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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada
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Nassau, Bahamas -
Star Sailors League announces 20 super-champions
taking part in the SSL Finals 2014 being held for the second consecutive
year at Nassau Yacht Club in the Bahamas between
December 1st and 7th.Here's a short interview with Robert Scheidt, who along with Bruno Prada were winners of the first edition
of the first Star Sailors League Finals in The Bahamas.
How do you feel inside?
I feel very calm. Myself and Bruno have tons of experience with
the Star. We’ve been competing together for 10 years now. While it’s
true that we didn’t get much time to train together this season because
of our commitments with the Laser and the Finn, we are confident we can
do well. We know the boat and, like I said, we’re not short on
experience. We think we will have time for some short but very
intensive preparation before we get to Nassau and that will get us back
to the good place we were in last year and the fastest speed possible.
And physically?
We’re fine. We worked very well together all year. Nonetheless, we’re a
little lighter now. We’ve both lost a bit of weight. That isn’t a great
thing but we will do our best with what we have.
What are you doing in these pre-start days?
Athletic preparation aside, I am spending a lot of time with my family. I
was just back from more than two weeks’ training in Brazil, so I wanted
to make the most of the time I had to be with my wife and kids in the
open air. Lots of walks and visits to playgrounds.
And after the Final?
Immediately after the SSL Final, we’ll all be heading to Brazil for the
final competition of the year which are Olympic trials. My wife Gintare
will also be competing in the Laser Radial, in fact.
Brazil has a brilliant team this time!
Yes, my nation’s teams will be looking good at Nassau because we do more
sailing in the Star than most. After Diego Negri, who has trained more
than any of us, I think that Torben, Jorge and Marcelo, who did a
regatta in Brazil just last week, will be coming to Nassau well
warmed-up and in fine fettle.
How do you think the regatta will be?
The SSL Finals will be a really tough series. Torben is always very
strong. He’s got loads of experience too. A really outstanding sailor.
It will also be great to sail against Freddy Loof again. We haven’t seen
each other since the Olympics. The standard is even higher than it was
last year too.
So what will you be doing to come out as well as possible?
As ever, the most important thing is to improve every day and every
race. But what really counts is to get everything absolutely right on
the final day. We will be trying to develop even further and get to a
good level in the final part.
What podium do you see happening?
That’s very difficult to predict. Freddy is a definite
possibility for being out front. Diego has done a lot of training,
Mateusz has pulled off some great surprises with very little training
too. And then the Finn sailors could also do very well – they have been
world champions for the last two years.
How do you see your performance unfurling and what goals have you set yourself?
It will be tough but that will also make it very good indeed. When the
standard is so high, every tiniest mistake will cost you dear. But in
the end, we’re also going out there to enjoy ourselves. We’ll try to do
our best but without the pressure of an Olympic class Worlds. We will
do our best to give something good and significant back to the SSL in
return as it is really doing a fantastic job. It’s an excellent thing to
give young sailors from other classes in particular this opportunity
because they have the chance to sail with top class boats against the
best sailors in the world.
What else are you excited about this year?
The live footage. Last year it was great: lots of people told
me how great it was to watch the racing. This year it will be even
better with the live action: the boats, the waves, the air, the starts.
The Star is the most beautiful boat afloat. And the live feed will make
the whole show even more spectacular.
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