Respect for our rivals – rather than any kind of animosity – will be a motivation for me this summer.

Before match racing became an Olympic sport, you could compete together from any nation with any mixture of crews. I won the world championship twice with an American team.

Ultimately, we are good friends. We spend our lives abroad on a circuit with these teams so I think if you didn’t become friends, you’d be pretty lonely.

Now we’re coming into the Games, we’re not really hanging out with everyone and you have to concentrate on your game. There is much more focus on the British team and being with them because we’re all at the same venue.

But I prefer to be racing against someone I really respect, and because the other competitors are really good friends, it helps me raise my game.

Some people have different views on that and think you should hate your competitors but the more I know them, the more I like them, the more I respect them and want to beat them.

Sometimes there’s a danger when you hate someone that you try to write them off.

You have to race with respect for your rivals and there’s nothing better than beating your mates.

It is all about the competition and it means a lot more when it is someone you really admire.

We’ve been racing against those Olympic rivals in the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth this week. Thanks for your support and we look forward to keeping you up to date with our continued preparations.