Representatives of the Spanish Sailing Federation, Olympic medallists, sailors and technical staff talk to us about their training in Lanzarote
It’s 6.00 am when the alarm clock goes off, and the first few seconds are devastating due to the exhaustion from the intense training of the previous day. But soon you start to remember what had been scheduled the night before and you jump to your feet and start to get ready. You pick up your rucksack, grab something to eat and set off for Isla de Lobos to enjoy a surf session with the first rays of sunshine.
It’s 9.30 am, and you’re back with just enough time to change clothes and prepare the boat for another day of training. Many of the Olympic sailors who have chosen Lanzarote as their training base for the Olympic Games have been able to surf, cycle around the island, hike between volcanoes and windsurf while training at the highest level.
Every day we have wind, and the waves vary depending on the direction of the wind, which gives us a lot of variety and makes the training very rich – Paula Barceló (Sailor Spanish Sailing Team 49er FX)
This year Lanzarote has become the epicentre of Olympic sailing, with the arrival of more than 200 sailors of 35 different nationalities. The excellent sailing conditions, the clement weather and the destination’s safety were decisive factors for these teams when choosing Lanzarote for their intense training.
This is the first time that so many sailors have come together in the same destination and for this reason, the Canarian Sailing Federation, together with the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife and Marina Rubicón, decided to organise the Lanzarote Olympic Winter Regatta, from the 16th to the 28th of January with the support of a large number of collaborators, such as the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of Lanzarote, among others.
We have been training every day for three months with super good wind conditions of all kinds and on top of that, all that the island has to offer – Silvia Mas (Sailor Spanish Sailing Team 470)
The event has had great media impact and through its website Lanzarote Winter Series it has been possible to follow each day’s classifications, see the final results, and enjoy videos and interviews with the sailors. Social networks have also seen a lot of activity throughout, both from the organisers and the sailors themselves who shared their experiences with their followers.
The excellent quality of the Lanzarote regatta course, the island’s natural conditions and climate, its tourist and sports infrastructures and the complementary offer of outdoor sports are some of the highlights mentioned by the coach of the Spanish Sailing Federation, Gustavo Martínez, the Olympic medallist Hanna Mills, the sailors Paula Barceló and Silvia Mas and Joe Ganfield, coach of the British team.
Many teams have extended their stay on the island to continue their training over the next few months. All this is an indisputable sign that Lanzarote is a unique winter training destination and that the spectacle of Olympic sailing will soon return to our waters.
