WE’RE so excited to be joining Team Volvo! It’s funny because for the past few years me and Stu have been training partners to these guys who have all been driving Volvos around and have Volvo on their sails and we feel it is a pretty elite group to get into.

So when we were asked if we would like to join Team Volvo we just looked at each other and there was no hesitation.

When you are coming up through the ranks you drive these old bangers and vans around and spend half your life in garages getting your transport fixed.

But knowing that we now have a car for us, that is perfect for what we need to help in our campaign in the build up to the Games, means we can spend just a little bit more time and energy on trying to win that gold medal, which is ultimately what all this is about.

Since we were named as part of TeamGB for London 2012, we have definitely had one of the more different months of our lives.

We were the only two athletes from any sport to be selected on that day and our selection also tied in with the 200 days to go countdown.

The day we were selected and the day after were more mental than I have ever known.

I can’t tell you how many camera flashes, TV cameras and microphones we had pointed at us. But it was really, really good fun and was actually very significant for us because it was like ‘This is it now, this is where it all really starts’.

It drew a line under the trials period of our lives and began a new chapter where the only focus, every single minute of every day between now and the Games, is in giving ourselves the best chance of winning gold.

We went to the Worlds - the ISAF Sailing World Championships - with a job to do, to win gold and give the selectors no excuse not to select us. In that respect it was like no Worlds I have ever prepared for or been to before.

But we didn’t win gold, we won silver and that ate at me over Christmas and New Year.

Now everything is about onwards and forwards.

It is fair to say there is a new sense of drive and enthusiasm behind everything we are doing.