Gary Hunt’s preparations for this weekend’s Red Bull World Cliff Diving event in The Azores has been hampered by the weather.

But the situation is the same for all of Hunt’s rivals after their first scheduled training session was cancelled due to large waves, writes SIMON CARTER.

Southampton star Hunt has finished second in the first two events of the 2013 series – in La Rochelle, France, and the Danish capital of Copenhagen last weekend.

“It was great the day after the competition to stay in Copenhagen with everybody without the stress and the nerves that are always about before the competition,” Hunt told The Daily Echo yesterday.

“Sometimes we fly in and out so quickly that there isn’t any time to appreciate the town and see the sights. “Despite the lovely weather in Portugal, we’re seeing some problems due to the size of the waves – they’re very impressive, but not necessarily suited to cliff diving.

“Training has been cancelled for the first day and we had to settle for training in a diving pool on the other side of the island.

“Luckily our dives are still fresh in our minds from Copenhagen, but for the wild cards who are doing their first dives of the season here, that training session is really needed to reassure you that you know what you’re doing.”

Talking about the Copenhagen event, Hunt added: “I was pleased with my second place finish – despite a couple of extra hurdles to deal with when we first arrived.

“The weather cut short our training time so we scheduled in an extra session on the morning of the competition.

“However, the wind was really blowing at that time, making it that little bit more scary than usual. “One of the toughest parts of the competition was getting used to the fact that the whole roof of the Opera House would shake as you jump.” Artem Silchenko is the current series leader, having won the first two events, as he bids to end Hunt’s run of three successive title wins.

Gary Hunt’s regular blog appears on the Daily Echo website dailyecho.co.uk