Jon Emmett

Well I was a little embarrassed when I realised that the last time I wrote a blog I was wondering what 2014 might bring! The year has certainly flown by and whilst I miss coaching the Chinese girls...

Lijia Xu has now retired, and as the ISAF conference draws to a close so does another year. Despite saying that I would never work for the Chinese again I decided to go and coach Lily for her final Radial regatta: the Radial World Championships in Rizhao.

Well I have now finished working for the Chinese Yachting Association and as I look back I see a whole host of achievements: Seeing Lijia Xu (Lily) standing on top of the podium to collect her Olympic Gold medal was the proudest day of my life, her speech as she collected ISAF World sailor of the year made me cry, and it was wonderful to end things on a high note, with Lily winning this year's Sail for Gold regatta with a day to spare. I wish her the very best for the future and I am now eagerly looking forward to new challenges for myself.

So for Sail for Gold we were finally properly prepared and this showed in the results, with Lily and Eko taking 1st and 2nd place in the first five races and securing Gold and Silver overall with a day to spare.

Well I qualified for the 2013 World Championship, and having been unable to take part in 2012 due to my Olympic commitments I am very keen to attend!

The day before the Qualifier I go and see Stuart Offer of SOS Therapy, who not only releases my muscles but then proceeds to tape me back together using Rock tape. My shoulder is now feeling much better. I had a series of Cortizone injections earlier this year which helped in the short term and I will have another one before Delta Lloyd regatta as I want to avoid surgery if at all possible, as any surgery has risks and also means a long time out of action.

I am now back in the UK to race at the Radial Qualifier in Hayling Island to hopefully secure myself a place for the Radial World Championship. The good thing about the UKLA qualifier system is it is a first past the post system, you have to turn up, whoever you are.

Well I have had a big break from full time coaching; everyone needs some down time even if it is just to reflect on what the next step is. I feel I want to be fully equipped before returning to the World Cup circuit with Olympic Gold medallist Lijia Xu.

Well what a year 2012 was. An Olympic Gold medal and World Sailor of the Year for Lijia Xu. For me it was both an honour and a privilege working with such a talented and hard working individual.

Well the Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards last week now seem a very long time ago. It is always a very tough award but especially so in an Olympic year. I really do not think that there could have been two more worthy winners than Ben Ainslie and Lijia Xu.