Olympic silver-medal winning windsurfer Nick Dempsey insists it is all systems go for the World Championships after making a successful return to board.
The 32-year-old travelled to the Miami leg of the Sailing World Cup Series last week as he returned to action for the first time since claiming silver at London 2012.
And it was a successful return for Dempsey as he finished second across the pond behind Spain’s Ivan Pastor, pushing London 2012 gold medallist Dorian Van Rijsselberghe down to third.
Having made his return Dempsey is not about to put his feet up and rest with the RS:X World Windsurfing Championships kicking off on February 28 in Brazil.
But despite the hectic schedule Dempsey admits he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m pretty pleased with my result in Miami, it was a good outcome regatta but I always like to win,” he said.
“It was very close and I think my performance throughout the week was OK. We had some shifty conditions and a lot of weed which made it challenging and unpredictable at times.
“It was certainly nice to get back out on the board, I’ve got the World Championships coming up and after having such a long break after the Games I turned up in Miami a little rusty and apprehensive.
“However, I was on the pace after the first few days and was up racing at the front of the fleet which was a nice surprise.
“Miami has now set me up for the next few weeks of training and come the World Championships I think I’ll be pretty much ready to go.
“I’ll be putting in some proper hours between now and Brazil, doing three races a day with lots of hours out on the board and in the gym.”
© Sportsbeat 2013