British sailing team's attention to detail knows no bounds

AS manager of the England rugby team Sir Clive Woodward famously left nothing to chance. I'm sure it's an apocryphal story but it was said he personally went around fluffing up the pillows on the night before a big match, just to make sure his star charges got an untroubled night's sleep.

ON THE WAVE: Sailing during last week's Skandia Sail for Gold regatta. In a bid to get a crucial advantage, British team officials have hired falconer to make sure seagulls don't disrupt their athletes sleep (onEdition)

Now the performance director of the British Olympic Association, Sir Clive would certainly approve of the attention to detail that goes into the British sailing team's preparations to improve on their Beijing six medal haul, which included four golds, on home waters at London 2012.

Team officials and athletes were followed at the recent Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth by members of a BBC documentary crew, who enjoyed privileged behind the scenes access to witness the prior planning that goes into the most anticipated nautical campaign on home waters in many years.

They meet falconer Brian Williams who, every morning at 6am, takes his birds of prey - including a particularly menacing hawk owl - into the skies to take on a dawn chorus of local seagulls.

Thanks to his efforts, the sailors can enjoy their last hours of valuable sleep.

When it comes to the Olympic sailing regatta it appears we will not just fight them on the high seas but also in the sky.

Such fascinating attention to detail, underlines the massive support team that has been mobilised behind our Olympic team - maybe 500 strong in number come 2012 but with an unsung cast of thousands supporting them on every step of the journey.

* Olympic Sailing, Saturday, 21 August, 1pm on BBC 1. 

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