Will Howden and Leigh Mc Millan have been associated with Musto for 2 years! Their main project is racing the Olympic Tornado, Will and Leigh have been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. With a string of national and international results under their belts they are a good bet for a medal in the Olympic games.
Alongside their extensive training and racing in the Tornado Will and Leigh take part in many other regattas outside of the Olympic arena. One of their main projects are the Extreme 40, currently the fastest growing international class with 3 of the Americas Cup teams, Team Origin, Alingi and BMW Oracle all taking part in the series. Will and Leigh regularly take part in “Big Boat” competitions on Farr 45 and TP52’s to fill in a few gaps in their time table.
Will and Leigh use the Musto range of clothing not only for day to day life but in their hobbies like kite surfing and mountain biking, where the breathable jackets are perfect for a wet summers days riding!!
For more information about Will and Leigh, please visit their website http://www.h2oracing.co.uk/
NEWS
33 days till the 2008 Olympic Games Start!
Will and Leigh get to China to start another training secession.
In Brief:
*The Algae issue is being dealt with by the Chinese.
*4 days of racing organised by the coaches for the Tornados.
*Will and Leigh collect their Olympic Kit from Birmingham.
In Detail:
Team GB athletes have begun packing their bags ahead of this summer’s Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Around 800 individuals (athletes, support staff, VIPS) are visiting the NEC in Birmingham to pick up their kit over the next few weeks with each athlete collecting around 97 items of clothing and accessories including:
Adidas leisure and competition wear
Suitcase
Formal Suit and Parade Wear
Panasonic Camcorder
Team GB Mascot.
Each athlete is assisted through the kitting out process by one of 40 personal shoppers who are either a student volunteer from the nearby Birmingham University or sourced through Birmingham City Councils sport volunteers programme.
Tailors and seamstresses are also located in-house to ensure that each item fits to their individual needs with each athlete’s visit being recorded by BOA Official Photographer Getty Images.
Concerns over environmental problems spoiling Beijing's Olympiad have usually centred on the city's air quality, but a new threat to the Games has materialized in the sea. The waters off the coastal city of Qingdao, the venue for the Olympic sailing events, have become choked with thick, green algae.
More than 10,000 troops and close to 100,000 volunteers have been deployed to battle the algae, says Gao Zhenhui, director of the State Oceanic Administration's North China Sea Environmental Monitoring Centre in Qingdao. "At first we didn't realize how big it would be," Gao says. "We didn't think it would happen so fast." Last June, Qingdao saw an algae blooms that covered 27 square miles, and a second one in September covered three square miles. But those are dwarfed by the current algae bloom, which covers 154 square miles.
"Once we saw how big it was we decided to organize the troops and the cleaning teams," Gao says.
Blooms are a natural phenomenon touched off a certain combination of nutrients in the water, and sunlight creates optimal growing conditions for algae - although they can be exacerbated by nutrient-rich runoff from farms, houses and factories. Thus far officials have downplayed the possibility of pollution as a factor in the Qingdao bloom. Wang Shulian, the deputy director of the Qingdao Oceanic and Fisheries Department, told reporters that there was no link to water quality, adding that the algae was aided by a combination of ideal temperature and salinity.
Still, Qingdao's green waters have triggered a massive official response. Gao says the cleaning teams have used boats to pull 100,000 tons of the seaweed from the water. Nets have been extended 40 to 50 miles into the ocean to contain the inflow, and four helicopters have been dispatched to direct clean-up boats. At the environmental monitoring center, employees have been working around the clock for the past four or five days, Gao says. "I'm very confident that in 10 days we will control the whole situation."
Will Howden commented:
“Picking up our Olympic kit was a great experience, unfortunately we didn’t get to meet any other Olympians bar the sailors. We are now out in China, it is obvious the Chinese are doing everything they can to sort out the algae problem. The issue has been exaggerated in the media a little and speaking to other teams they have been able to sail almost every day there has been wind.”
