OLYMPIC sailing champion Giles Scott says he cannot wait to swap the sea for a ski slope once he has slalomed his way through the America’s Cup in Bermuda this summer.
Scott barely had time to register his Rio 2016 gold medal in the Finn class last August before he was back out on the water helping his former rival Sir Ben Ainslie. The 29-year-old Scott is the tactician aboard Land Rover BAR – the team set up by four-time Olympic champion Ainslie – which is seeking to become the first British boat to win the America’s Cup since its inception in 1851.
Scott’s brief break after the Olympics was taken up by a move from his home in Weymouth to temporary accommodation near Land Rover BAR’s base in Portsmouth. The Huntingdon-born athlete is used to moving around but, having spent his formative years in Canada, he is looking forward to taking up an old pastime away from the boat.
“I’m hoping to take a month or two off after the America’s Cup,” said Scott. “I didn’t have a lot of time off after the Olympics.
“I did nothing really. I moved out of my house in Weymouth and rented a place in Portsmouth and then moved down there. It felt like that was all I really did. I’ve always said I want to get back into skiing.
“I’m not sure I’m going to find anywhere to get to, and there’s always a risk of injury with that, but it’s something I really enjoy. I just want to chill out really and go away. I’ve got a wedding to go to in Canada so I’ll probably get out there.”
Scott moved to Canada as a toddler and lived in Chelsea, a municipality 10 kilometres north of Ottawa, before coming back to England at the age of seven.
Skiing played a huge part in his development, but Scott – who took up sailing at Grafham Water near Cambridge – stopped short of announcing a career change.
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