The wind was blowing, the sun was shining… perfect conditions to board a boat and head for Takapuna beach on Auckland's North Shore where our champion windsurfer Steffanie Williams, was competing in the 2008 RSX World Boardsailing championships.

The Plumbing World Team, resplendent in uniforms and clutching Plumbing World Flags, jostled for a prime position to loudly cheer on the New Zealand contingent.  With 200 competitors on the water in a flurry of activity the skill, balance and complex tactics displayed by the athletes was extremely impressive.  At the end of the champs, Steff was placed amongst the top 50 board sailor’s in the world while the New Zealand Team sailed away with medals in both the women’s and men’s competitions

Steffanie now has her sights set firmly on the 2012 Olympics games in London and has these words to say about the days racing.

“My preparation for the RSX Worlds held off Takapuna Beach was superb.  Physically I felt ready to race... however, as I was soon to discover, the mental pressure of competing in this all-important event was another story altogether"!

Lining up for the first race in an 8-9 knot breeze was extremely nerve wracking.  When I shot off to a great start on the starboard and then… another gun?  The individual recall flag was hoisted and I had to recross the start line before continuing the race, causing me to forfeit my excellent start and give me a huge disadvantage.

This proved to be the pattern for my next few days of racing – I continued with excellent starts but a series of tactical errors, weed on my fin, being caught behind someone messing up a gybe and so on, resulting in me finishing the worlds 49th overall.  This was a result I personally was very disappointed in.  I believe I let my nerves get the better of me and know I have far greater potential than the result indicated.

The latest ISAF (International Sailing Federation) rankings have just been released for 2008 and I am currently ranked 42nd in the world and 2nd in New Zealand.  Barbara Kendall has asked me to train with her from now until the Bejing Olympics mid April, then it’s off to Europe again to compete in three major regattas.

Steffanie Williams