FIGHT ON THE HIGH SEAS

Q

Have you ever been close to a sailing slugfest because of what happens between rival boats in race conditions?

A

Not really, although there have certainly been some arguments out on the water. But there are a lot of officials out there and we have a lot of respect for each other. There have been disagreements but there are a lot of avenues to resolve them. We have protest situations, mediation and an on-water jury as well watching the situation.

Q

You do have something that should be a special deterrent to any violence, don’t you?

A

I don’t think anybody would want to try (punching on) because I’m a black belt taekwondo, so I don’t think they’d really want to try. When I was 11 or 12 my brother and I got bullied a little bit and my mum put us into taekwondo.

Q

Do you think the Commonwealth Games here next year will be a success?

A I think they’ll do really well. There is a really high motivation and I know the Gold Coast in particular has a lot of athletes who live here, really good training environment and lifestyle.

Q

The venue for the Rio Games, Guanabara Bay ... was the contamination bad?

A

It’s a beautiful place to sail, by far the most challenging venue I’ve ever raced. Most of the team had been sick at least once because we went to Rio 10 times before the Games.