Boardsailing: Challenges ahead for Kendall

Hayley Thom (left) and Barbara Kendall will compete together in Turkey. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Three-time Olympic medallist Barbara Kendall will face two major challenges when she heads to Turkey next month for the European Championships.

The first will come in the form of the new Olympic board, the RS:X, which replaces the mistral.

The second is an 18-day separation from her husband Shane and their two young children Sam and Aimee. Her longest yet.

After a lengthy break from the sport, following the birth of her second daughter in July, Kendall has spent just two months on the new board which, designed by New Zealander Neil Pryde, is shorter and wider than the mistral.

She is in Hawaii preparing for the European championships which start on June 11.

The regatta is the first of three major ones for Kendall this year, with the pre-Olympic regatta and the world championships following in August and September.

A member of Yachting New Zealand's Olympic development, Kendall has to either finish in the top eight at the European championships or the top 10 at the world championships to ensure future funding.

"That would take a lot of pressure off because we are surviving on half an income at the moment ... so it is all very crucial. But considering I have only been on the board for two months I can't be too tough on myself either," she said.

The new board has received mixed reviews, Kendall saying she likes it now but it took a little bit of getting used to as different tactics are required.

"On the old board you used to pump it and get really good squirts of speed. When it is light and you pump this new board you don't get those same squirts ... so it is quite frustrating in some wind conditions."

Initially it was thought the board would suit heavier body types, however Kendall, who is lighter, disagrees.

"I reckon I am perfect again, you don't want to be too big because then you are going to be slow through the water when it is light, and you don't want too small because then you are going to be really slow when it gets windy, because you need a bit of weight to keep the board in the water."

While Kendall remains New Zealand's top female boardsailor by far, there are a handful of promising sailors keen to follow in her wake.

Hayley Thom and Steffanie Williams will also compete in the European Championships. Thom and Williams are in Austria competing in the World Sailing Games.

Thom will also compete in the pre-Olympic regatta in China while Thom, Kendall and Williams are likely to be joined by Anna Eason, Justina Sellers and Kate Ellingham at the World Championships in Italy.

"They are really keen to learn, they are fun to sail with and it is nice for me to be around a bunch of girls who are mad keen."

While motivation is not an issue for Kendall, balancing training and motherhood is a challenge.

"I am buggered all the time. There are days when I get up, the house is a mess, there's dishes piled up in the sink, the kids are screaming and there are five loads of washing to be done and I just say I am not going sailing today ... that's just a way of life."

Her family are going with her to Hawaii but are not going on to Turkey.