Olympic campaigning well underway for offshore Aussie duo Walker and Cole

There’s four years to go until Paris 2024 – and with the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games still to take place, watching Sailing off the coast of Marseille at the third ever Games to be hosted in France feels like a long way off.

But for offshore sailors, time is of the essence. Since the Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat Event was added to the slate in 2018, it’s been race on to prepare and train as best as possible.
 
With equipment still to be confirmed for the newest addition to Olympic sailing, it’s vital for those aiming to compete at Paris 2024 to have a concrete plan which involves refining a wide range of skills on the water.
 
Australian duo Barney Walker and Jade Cole announced their intention to campaign for Paris 2024 in the Offshore event at the end of 2019.

Walker has an extraordinary 34 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races under his belt, including three Overall Wins and three Line Honours. He has competed in The Ocean Race three times, with five Fastnet races also on his impressive CV. Walker also enjoys a lot of one design racing, such as in Etchells and J/24s, and was involved in Olympic campaigns in the Star and the Soling.

Cole has sailed the Sydney to Hobart nine times, placing Overall second twice – “haven’t quite got the win, yet!” As well as participating in various ocean races along the Australian East Coast and out of Melbourne, she also has one design experience in the TP52, Melges 24 and J/70, and is currently active across the Farr 40s.

As two vastly experienced offshore sailors, they knew that getting as best a head start as possible towards the Olympics was key.

“Jade and I picked up this little opportunity to sail in the Paris 2024 Olympics,” explained Walker.
 
“We’ve made a team, we’ve secured a Jeanneau 3300, and we’re very excited about the future.
 
“We’ve had a couple of sails on this boat and we’re really looking forward to the next three years.

“There’s a lot of work to be done. This type of boat is not what we’re going to have at the Olympics; it’ll be similar, but this boat we can self-steer.
 
“However, the Olympic Games boat will probably not have self-steering, it won’t have as many sails and it’s going to be hard work.
 
“We need to really work out between ourselves how to manage that time and racing the boat at its best ability.”

“Barney and I started our campaign one year ago, and we have used the last year really campaigning hard to get the right equipment that we need that is going to be relevant to the Games,” added Cole.
 
“The big one for that is of course the boat. This is our first training boat and we’ll be campaigning this very, very hard out of Melbourne and the major Australian events to really maximise our time in this boat.”

Both Cole and Walker believe the Mixed Double Handed Offshore event, set to take place in the Mediterranean off the southern coast of France, will prove to be an exciting spectacle for fans of the Olympics.
 
With travel restrictions due to the current pandemic preventing them from heading overseas to compete, their focus right now is racing from the continent, with this year’s Sydney to Hobart firmly on their radar.

“I think the inclusion of double handed offshore racing at Paris 2024 is very exciting,” said Walker.

“The French are crazy with their offshore racing – as we know with the Vendée Globe, one of the biggest races in the world, which is about to start.
 
“With two handed sailing, the sport is very much heading down that way; it’s very difficult to get fully crewed boats these days.
 
“It’s hard work but it’s also quite rewarding and relaxing, and I think it’s a great decision. I think the racing, with cameras on board, will be exciting.
 
“I know that when you’ve got one design boats out in the ocean, they are very close races. It will be like watching a marathon; I think there’ll be lots of opportunities to make that look great.”

On their immediate future, Cole said: “COVID has put a bit of a stop to our international plans, but fortunately we’ve got some great ocean races in Australia, such as the Sydney to Hobart, and lots of fantastic ocean racing out of Melbourne.
 
“We base ourselves at the magnificent Sandringham Yacht Club, so campaigning out of here, we’ll certainly be getting plenty of time on the water.
 
“We’re just approaching our summer season so there’s going to be a lot of sailing and a lot of learning.
 
“We’re really looking forward to getting out there and learning as much as we can about this type of boat.

“I’ve been ocean racing for the last 15 years, having sailed all my life, and for me it’s definitely my favourite part of sailing.
 
“If you’re thinking about offshore double handed sailing, do it – it’s fantastic and you won’t look back.”