Antonio Cozzolino

Valencia Regatta

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +1200

A regatta organised by Tom, sailed in similar conditions to what was expected at the Olympics now only 3 weeks away. Challenging to say the least especially having only just returned from Kiel. I finished 7th.

Source: Valencia Regatta

Kiel

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +1200

I then took a break in the Valencia program to do the ISAF Grade 1 Regatta in Germany. A fleet of roughly 70 took to the water with some really tough competition up front. TO cut a long story short, I sailed quite well throughout the regatta coming within mere meters of qualifying for the Top-10-exclusive Medal Race. Missing out by failing to see the last top mark allowing two boats to pass and...

Source: Kiel

Valencia Pre Olympics

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +1200

Training in Valencia the three months before the Games was much the same as at back home in Auckland, only on the exact opposite end of the planet. Tom would get up early and go for his daily six-million Km bike ride while I would sleep in a bit opting for the much shorter 90 min run. Didi (Tom's then-fiancee now-wife - pronounced Gigi) would prepare a raft of delectable meals morning day and night, between which we would fit in two three hour training on-water training sessions. All else was business as usual. For a time David Robertson joined us as a coach, not to mention Zac Plavsic (CAN), Ivan Pastor (ESP), João Rodrigues (POR), Casper Bouman (NED) and Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED). This continued until Kieler Woche.

Source: Valencia Pre Olympics

Training leading up to Olympic Games

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 +1200

After a 3-week break, training once again resumed with Tom and Josh. This continued right up until the 1st of May when the two headed over to Valencia where I shall meet them in 2 weeks to continue and aid Tom Ashley in his preparation for the Olympics and Josh Nixon for his preparation for the ISAF Youth Worlds.

Source: Training leading up to Olympic Games

Training before Valencia

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +1300

It was decided early on that we would do Tom's Olympic build up in Valencia due to the fact that condition closely aligned themselves with those likely to be found in Quindao during the Games. We would depart for Europe sometime in May/June to do the Holland Regatta as a warm up, after which we would proceed down to the Iberian peninsula. Before this though we had an intensive 3 month build up sailing off Takapuna resuming our usual 8 am on-the-water routine.

Source: Training before Valencia

Sail Auckland

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Held a couple weeks after the Takapuna Worlds. The fleet diminished in number but the quality remained high. I sailed consistently during the week hovering between 4th and 8th positions infront of some good sailors. I managed, as per recurring theme, to sail a ‘nightmere’ finals race which left me one point, yes that’s right, one point outside the Medal Race. To top things off the condition in the Medal Race would have played to my strengths but I guess now we will never know… I finished 11th, Nikos Kakalamanakis (GRE), Jon-Paul Tobin (NZL) and João Rodrigues (POR) finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. www.saildownunder.org

Source: Sail Auckland

After worlds 08

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1300

After Tom's World Championship win we three of us (Tom, Josh and I) took a couple weeks off, savoring that which we had achieved in the last block and while Josh and I had very disappointing worlds results some good things came out of it, for example we able to lead out the front of the silver fleet, often rounding marks in the always-joked-about-much-fabled One-Two position. While it was very annoying at the time, and while it probably cost me a lot of money, breaking my centreboard in the last race of qualifying and missing out on the Gold Fleet by a single point probably helped in the long run. Leading/winning races in large quality fleets provides invaluable experience for the future.

Source: After worlds 08

Formula Oceanics

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1300

I flew over to Brisbane after the Worlds to do the Formula Oceanics. Using my RS:X Sail and a slightly older Formula board I managed to place 7th Overall and take lightweight title. Windsurfing greats who attended were World Champion Steve Allen (AUS), World #1 Jesper Vesterstrom (DEN), Jesper Orth (NOR), and Sean O’Brien (AUS) among others. www.aus120.com

Source: Formula Oceanics

World RSX Championships round up

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Qualifying Series

Day One
I sailed particularly badly on day one scoring a 47th and a 35th. The later was particularly annoying as going into the last reach I was 15th yet managed to lose 20 odd places somehow on the one reach. I may have had weed on my fin but am not certain. Not the end of the world but a bit annoying.

Day Two
Again I sailed the first race of the day very badly scoring a 32. In the second race I picked the pace up a little and finished one a head of JP in 21st.

Day Three
Finally my conditions. Offshore marginal planning. Race one I ended up 26 and race two 23rd. The most annoying thing about this is that in Race two coming up to the last top mark I was 8th. There was a bit of a lull at the top and so we had to put our centreboards down. After a few hard pumps mine snapped and I struggled to hold onto my position due to this and finished 23rd in that race. In the overall results after qualifying I was 61st and 1 point outside of the gold fleet which really put a stake through my heart especially as we were sailing in home waters. Thanks for nothing Neilpryde. That was a brand new centreboard too.

Finals Series

Day Four
Now sailing in Silver Fleet I expected the racing to be a tad easier although in saying that it is still hard to lead any fleet. I took the race win in race one. I was very happy with the way I sailed this race. I got a good start in the planning conditions, round the first top mark in 5th and slowly pick away at the leaders. On the second upwind I passed the 6 guys that were ahead of me to round equal first at the top. Sailing a good downwind I took the victory. The wind stared swirling all over the place for race two. I tried all that I could but could only manage a 12th.

Day Five
The conditions were tough, shifty and marginal. Again I got a good start and round the top in 6th. I worked really hard on the downwind and managed lead at the first bottom mark and was closely followed by fellow training partner Josh NIXON (NZL). Sailing a conservative second upwind I rounded 6th again at the top. I put in a lot of effort on the downwind and managed to take my second bullet of the regatta. I was now easily winning the silver fleet which was my new goal for finals. The wind again went flukey for race two. I finished 20th. Ma Kwok Po (HKG), my closest competition was a long way behind me on the first lap of this race but was graced with some magical personal gusts and pulled back to 2nd. He was now eight points clear ahead in overall standings. To win the Silver Fleet I had to beat him by 6.

Day Six
All the other fleets sailed before us. Tom Ashley won the Worlds, Barbara ended 2nd.
When they all raced it was really windy. I decided to de-power my sail for the conditions but when we got out there the wind had dropped and I was really slow in condition which I usually excel. I beat the Hong Kong guy by 4 which was not enough to win so I take home the Silver medal of the Silver Fleet.

Overall, very disappointed with this result, I wanted to finish in the top 30 and firmly believe I was good enough to do so. So now it's a short break before Sail Auckland which I hope to do well at. I would personally like to thank my training partners Tom Ashley and Josh Nixon. Tom has been letting me train with him for just over a year now and I am very grateful for this opportunity. Also thanks to JP Tobin who ha helped alot in training. Not to mention coach David Robertson.

Source: World RSX Championships round up

Christmas already?

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +1300

Merry Christmas to all and to all Merry Christmas. I have flown over to the Gold Coast to celebrate Jesus? Birthday with my Parents and to pick up my raceboard for the Worlds from Sean O?Brien. While here I did a small amount of freestyle and formula sailing. The bonus being that I forward looped on Starboard-tack for the very first time which is fantastic! ? and extremely useful for racing purposes [note sarcasm here].

Source: Christmas already?

2008 New Zealand Nationals

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +1300

The New Zealand Nationals took Place at the beginning of this week. A strong Fleet of internationals has now arrived with 90 overseas competitors. The Nationals were sailed off Takapuna as per usual in beautiful sunny summer 15knot sea breezes. Probably the nice conditions I have had during a National Championship in my entire career. I sailed rather poorly with bad starts being at the heart of most of my problems. Fortunately though, my lightning fast speed has returned aided by the substitution of my training hull. I finished 24th overall and 2nd New Zealander behind Tom Ashley who also won the open division. To be fair I really should have finished 3rd NZer but Jon-Paul Tobin, through concussion, was unable to compete in the concluding day?s racing and thus dropped to 3rd.

Source: 2008 New Zealand Nationals

Easy Week

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +1300

This week was a particularly easy one with regards to training as the Nationals are tomorrow. Not much to say other than the fact the basement area is an absolute pig stye!

Source: Easy Week

December hath dawned

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +1300

Well December if finally here, The last few weeks before Takapuna World Championship season begins. A good number of international have now arrived here which has certainly made thing interesting. For the past few months I have been training in our normal little group comprising of Tashley, Josh Nixon and coached by David Robertson. A few random Internationals have joined in with us at time when required. For past six weeks or so I have been going particularly slow in the conditions that I usually excel in. I have a suspicion this is due to equipment. When in doubt blame the equipment, like they say, a good workman always blames his tools!

Source: December hath dawned

Arrived in Palma

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1200

I arrived here in Palma with Tom Ashley 3 days ago. The weather quite frankly has left much to be desired. It snowed at sea level the day before we got here! The cold weather coupled with 30 hours travel has left me with a mild cold which hopefully should be over by tomorrow.

We sailed yesterday in full length wetsuits and were still frozen by the time we went in to shore. Conditions here seem to be very shifty. Somewhat like Takapuna just 10-fold, which should make things fun I guess!

A considerable number of competitors seem to have arrived today although still well short of the expected 200. Speaking of which the launching facilities will provide for some good entertainment as only about 3 boards can launch at a time... Other than that the place is beautiful although slightly over-run by tourists.

That's all for now. Next update on Regatta Day 1.

Source: Arrived in Palma

Europe bound

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1300

On the 19th March, Antonio begins another chapter in his season, departing to compete on the European circuit.

The European Circuit is made up of a number of events and kicks off with HRH Princess Sofia Trophy, Palma on the 30th March. This is followed by the French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyeres, France which is from the 19th to 27th April. This marks the next phase in Antonio?s build up which is focussed on the Worlds in Takapuna next year.

Ranked 3rd New Zealander in ISAF World Rankings, and now in the top 100 in the world Antonio is starting to see the results of hard training and plenty of racing. This is just what Antonio needed before heading to Europe after some challenging regattas over recent months.

Antonio?s summer started well with a solid training base finishing off 2006. Time on the water in planing conditions had honed his skill. However, 2007 brought a number of unusual weather conditions that were definitely set to test.

The year began with Sail Melbourne in January (15-20th) and conditions in the 10-15 knot range. Competing was an international line-up with 23 competitors from 8 countries. Antonio?s training paid off, seeing him lead the fleet to the top mark on a number of occasions. However, the downwind legs, and the gusty conditions, were remarkably different to what he had trained in pre-race and provided a number of challenges. ?Sail Melbourne was a great learning experience for me as we encountered such different conditions to what we?d been training in It was frustrating at times, but I got a lot out of it. One of the most pleasing things was confirming that I had attained excellent Board-speed in planing conditions.? says Antonio.

Unpredictable conditions were also on the menu back in Auckland for Nationals (26-30th January) and Sail Auckland (9-12th February). Nationals held off Takapuna, saw unusual shifty Northerlies and South Easterlies. Antonio?s pre-race training provided little preparation for these conditions. ?One of the challenges is that you can only train in whatever weather presents itself each day. Although I?d been happy with my time on the water and the training I?d done prior to these regattas, it didn?t prepare me fully for the conditions we saw.?

One big positive that came out of these regattas was a good understanding of Antonio?s strengths and weaknesses. ?You enter each regatta hoping to do well and as prepared as you can be, but for me right now, each regatta really is just a stepping stone for my longer term goals. I?ve learnt so much from these regattas that I just wouldn?t have, if the weather had played to my strengths. The reality is ? that?s a good thing!?

Antonio?s preparations for Europe have been going well. ?My training over the last 6 weeks has been going really well and I?ve also just got myself a new board which is great after having had the same board since the RS:X?s inception in late 2005. At this level and especially in this new class, good new equipment can make such a difference.?

He believes he?s ready for Europe and knows there is one challenge already waiting for him. ?Overseas, especially in Europe, the fleets are so much bigger and it is very different sailing with that many boards on the course. Small things, that don?t make a difference with 20 to 30 sailors, start making a big difference in large fleets.? Antonio knows that good race management especially with the large fleets makes huge differences to the results. This is another area that he has been focussing on.

For Antonio successful regattas will see him in the Gold Fleet in Palma and in the Top 25 Hyeres. With his new website he is going to be able to keep supporters informed with blogs and his race diary ? so stay tuned to see how the racing unfolds.

Source: Europe bound