Skandia Team GBR's sailors are out in Qingdao at the 2008 IFDS Qingdao International Regatta - the Test Event for the Paralympic Classes ahead of the 2008 Paralympic Games in September.

Read all about their China experiences throughout the event here in our blog....

Posted by Megan Pascoe on 12 May 2008:
The inside report from the Skandia Team GBR Big Brother camp after the day two of racing. My funny story from the week is that I was talking to the Irish Sonar team the other day, explaining to them why we have to fly the Union flag up the correct way otherwise we are in distress. They were then trying to decide if the same rules applied to their flag. They believed they would be, as they would then be Italian if they did that. (No offence intended to any Italians. It was the Irish team s joke, not mine I just found it funny and thought I would share!)

The team at the moment seems to be living off veal (not that I know what veal is) but we do have to go supermarket shopping for some things. For me it is Oreos, Gatorade, shortbread and Snickers bars. I do find shopping hard in China because some of the lanes smell not entirely pleasant, but I won t dwell on that too long...

It was an interesting day but as I got very wet I am now trying to dry my kit out and so my room definitely doesn t smell of rich mahogany any longer! And my floor is very wet so much so that I could see a very proud race of bears fishing for salmon soon.

Today showed promise for September in all classes. The middle right worked 60% of the time every time. The SKUDs had the best racing with two bullets, whereas the Sonars were storming but struggled in the protest room.

Helena was practising her submarine dives after losing both her pumps in the first race. My day was good with the Irish still believing that I am the Caped Crusader after my boat is called White Crusader (that might be where he s been hiding all these years!!).

This is just the warm up to what is possibly going to be the best moment in September, it s everything you wait a lifetime for, that dream finally coming true. What else could ever come close? I know that whatever the results here we have a great team, definitely our best team yet and they will do our country proud in September.

That s it for today from Big Brother tune in tomorrow to watch us eat, sleep, drink the dream.

Posted by Hannah Stodel on 11 May 2008:
Well, day one on the race course has certainly been an eye opener in terms of what to expect at the Paralympics the answer is anything! I think the Sonar lead must have changed hands at least five times in each race.

Prior to this event I was sitting at home smelling the sweet mahogany of my office reading my leather bound copy of Tactics by Mark Rushall and wondering what to expect. Being here now makes me realise just what a big task we are all undertaking and what an amazing opportunity this really is for all of us. You come into a venue like this and it s nothing like you have ever seen before and you realise this is it - your one chance, and trust me when I say we are all going to give this everything we have! The Chinese have gone to every length to make this event a success and I am really looking forward to the Games, it really is going to be amazing.

Each of the teams had varied days, although the star of the day must go to Megan who has added a 1 and a 3 to the scoreboard leaving her joint first with the Frenchman overnight. On the Sonar course we had a shaky start but recovered well adding a 6 to the board in the first race.

I don't know what was happening on the SKUD and 2.4mR course but left seemed to pay 60% of the time every time, and in the second race, that's just where we went. We rounded ahead of the Germans but sadly lost the lead with a bad mark rounding leaving us fighting all the way up the next beat. Luckily for us on the next downwind, we found that we had the speed of an aardvark hoovering up ants which helped us seize the lead from the Germans.

It was pretty chaotic before the starts with all three classes racing on the same course and you really had to keep your eyes open, especially for the little 2.4mRs as Niki and Alex ended up nearly wearing one like a kebab on their bow sprit.

All in all a good day for Skandia Team GBR on the water and we can now all head back to the hotel for some well deserved rest, knowing that there is everything to play for tomorrow.

We have also decided that Niki is going to be the new team psychologist as his quote of the day today was "If you re not happy you may as well just die". Who needs Ben Chell when you've got the Niki Birrell?!

Posted by Niki Birrell on 10 May 2008:
It s pretty exciting racing in the Olympic venue and today s practice race was the first opportunity to see what the opposition has got. It also gave us the chance to hoist our newly branded sails and it gave me and Alex a real kick seeing the Union Flag and the Skandia kite I felt really proud today sailing under the flag and it really hit home how massive the Paralympic Games are going to be for both myself and Alex. It s such a privilege to be able to represent your country!

After a big day of boat work yesterday we felt really confident in our boat. All the Brits had put a lot of time in on the water over the last week and that really helps build your confidence. I don t think I ve ever prepared as well for a regatta and it s great to be part of a team who all set such high standards in preparing for success.

Today we had a really clear goal to evaluate our upwind pace against the other medal hopefuls and also to check our strategic game plan was correct. The race itself was pretty one-sided with the right paying 60% of the time, every time. We started equal with the Canadians who showed real pace today. The Aussie team were rapid too and managed to get past us up the first beat as did the US team. After rounding fourth, we lit the afterburners and pulled back to third on the first run and then took the Americans for second into the finish.

On the other courses, Helena finished second after pulling back from a poor start with Megan a little further back. The Sonars decided not to sail the practice race after an accident yesterday which left middle man Steve Thomas with four stitches in his finger. He s going to be OK for the regatta but it does make your realise how careful we have to between now and the Games in September.

Anyway, Alex and I are excited about tomorrow so let s hope we can bang in a couple of counters!

Niki Birrell signing off!

Posted by Helena Lucas on 9 May 2008:
We ve come out to China for some more training in the venue, and what we thought was a low key test regatta, but have been amazed at the scale of the event before us. The organisers have really decided to make it a trial run of the Paralympics. Our first experience of what they have in mind was when we walked into event village and moved into our on site accomodation. We were expecting something along the lines of an Etap hotel, but instead we are in a brand new 5 star hotel, opened only a few days ago, complete with swimming pool, gym, sauna, and steam room. You can even watch the TV from the bath!

I came out here in 2006 for the Pre Olympics in the Yngling, and although the dinghy park hasn t changed much, the accomodation and other buildings around have sprung up, and we ve got new pontoons inside the marina specially for this event.

We ve been here for eight days now and are feeling like locals. After unloading our containers, we ve managed to sail everyday in good conditions with only one day of light winds and battling the tide.

The highlight of my stay so far is sailing through the lee of the GBR Sonar off the start line, in a multiclass team training session in very light winds. On a serious note, the welcome greeting, and helpfulness of the Chinese here has been unlike anything I have experienced before. Even to the extent that they will toast your bread for you at breakfast and deliver it to the table!

My personal lowlight of the trip is the uncertaintly of the seafood which looks fantastic. I m quite a fan, but our Physio Sue has advised us against it. The food here is not quite like the Chinese food we are used to at home. Sometimes it is not clear at all what you are being presented with. It could be chicken, aardvark, beef or sea slug....

As a team the last few days have been eventful. Niki Birrell took a swim off the bow of the Skud. Steve dropped a Skud bulb on his finger, requiring a quick check out of the medical facilities and much effort by sailors and coaches to get old training boats pimped up into race machines.

The team are getting on well in our first proper regatta as the selected Paralympic team, and we are looking forward to the event ahead. The results might not matter here but we are keen to continue to learn as much as we can about this tricky venue.