy sailing again.
We caught up with the Ben after a training session out in Fushan Bay
Ben, how are you finding it so far in Qingdao?
It s been good it s my first time in China, so it s very interesting. I ve been sailing for a couple of days now and the breeze has actually been pretty good for the last two days so I ve been lucky and am enjoying it so far.
What do you think are going to be the main challenges to face the sailors at this event?
The breeze is quite fickle and shifty and the current is very strong and that s always going to make the sailing conditions interesting and hard. Also it s very hot and humid so physically, especially for the classes which are quite physically active, it s going to be hard work in those conditions.
To what extent do you feel disadvantaged coming into this event, having had little time to sail the Finn because of the America s Cup?
This is sort of my holiday, as it were, from America s Cup sailing and I ve only sailed [the Finn] about four or five times since the Worlds last September, so certainly I m on the back foot a little bit.
But in some ways that s not a bad thing at a venue like this where it s tricky sailing and you need to get your head out of the boat and sail the shifts well. I ll just do my best, make the most of the opportunity to be in the boat and try and get back to where I was last year.
Do you feel that your America s Cup sailing can benefit your Finn sailing in some ways?
Certainly the America s Cup helps a lot in understanding big teams, management, organisation and the design sides of sailing. It probably makes you a better tactician as well, because, unlike a dinghy, an 85-foot boat you tack and you can t tack back again and you put it in a certain position and that s it.
That probably helps you a little bit in where you place your boat on the course in a dinghy. And the design side, for sure, it helps you understand that as well.
With your hectic America s Cup schedule, do you manage to keep an eye on what s going on in the Finn class?
I was watching the Gold Cup last month avidly it was a great result for Jonas Christiansen and also for Ed Wright. To have a Brit up there in the top three was a fantastic result it s good for the whole squad.
The countdown to Beijing has started and there is just one slot for the Brits in the Finn for the Games do you feel under pressure, especially from Ed [Wright] given his bronze medal at the Gold Cup
It s a great result for Ed but he s doing his thing and I m doing the America s Cup and trying to help New Zealand win that. You can only do one thing at a time, so we ll see what happens after the America s Cup.
The fact that Ed s done so well and the rest of the guys are coming on Matt Howard and Mark Andrews and some of the other youngsters getting good results is great for them that they re working as a squad and they re seeing the benefits of that, and that will help them all for the future.
What are you hoping to get out of the event here in Qingdao?
Like every event, I d love to win it! But we ll see certainly it s going to very, very hard there s a lot going against me at the moment, but that s fine. I m quite happy, I m quite realistic at the moment with what I ve been doing this year and where I m coming from.
Are you enjoying being back with your Olympic sailing teammates?
It s fun it s great to be back with the squad members from all the other classes. It s great to see there s still a very strong unity, and the results this year have been fantastic across the classes so that bodes well for two years time. Everyone has to keep working hard and I m sure we can do well again.
Looking ahead to next year, what does your Finn sailing schedule look like?
Not good really! We ve got a really hectic schedule with Emirates Team New Zealand starting again at the end of September in Auckland all the way through until the end of the Cup, so next year s going to be difficult again for me. But we ll see if there s a possibility to train and have a target to try and get some results out there and I ll do my best to do that if there isn t then that s life and I ll just move on.
Will you make the World Championships in Cascais at least?
Hoping Team New Zealand go all the way, that s actually going to clash with the World Championships in Cascais so that s going to be a tricky situation. There s a number of issues to overcome, but I guess it depends on how well Ed and the other guys do, and how much time I have to train and prepare for an event.
But I d love to be able to compete in the Olympics again if it s at all possible.