New Zealand boat involved in racing off Saint-Tropez during 2022 SailGP Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand sailor Jo Aleh says she's generally an excitable person, but she has to curb that enthusiasm when she's onboard.
Aleh returns to the strategist role with the New Zealand SailGP team as the series returns to action this weekend in the south of France.
The New Zealand team enters the third round of season four in fifth place after winning the opener in Chicago and then finishing seventh in round two in Los Angeles.
Aleh is back with the team having spent the first part of the year in the 49er FX class which resulted in her and crew-mate Molly Meech qualifying the boat for the Paris Olympics.
Aleh has been involved in competitive sailing for 25 years and is now a regular member of Peter Burling's F50 catamaran crew in SailGP.
While she's now comfortable in the New Zealand set-up, she admits the strategist's role continues to have it's challenges.
Aleh shares the onboard scanning duties with driver Burling and says her aim is to be the middle person in the set-up.
"The hard thing with these boats is that everything happens so fast which means things change so quickly."
"It's about taking in the information and sharing it at the right time.
"I'm definitely an excitable person so I do have to make myself stay calm at times and the more racing I do the better I get."
The former World and Olympic champion obviously has the demeanour to be successful.
"I think it's to be able to keep a consistent cadence and a consistent tone and to remain clam and clear even when everything is going bad or when a lot is happening.
"So when we get that right it should sound like business as usual even if it's going terrible or great, it should all sound the same.
Jo Aleh and Molly Meech at the 49er FX Sailing World Championships 2023. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Thinking about what it takes to perform at the highest level is something that makes elite athletes like Aleh so successful.
"A lot of it is being able to simply execute what you know needs to be executed in the pressure moments and that is probably the key to success at events like the Olympics or SailGP.... that obviously is a lot easier said than done.
Aleh says she loves Saint-Tropez and it's probably her favourite event.
New Zealand finished second there last year.
"Last year we had the most exciting day of racing SailGp has ever had with speed records in really windy conditions and so I'm hoping we have the same conditions this year as that's when these boats really excel.
Coming off a disappointing LA round, Aleh knows they've got a bit to achieve this weekend.
"There's always a lot to learn from every event and I think we've done a good job of where we can improve and what needs to be worked on so hopefully we can bring it all together in Saint-Tropez."
The New Zealand team finished second overall to Australia last season.
- RNZ