Qingdao, China: The British Yngling team was first to the hoist after practice racing was abandoned at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre on Thursday. Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, and Pippa Wilson (GBR) are favoured to win gold in the Women's Keelboat -Yngling event category, and wasted no time returning to the centre ahead of their 14 rival teams.
After several days of moderate breeze it was a frustratingly calm day in Qingdao. The flotilla of regatta management, race committee and media boats, Finn and Yngling fleets had waited for over an hour for the wind to settle and fill under mostly sunny skies.
Following the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games tomorrow, the Finn and Yngling fleets will get the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition underway with their first two races scheduled for Saturday 9 August.
In the Heavyweight Dintghy - Finn event, Ben Ainslie (GBR) will be aiming to win a third consecutive Olympic gold medal. After winning every single ISAF Graded Finn event he has competed in since the Athens Games, including both Olympic Test Events and this year's Finn Gold Cup (the World Championship of the class), he is a heavy favourite to stand on top of the Olympic podium once again. Despite the hype surrounding him and his celebrity status in Qingdao, Ainslie is untroubled by the burden of expectation, "I think in my situation, my pressure comes from my own expectations and desires, because it really doesn't matter what others think," he said after today's abandoned race. -- ISAF, sailing.org
* After the draw for meausement, it seems we have to wait a couple of more days before gennaker-gate gets more serious. Mitch Booth is drawn to be measured on Sunday, so the first boats to measure in will have to second guess what Mitch and the other competitors with the Code 0 gennakers are going to do. Word in the boat park is that NED, USA, AUS and possibly the French team all have Code 0 gennakers at their disposal.
* After days of moderate breeze (six knots) it was a frustratingly calm day in Qingdao yesterday. The flotilla of regatta management, race committee and media boats, Finn and Yngling fleets waited for over an hour for the wind to settle and fill under mostly sunny skies before abandoning. Sailors have been dealing with the situation as best they can and this week optimised craft have been unveiled; 62 nations aiming to be the fastest at floating in the fog.
Focusing on a gold-or-nothing approach the Netherlands' Tornado champion Mitch Booth is to use a Code zero gennaker built especially for light conditions. The general feeling is if the conditions are light, Booth would end up a half a leg in front as his boat is significantly faster upwind.
The Irish squad are also to the fore in light air development. Dun Laoghaire's Ger Owens and Phil Lawton will hoist a mainsail this morning using the lightest sailcloth available. It's a development that will save them half a kilogramme aloft. Regrettably it's a technical advantage that has been copied by at least one other team.
The regatta could be spoiled by a carpet of foul-smelling algae that remains out there over the course, kept at bay by the might of the Chinese navy.
The World Sailing Federation appear to have held little sway when it allowed the world's top sailing regatta to proceed in one of the most windless places on the planet. Over the next two weeks it must witness the results of such inaction. It's all very well maintaining the conditions will be the same for everyone but the light winds will lead to shortened races where good fortune rather than pure ability will play a leading role. -- David O'Brien in The Irish Times,
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0808/1218142761901.html
