Posted on: Tue, Aug 19, 2008

This is a race report sent to us from Barby Macgowen but we would like to say that High Octane One Designs own Patrick Gavin Brynes was on Falcon that placed #1 in the PHRF class. Below is a shot of Patrick switching out the Spinnaker. Further down below is a shot of Falcon.

Patrick Gavin Brynes changing out the spinnaker

While most Rhode Islanders were peacefully sheltered ashore on Friday and Saturday night, an elite group of sailors was enjoying an intimate encounter with Mother Nature during the Ida Lewis Distance Race, which started Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. not far from the famed lighthouse that serves as host Ida Lewis Yacht Club’s clubhouse on Newport Harbor.  Competing were 11 teams, four of those sailing in a handicap-rule class for IRC, four sailing under PHRF and three competing in a Double-Handed division.  The PHRF and Double-Handed contenders sailed a 150-mile course, while the IRC boats sailed a slightly different, longer course of 177 miles.

 

A light 10-12 knot breeze marked the start, then sputtered to barely nothing overnight while the teams made their way to Montauk Point, immediately putting the fastest boats behind schedule on an expected early afternoon arrival back at the club on Saturday.  Sailors were anything but bored, however, when the trip from Montauk to No Man’s Land and then to Buzzard’s Bay Tower served up extreme wind shifts that had them hurrying to change head sails and figure out their next moves.

 

“We had a three-hour period where we didn’t move even one nautical mile,” said Hap Fauth (Newport, R.I.) whose Reichel/Pugh 69 Bella Mente, was first to finish-- in just over 24 hours, at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon--and won the IRC class.  “And in my last ten years of racing I don’t think I’ve seen so many sail changes in a single race.”

 

As one of a pool of new super-fast, high-tech IRC boats that debuted in Newport this summer, Bella Mente stayed behind while its grand-prix racing counterparts moved on to the Mediterranean to take part in the European racing circuit.  “Bella Mente just wasn’t ready for prime time yet,” said Fauth, who thought the Ida Lewis Distance Race was a perfect way to test some boat modifications that were made recently. “We also practiced with the crew for two days prior to going on this race,” he added.

 

Falcon pictured above....

Because she made it around the course fastest, Bella Mente missed out on most of the stronger winds of up to 23 knots that made the last 50 miles of the race a “real blast” for the rest of the fleet.  A scattering of severe weather cells, marked by fantastic shows of lightning, necessitated close scrutiny of radar systems and “a snaking through” to avoid unwanted encounters. 

 

“It looked pretty scary at times,” said Mike Coe (Milford, Conn.), crewman aboard Bill Jurgensen’s (Stamford, Conn.) winning PHRF entrant Falcon, a Tripp 50 design. “It seemed like the lightning was actually striking all around us.”

 

Lightning was not the only thing that caught Falcon’s attention.  John Brim’s (Newport, R.I.) Reichel/Pugh 55 Rima (from the IRC class), which finished second in the race two years ago, had been close with them up until the Buzzard’s Bay Tower mark, when the IRC fleet had to diverge from the two courses’ common legs to take another leg out to Montauk while Falcon and the others sailed to a closer mark off Block Island before heading back to Newport.  It led the Falcon team to believe that, had they chosen to enter IRC instead of PHRF, they might have done well there, too.

 

Bella Mente pictured above...

As it was, Falcon finished at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening, the second boat over the finish line after Bella Mente. Rima, which wound up fourth in IRC class, finished fourth over the line a little after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, only 15 seconds behind William Byron’s (Newport, R.I.) PHRF entrant Fearless, an Alden 72, which finished third in its class.

Jason Richter (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) returned to successfully defend his Double-Handed crown in the J/35 Paladin.  Asked why he likes sailing shorthanded in the Ida Lewis Distance Race, he laughed, saying, “I like the punishment. While we’re out there, sometimes we say ‘why do we do this?!’”

 

The last boat to finish was Simon Day’s (Newport, R.I.) 21-foot mini Transat boat, Josephine, which he, too, sailed with only one additional crew.  She finished at 4:15 Sunday morning, completing the course in just shy of 37 hours.

 

Each boat was greeted at their finish by a crew of volunteers from Ida Lewis Yacht Club, powering alongside in one of the club’s committee boats and bearing a congratulatory bottle of champagne.  Since the finish line was sighted off the deck of the clubhouse, the boats that finished before midnight made an impressive show for members enjoying that night’s Lobster Fest on Lime Rock.  It was from there that the heroine Ida Lewis, the female keeper of the Lime Rock Lighthouse in the early 1800s, famously rowed her lifeboat to wherever a sailor was in need.  Legend has it that in daring rescues she saved 18 lives, each represented by a single star on the Ida Lewis Yacht Club burgee.

 

For having the fastest elapsed times, Bella Mente and Falcon were awarded, respectively, the Russell L. Hoyt and the Lois J. Muessel Perpetual Memorial Trophies.

 

 

2008 Ida Lewis Distance Race

Results

 

Position,  Boat Name, Type,  Skipper, Hometown, Finish Time, Elapsed, Corrected

 

IRC

1.Bella Mente, Custom R/P 69, Hap Fauth, Newport, R.I., 1|15:30:34 1|00:25:34 1|13:58:57

2.Vamp, J/44, Lenny Sitar, Holmdel, N.J., 2|02:03:14 1|10:58:14 1|14:19:40

3.Celeritas, NYYC Swan 42, Malcolm  Gefter, Newport, R.I., 2|00:40:48 1|09:35:48 1|15:38:39

4.RIMA, RP 55, John Brim, Newport, R.I., IRC, 1|20:37:04 1|05:32:04 1|16:47:13

 

PHRF

1.Falcon, Tripp 50, Bill Jurgensen, Stamford. Conn., 1|18:27:09 1|03:16:09 1|03:16:09

2.Lark, Beneteau 40, Edmund Flynn, Newport, R.I./Marlborough, Mass., 1|22:24:19 1|07:13:19 1|03:35:49

3.Fearless, Alden 72, William Byron, Newport, R.I., 1|20:36:49 1|05:25:49 1|05:05:49

4.Hidalgo, Express 37, Michael deAngeli, Jamestown, R.I., Did Not Finish

 

Double-Handed

1. Paladin, J-35, Jason Richter, Port Jefferson, N.Y., 1|23:14:45 1|07:57:45 1|07:20:15

2. Valkyrie, First 40, Bjorn Johnson, Newport, R.I./Red Bank, N.J., 1|23:05:51 1|07:48:51 1|07:48:51

3. Josephine, VPLP 21, Simon Day, Newport, R.I., 2|04:15:00 1|12:58:00 1|11:28:00

Race Report by: Barby Macgowen

Posted on: Tue, Aug 19, 2008

This weekend sees the 12ft Skiff fleet descend on Paignton, Torbay, for the 3rd round of the 2008 Bartercard Cup series.

Team Design Source sailed by Iain Christie & Tom Vian goes into the event as series leaders with 11 points, closely followed by Bob Clements & Alan Atterbury on Nice Action with 10 points, and Andy Lang & Tom Gruitt's CST Composites in third place with 8 points. However, this year's series is still wide open between these 3 teams, with a potential 12 points still on the table.

This round of the Bartercard Cup will run over the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of the bank holiday weekend from Paignton, as part of the Ocean BMW Royal Torbay Week, and is set to be an exciting event (especially if the breeze holds up).

Bob Clements from the 12ft Skiff class comments "we always look forward to the Torbay event, it's becoming at bit of an institution for the class. The very first 12ft Skiff event in the UK took place here back in August 2006, and we've been back every year since. We just love it! Well-run races on big courses, a great social scene, and friendly, helpful organisers, what more could one ask?"

Anybody interested in seeing the 12ft Skiffs is very welcome.

Posted on: Mon, Aug 18, 2008

Sailing in his fourth Olympic regatta, Ben Aineslie (GBR) took his fourth Olympic medal in fine style, winning gold in the Finn medal race in the best possible way. Leading from start to finish, he was never really challenged to take the race win. Silver went to Zach Railey (USA) after a solid race in sixth place, while Guillaume Florent (FRA) snatched the bronze away from Daniel Birgmark (SWE) with a fourth place race finish.
Olympic medals are what it is all about and Ben Ainslie made it quite clear from the outset that nothing less than gold would do. Zach Railey (USA) was the only sailor in the 10 boat Finn medal race who could take the 2008 Olympic Finn gold medal away from the Brit. However, it proved to be a somewhat more arduous task than anyone suspected.
The story of this medal race actually started yesterday with three failed attempts to get the final race in. Twice it was postponed in the closing seconds before the start gun, but the third time the fleet got away in 7 knots of breeze which lasted until the last quarter of the first windward leg. Then it started to drop, completely dying by the time the boats reached the leeward mark.
The big question everyone was asking before the race was would Railey bear the full brunt of Ainslie's tactics. The answer was an emphatic 'yes'. Railey's biggest danger however was that Ainslie would take him out of the race, while his rivals sailed away and he would end up out of the medals altogether.
On the first failed start Ainslie made his intentions quite clear, locking swords with Railey at 4 minutes to go. By the time the third start got underway, Railey had taken the battle to Ainslie and managed to escape a number of times before starting in clear air. However thinking he was over the line early, Railey went back - as did Ainslie and this allowed Ainslie to regain control.
Railey stood no chance. Initially tacked on by medal contender Guillaume Florent (FRA), Railey started to slip back and then Ainslie took control and herded Railey to the far right side of the course. The rest of the fleet rounded the first mark some 4 minutes ahead of Ainslie, after benefiting from better wind on the left of the course,
At the first mark, the fleet rounded in almost the reverse order of their overall positions: DEN, ESP, CRO, SLO, CAN, FRA, SWE, GBR and then USA, over five minutes behind the leader. Ainslie's plan was working perfectly, but fortunately for Railey his two main rivals for silver, Daniel Birgmark (SWE) and Florent were having a bad day as well. However at the gate, the leading boats drifted round in very little wind and soon after the race was abandoned. It was all back to square one for Ainslie.
Railey said after coming ashore that he was prepared for the onslaught, "I think that what Ben did given the very shifty conditions was a good play and that was something that I was expecting. I am just trying to get in a good race and Ben is trying to prevent that with the conditions we had today. For tomorrow, I will go out and just try to have a good start and get in a solid race. But for sure the race committee made the correct call because we would not have made it back upwind and back down to the finish with a fair race."
Florent stated, "The conditions were not up to an Olympic final. The racing area is already not easy to race but this was impossible. Luckily, the race committee took the right decision. It is not fun to do our sport in these conditions and I suppose it is the same for the spectators. I wasn't in good place after the first lap but everyone stopped at the same time. Anything could have happened!"
So, Sunday morning arrived. Round two.
The Finns were second up after the Ynglings in winds of 20 knots. Though the Ynglings got their race in first, the Finns were sent back to shore as the weather and visibility rapidly deteriorated.
You couldn't make up this stuff. The frustration of the sailors, matched by the frustration of journalists and viewers worldwide, was almost palpable as they headed for home with the medal race still not completed. Some were asking would it ever be over?
But the weather improved and the AP finally came down again at 15.45 local time for the fifth attempt at a start. This time it got away first time in 15-18 knot winds and the 'O' flag raised for free pumping on downwind legs for the first and only time in this regatta.
Ainslie waited until the last moment before attacking and slid under Railey with about 30 seconds to go. Railey tacked off and started in last place, but in clear air. After a few tacks being exchanged out of the start, Ainslie was clearly keeping Railey in his sights, yet a repeat of yesterday's tactics was not necessary as the Brit was soon in the lead. Favoring the right hand side of the course Ainslie rounded the top mark ahead, with Florent rounding in second from the left. Positions at the first mark were: GBR, FRA, DEN, CAN, ESP, SLO, USA, SWE, POL and CRO. Railey was still in silver and Florent had moved up to bronze.
Perfect Finn sailing conditions enabled the sailors to really strut their stuff downwind. Florent and Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) gained slightly on Ainslie on the downwind, while Railey moved up one to sixth, keeping his main opposition Daniel Birgmark (SWE) behind him.

Most of the fleet favoured the left hand side of the track on the final leg with Ainslie extending slightly to lead round the final windward mark of the regatta. There were very few changes on the final leg. Railey was still holding into silver while Florent was comfortably in the bronze. The only real drama was Florent dropping to fourth and Birgmark moving up to seventh right at the finish. In terms of points this meant that Florent took the bronze medal off Birgmark on the result on the medal race, both finishing on 58 points.
While Ainslie took the gold medal in the best possible way with a race win, a sixth place for Railey was enough for him to retain the silver medal position with ease. Ainslie was in fact using the same hull that won him gold in Athens four years ago, while Florent was using his six year old boat and mast.
If anyone needs a masterclass in how to demoralize the opposition, then Ben Ainslie is the perfect tutor, having won the gold medal by an incredible 22 points. In four out of the nine races sailed, he turned a middle or low top ten result into a race winning position on the downwind legs. In the first race he was unlucky, dropping from first to tenth in the closing stages, but his scoreline of four race wins, two seconds, a fourth and a 10th is a graphic indication of why he was the favorite to take the gold medal again.


What is perhaps more remarkable about this regatta than Ben Ainslie winning his third consecutive gold medal is the number of pre-regatta favourites who didn't figure at all in the racing. Some of them didn't even make the medal race including the silver medalist here last year Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) who never really found any form, Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE), always a light wind threat and Dan Slater (NZL), silver medalist at the worlds this year. Meanwhile world number one Høgh Christensen and the 2004 Silver medalist and 2007 World Champion Rafa Trujillo (ESP) went into the medal race having lost all chances of winning a medal.
Both the medalists behind Ainslie were given outside chances of medaling before the event, but it is still quite a surprise to see them there at the end of what has been a very trying and testing week.
In winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal, Ainslie is now the joint second most decorated sailor at the Olympics - ever. He has also earned himself a place in British Olympic history as the most decorated of all British Olympic sailors, an honor that has sat with Rodney Pattisson's two golds and a silver in 1968, 1972 and 1976 for over 30 years.
What is daunting about this piece of trivia is that Ainslie is currently at the peak of his career. Aged just 31, he has many more Olympiads to go and has indicated every intention of being at Weymouth in four years time.


His medal here is also the third consecutive Finn gold medal for Great Britain, a country, that until Iain Percy's gold medal in 2000 broke the 48 year gap from Charles Currey's silver in 1952, had struggled to produce any sort of form at the Olympic Games in this class.
Ainslie said, "Today we had a nice little rain with wind up to 20 knots. It's a lot like sailing at home in Britain. I tried to keep my eye on the American during the start of the race. After a little while, I just went on and tried to sail my own race. I made some big gains during the second half of the first leg. The last downwind was a little scary. I kept telling myself, 'don't capsize, don't capsize'. All in all, this is my best last race in all of the four Olympics that I've participated in."


"This feeling is truly amazing, and it's a massive relief. I could open the Champagne right now and rightfully so."

Zach Railey's silver medal is the first Finn medal for the United States for 16 years, following in the wake of a long line of silver medals - Peter Barrett (USA) in 1964, John Bertrand (USA) in 1984 and Brian Ledbetter (USA) in 1992.
Railey said later, "I was late at the start. Ben was trying to force me to the back of the fleet, which cost me about 30 seconds. Other than that, I sailed very well today."
On winning the Silver, he said, "It's a big relief. I am proud of myself. I had a little chat with Ben. I told him that I know that he wants to secure his Gold medal, and I just wanted to secure my Silver."
Railey looked ahead to the next four years, "I will continue my training step by step, and goal by goal. I will definitely go for the Gold. It's just one more place to go. It has always been my dream to stand on the Olympic podium. The fact that it's Silver and not Gold is not important to me."
Guillaume Florent's medal is only the second Finn medal for France, the other one being a gold medal to Serge Maury in Kiel in 1972. His plan today was to try and keep two boats between himself and Birgmark, a plan that was ultimately to prove successful. On his bronze medal he said, "I didn't think this would be possible before coming here. This is my first regatta in Qingdao!"


"Everyone needs some luck sometimes, and today I had it. Today was my day. I made my gain at the second upwind. I didn't care about the position, I just needed to put two boats between Sweden and myself and I did."
The race officer for the Finn and Ynglings has been Peter Reggio, better known as 'Luigi'. Luigi has been a favorite PRO for the Finn class for many years, starting with the 2001 Finn Gold Cup in Marblehead, USA. Everyone loves him, especially as he interacts a lot with the sailors and coaches. Then the International Finn Association (IFA) asked him to be the PRO for the 2004 Finn Europeans in La Rochelle as it was an Olympic qualifier. When ISAF asked the classes their wish list for the test events and the Olympic Games the class asked for him and he accepted. Luigi is a professional race officer, and the Finn class feels very lucky to have him.

He said yesterday, "The conditions at the beginning of the Olympics for races 1-6 for the Finns were far better than expected. Over the past three or four days they have reverted back to what we experienced in the 2006 and 2007 test events. It's not easy to run races correctly in light air with a strong tide. The 'normal' inversion has reappeared making things really tough on the organizers and the sailors with very light, shifty winds with heat and humidity beyond endurance. But we are getting it done though."
Did he feel prepared enough to face all the different situations? "This has not been easy. Probably the biggest issue is the language thing. I worked with this team last year at the 2007 test event, though the 2006 team was different. They understand the
hows of what we are trying to do but they really don't have a feel for the whys. That makes it extremely difficult at times when things get a bit complicated, believe me! The team is a wonderful bunch of people and really eager to do things correctly...it would just be a lot easier for me if I understood what they were saying! The other IROs that I've been working with have also been doing a wonderful job."
"We usually get to the race area about one and a half hours before the scheduled start time to get settled in and start looking at the conditions. All we are concerned with is getting things right to make the racing as fair as possible for the sailors. I'd say the real objective is that...fairness (and then MORE fairness)."
Was it hard to cancel the race on Saturday and what reactions did he get from the sailors? "Not at all. We'd attempted two prior starts and blown them off with about 10 seconds to go each time. It just wasn't going to work. The third attempt at racing was in about 7 knots and it looked good for about 3/4 of the first beat. Then it all started to go downhill. It was a long beat time wise due to a strong current running with the wind. Then the breeze started failing and it had died completely by the time a few of the boats had reached the gate. After that, it was a joke with no shot at making the one hour time limit, even though we had shortened the second beat. The call to abandon was a no-brainer."


The best moment of this regatta? "Just knowing that the guys in the Finns and the girls in the Ynglings actually appreciate what we are trying to do. Their feedback so far has been great and it's really satisfying to know that they understand that we're all (sailors and race committee) working together to get the best competition possible. That's a very special feeling and I'm truly grateful for some of the things that the sailors and coaches have said to me...that is special."

Having faced some good challenges between the AC and the sailing in Qingdao, what's next for Luigi? "I'm leaving here early to run an M30 event in Newport Rhode Isaland and then I'm off to Travemunde, Germany next Sunday night for the Farr40 Europeans. I've got a couple of Coutts 44 events later in the fall and the M30 Worlds in October. There are about 6 other events in September-December but I'm to beat right now to remember what they are. Next year is my usual mess of travel to various events (too many). I love what I do, but I've grown to hate airports."
And of the Finn sailors, "They have been great. We have a lot of chatter and laughs before racing and between races. I love working with these guys. They are the best!"

Race Report by: Robert Deaves-Finn Class Association

Posted on: Sun, Aug 17, 2008

Although the 2004 silver medalist Rafa Trujillo (ESP) won today's only race, a second place for Ben Ainslie (GBR) extended his lead at the top to 12 points and he is guaranteed at least the silver medal going into tomorrow's medal race.

While Thursday came and went with little more than a ripple, Friday arrived looking hopeful with three races scheduled to wrap up the qualification series before Saturday's medal race. But hopeful was perhaps a bit optimistic. 'Super Friday', as many had called it, was put on hold for a while as the wind came and went and the sailors waited anxiously out on the water as precious time slipped by. In the end only one race was held before the time limit expired.

After nearly a four hour wait for the wind to co-operate, race eight got underway in 5 knots from a direction of 20°, gradually increasing up to a maximum of 9 knots on the first upwind leg. It was situation normal in Qingdao.

Regatta leader Ben Ainslie (GBR) lead round the first mark for the first time in the series and extended his lead to 30 seconds by the leeward gate. Second round, and needing a good result to stand a chance of winning a medal was Chris Cook (CAN) with Dan Slater (NZL) sailing his best first leg of the series to round third. Rafa Trujillo (ESP) rounded in fourth.

Slater and Trujillo traded positions on the downwind and then on the final upwind leg, Trujillo made his move on Ainslie, taking advantage of a large right hand shift and overhauling the Brit. This large shift caused lots of position changes further down the fleet with Peng Zhang (CHN) moving from 21st to ninth, and Ainslie's greatest threats at the moment, Zach Railey (USA), dropping from ninth to 19th and Guillaume Florent (FRA), fading away from 11th to 21st.

Ainslie attacked back down the final leg to the finish, but Trujillo had done enough and led across the finish to take his first race win by just 8 seconds, which moved him up to tenth overall.

Ainslie commented later, "I was a little bit disappointed because I had a good start and a pretty good lead at one point. It was a bit reminiscent of the first race of the series when I let a big lead slip but fortunately second was still a good result and it put some more boats between myself and Zach which will be very important going into the medal race."

With no more races possible, Trujillo had moved up to tenth overall to take the final place in tomorrow's medal race on countback from Giorgio Poggi (ITA). Both of them were on 74 points. Trujillo knew he had to perform today just to make the medal race, so a win was a great way to do it. However, with only one race being sailed today, his chances of a medal are now gone. Meanwhile a seventh for Slater wasn't enough to make the cut and an OCS for Eduardo Couto (BRA) dropped him from the tenth spot to 13th overall.

Third place in the race went to Cook. Lying in third place overall until race five, and now going into the medal race in fifth place, just seven points off a medal position, Cook, who has previously not had a great record in medal races, said, "The conditions here are very difficult. The fleet is so close together at the finish making every missed wave or bad tack very costly. I have had to concentrate very hard to stay focused and calm. But I always enjoy racing Finns, and this regatta is special because it is all the best sailors from each country, which makes it very hard to do well, but very rewarding when you do."

Zach Railey blotted his copybook for the first time in the series, and on the second beat to dropped from ninth to 19th at the finish. However he can comfortably discard this and has actually extended his gap on third place to 11 points. Railey was back with Florent and made sure that the Frenchman stayed behind him

Railey's coach had this to say, "Zach is feeling very good going into tomorrow's race. Today when he saw his placing at the top mark he decided to use this race to play it tactically for tomorrow's medal race."

Ainslie noted, "They both had a pretty poor first leg. Zach, who's had a very consistent series, realised that he was never going to into a good enough position to make it count for him so he was better off stopping and waiting for the French guy and just make sure that he had a bad race. It was pretty good tactics really by Zach, and good for me because it gave me a little bit more breathing space!"

Daniel Birgmark (SWE) moved into the bronze medal position on 44 points after placing fifth while third placed overnight Florent dropped to fourth overall on 50 points.

Going into tomorrow's medal race, Ainslie is guaranteed at least the silver medal. But he is unlikely to be happy to settle for that. The only man who can take it from him is Zach Railey. For tomorrow, some are already forecasting an Ainslie's style match-race showdown between Ainslie and Railey.

Asked about his tactics for the medal race Ainslie stated, "Stick to him [Railey] like glue I would have thought, especially with this venue! I just hope we get some decent breeze – I hope it's not too light and fluky. But certainly I'll be keeping a very keen eye on Zach and try not to get too far away from him."

It is also interesting to note at this stage that if Ainslie had not lost those nine places in the closing stages of the opening race, he would be going into the medal race with a guaranteed gold medal.

Railey himself has almost secured a medal, and is 11 points clear of Birgmark in third and 17 points clear of Florent in fourth, and 18 clear of Cook in fifth.

In the bronze medal position is Daniel Birgmark (SWE). He is just six points clear of fourth and it is here that the greatest interest perhaps lies. The chasing group of Florent, Cook, Gasper Vincec (SLO) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) are all in with a chance of the bronze. A late protest against Birgmark, which would have changed things considerably, was unsuccessful. However at the current time one protest was still pending which, if upheld, could change the sailors in top ten. Keep an eye on the ISAF website for further developments.

Ainslie summed up the situation, ""It's not over yet by a long way, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and sailing a good race."

Race Report by: Robert Deaves-Finn Class Association

Posted on: Sat, Aug 16, 2008

Racing was canceled for the day after an on-land postponement. The final calls for the Finn and Yngling classes were made at 3:00 p.m. and the calls for the 49er, Laser, Laser Radial, Men's RS:X and Women's RS:X were made at 4:00 p.m. The hazy day in Qingdao could not produce enough wind for racing on any of the four scheduled courses.

Team USA sailors and coaches spent the day in their 40-foot shipping containers, which have been converted with air conditioners for relief from the muggy day. With misty showers and a heat index of 88 degrees F at around 80% humidity, heat management is important for the athletes.

After losing one race to yesterday's two-hour postponements and losing two more races today, the Olympic Sailing Regatta is running nineteen races behind schedule and does not have the capacity to make up all those races tomorrow at the same time. Six courses would be needed to do so, and there are only five available for the event. The Race Committee has decided to start the Laser, Laser Radial, Finns, Yngling classes one hour early at noon, and to push for three races instead of the originally scheduled two. RS:X Men and Women will also start at noon, but are only scheduled for two races. 49ers are noted as, No start before 1400, meaning they will most likely take over on course B once the RS:X windsurfers have finished. Stars and Tornados will start tomorrow with two races as scheduled, and Men's and Women's 470 races will also continue as scheduled, with two races tomorrow.

Click here for current U.S. standings in each class...

Posted on: Fri, Aug 15, 2008

Paralympians to Compete in Newport
Blind Sailors Will Race For National Title

Less than a month before the 2008 Paralympic Games get underway in Beijing, China, sailors representing the USA and Canada will take to the waters of Narragansett Bay to enhance their preparedness by competing in the 2008 C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta at Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center, from August 17-21. Not only will the disabled sailors be competing, but also blind sailors who are joining the event for the first time and who will be racing for the 2008 Blind Sailing National Championship title.

Of the USA’s six Paralympian sailors, all will race in the Clagett with the exception of one – Skud-18 skipper Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, Calif.) is battling ALS and is conserving his energy in order to be fit for Beijing. His crew, Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) will sail with her husband Dan Tucker. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.) will race in the 2.4 Metre event, and Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Bill Donohue (Brick, N.J.) and Tim Angle (Somerville, Mass.) will race in the Sonar class.

The six Canadian Paralympic Team members – competing in the event for the first time – will surely give the Americans some stiff competition. “The biggest reason for going to the Clagett is to get some good quality racing with good competition and [practice in the] current before I head to the Paralympics in September,� said Paul Tingley (Halifax, Nova Scotia) who is Canada’s 2000 Sonar Paralympic Bronze Medallist and who has made the switch to the 2.4 Metre class for China. In the Skud-18, John McRoberts will race with Stacie Louttit (both Victoria, British Columbia). McRoberts won a gold medal at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta when sailing appeared as an exhibition event that attracted 15 nations. (Paralympic sailing made its debut as a full-medal sport at the Sydney Games in 2000, in two classes -- the Sonar and the 2.4 Metre.) The all-Victoria team of skipper Ken Kelly, with Don Terlson and Marc Shaw will compete in the Sonar. Kelly is another veteran of the 1996 Paralympic Games where he won a silver medal in the exhibition event.

Since its inception six years ago, the core of “The Clagett� has been the one-day clinic (this year on August 18) prior to the beginning of racing which gives the sailors access to advice from elite-level coaches. The theme of developing talent among disabled sailors has expanded this year to include blind sailors who will participate in the clinic and also receive on-the-water coaching to improve their technique.

Among the fleet of blind sailors who will be racing in Sail Newport’s fleet of J/22s are several who have competed here to notable success. Sengil Inkiala (Watertown, Mass.) and Deborah Keating (Woburn, Mass.) won the bronze medal in the B-1 Division (blind), while Matt Chao (Boston, Mass.) took the bronze medal in the B-2 Division (visually impaired) at the 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Championships. Chao will be defending his national title.

On the water action is set for August 19-21 in the three Paralympic classes. The blind sailors will race just two days -- August 19-20 -- for the 2008 Blind Sailing National Championship title.

Posted on: Fri, Aug 15, 2008

For the first time on the Finn course, there was initially a significant delay in getting the first race underway because of too little wind, and then a cancellation of the second race as conditions deteriorated even further.

Even though the 470s and 49ers were able to start their races almost on time on the inshore courses, further out on Course area E, the racing was postponed for nearly two and a half hours before finally being able to get underway. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) dominated the race, but Ben Ainslie (GBR) placed second to extend his lead at the top.

Hoping for a break in the tough conditions at some point, the sailors today had to cope with even lighter winds, increased humidity and pretty low visibility. Race seven finally got underway at 15.20 in just 5-6 knots of wind from a new direction of 140°, gradually shifting round to 160°.

After an individual recall at the start, Nacchatar Johal (IND) thought he was over and went back. Unfortunately it was for the 2004 silver medalist Rafael Trujillo (ESP), who did not go back and was scored OCS.

Having only once placed inside the top 10 so far in this regatta, the 2007 European Champion, Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) made the best of the first upwind to lead round the top mark followed by Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE).

Skornyakov's lead was short lived as Kljakovic Gaspic took the lead at the bottom of the downwind with regatta leader Ben Ainslie (GBR) again making a big jump downwind to improve from seventh at the top mark to second at the gate.

However Kljakovic Gaspic now had the bit between his teeth. He rounded clear of other boats and was the only one to get clear air. He extended his lead to just under a minute on the second upwind and then to just over two minutes by the finish to take the race win. Ainslie held on to second, just ahead of Daniel Birgmark (SWE), who again sailed a very consistent race inside the top five. By the end of the race, the wind had decreased to 4 knots.

Second overall going into race seven was Zach Railey (USA). Not having the best of races, he slipped to 12th at one point before recovering to seventh by the finish. Third placed overnight Guillaume Florent (FRA) recovered from 14th at the first mark to fourth at the finish, mainly taking places downwind, to maintain his third place overall, while Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) kept his slim medal chances alive with a fifth place. Chris Cook (CAN) dropped from fourth to seventh overall after a disappointing 15th.

After another lengthy wait, race eight was postponed until tomorrow. This means that two races will be sailed tomorrow, with the tenth now rescheduled for Friday.
 
Although the tough conditions continue to plague the sailors, Eduardo Couto (BRA), who dropped from ninth to 10th after placing 14th today, is still pretty happy. He commented, "The conditions are very difficult, and the positions change a lot. When you are in front it is difficult to cover the fleet, and sometimes from behind you can have big gains too, so I think everybody is having a hard time this week. But I am really happy with my performance, I think I have good speed in light winds and have sailed pretty good in some races, so I am enjoying the sailing here in Qingdao. It is easy to have bad races, so I think you have to sail very conservatively and not take too many risks. Right now, being in the top 10 it is really good for me. I am just disappointed to have that second yellow flag in race three, where I was doing very good, but it is part of the game. I just have to be careful now, and pray for the light winds for the next few days."

Anthony Nossiter (AUS) commented on the weed situation, "There is more weed here than any other sailing venue, but none compared to how it was. I've cleared the rudder a few times, but the weed seems to break up at the bow and is too fragile to hitch a ride."

One of the pre-regatta favourites is gradually improving. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) won the silver medal at the test regatta last year, but so far this year has only had one top 10 position before today. His coach Simon Keijzer said, "At first he sailed too much in his own boat, meaning he did not look enough outside the boat. Then he changed the balance and looked more outside the boat at the bigger picture on wind and current, but he was not able to read the wind properly and he didn't get a grip on it. For that reason he changed his strategy to not take the initiative, but follow what happens on the water with the fleet. He has always sailed races while taking the initiative himself so it is hard to adjust to that but yesterday's second place felt like a confirmation that he is still able to pull it off." Today Postma placed 10th and moved up to 14th, just 15 points short of the medal race zone.

Dan Slater (NZL) is another pre-regatta favourite finally getting closer to the top 10, moving up to 12th after placing 13th today. He said, "I had a great start and headed out towards the left hand side of the course and really just got too greedy trying to do something special and went round the first mark mid-fleet. Down the first run I sailed really bad downwind but up the second beat I came back into the race and crossed the finish in 13th. This puts me in 12th overall and looking to make the medal race with three races to go, so I will have to pull my out finger tomorrow."

After seven races, Ainslie leads on 19 points, with Railey in second on 25 and Florent still in third on 30. Although the gap behind the leading three boats has increased to nine points there are still four or five boats within easy striking distance, and there is still a long way to go in this series.

Race Report by: Robert Deaves - Finn Class Association

Posted on: Thu, Aug 14, 2008

Posted on: Thu, Aug 14, 2008

Today was a lay day for the Finns in Qingdao. They have been taking it easy, watching movies or playing golf – and getting in the right frame of mind to go back onto the water tomorrow to compete against each other and the tough conditions for the final four qualification races before the medal race on Saturday.

Many of the original favourites have struggled in these conditions, but they remain optimistic and positive about their Olympic experience.

Anthony Nossiter (AUS) said, "I've not had the best regatta for myself so far, but the long downwinds into the current keep the fleet very tight. A few pumps can make a big difference, but jury is on the spot to catch those who get too excited. However long upwinds instead of the long downwinds are expected for the next part of the regatta with the turn of the current."

"But life here in the village is very comfortable. A few social beverages were had last night by a bunch of Finn lads. It's been rather gentlemanly yachting; a few incidents have been fairly traded on the water and not taken to the protest room."

Newcomer Eduardo Couto (BRA) said, "I am very happy with my performance. I don't have so much time in the class, so if I can be in the medal race on the last day I will be very satisfied. The conditions here are very tricky, so it is difficult to have a game plan, but I will try to sail more conservatively, not take so many risks, and try to sail with most of the fleet. I think in the next four races we will see big changes on the scores."

Currently lying in fourth place, Chris Cook (CAN) had this to say, "With the exception of race five I am happy with my sailing so far. I have made some mistakes but have made up for them with good downwind speed. I have a general plan for each race in that I want to stay consistently in the top eight for every race. That way I don't take too many risks trying to make something great but I am also there to take advantage of others mistakes and make better results than seventh or eighth."

Will he change anything for Wednesday, "Nothing. I think others will do part of my work for me by making mistakes so I will stay the course and keep working for top eight finishes."

In 12th place, Giorgio Poggi (ITA) is performing better than expected, perhaps because there is very little pressure on him. "What I see is that the sailors like Jonas, Emilios, PJ, Ivan, Rafa, Dan had a lot of pressure at the beginning of the competition because they were aiming for a medal. Then there are sailors like me who just want to have good races. In the first day of I was first and second to the first mark and then I finished seventh and 17th. There was too much pressure in seeing all those sailors behind me. But after that I calmed down and everything went much better."

One sailor who hasn't performed to his world number one ranking is Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) down in 11th. He said, "Nothing has worked for me. I've been unlucky, and sailed bad. But I will continue to try to do my best. I need four top five results to even get close to a medal again. Sailing wise I'm not really enjoying myself, but the rest is great and the mood is good between the sailors in our class."

Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), currently lying in 16th is very philosophic about his poor performance so far, "Very tricky conditions here. For me there's no system I can understand. That's why you've seen no results from me yet. The competition has been really good, with close racing. A lot of the races you finish so close, that you can win and lose five places in a eyewink. Today it's a day off, time to refuel and tomorrow it's another hot and battling racing day. It will be extremely exciting in the front. We'll see where the wind blows."

Balazs Hajdu (HUN), who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic regattas in the Finn class and is now the President of the International Finn Association noted, "The infrastructure in the Olympic Marina and the Olympic Village is maybe the best of recent Olympics. The marina is a short walk away from the 5 star hotel transferred to the Village for the regatta. However Finn sailors are maybe getting bored of the food in the village as half of the fleet came to enjoy the unmatched open buffet dinner at nearby Shangri-La Hotel, the HQ for IOC delegates and guests in Qingdao. It was great to see Finn sailors of different nationalities seated around the same table and joking with their fellows and on-water opponents."

He continued, "It is quite moving to see how tough it is for sailors to handle these extreme light and shifty wind conditions spiced with the strong current. However, all sailors have anticipated these conditions and prepared themselves mentally to be able to master these psychologically difficult situations. It is great to see smiling faces at dinner although, especially when you know that the owner of that face has just lost his medal hopes. This shows however that sailors look ahead, try to get rid of the past and concentrate only on next race, knowing that this is their only way to handle the extremes of the 2008 Olympic Regatta."

The conditions are also taking their toll on the sailors. "I have never seen Ben with such tired eyes after a day's racing as today. Restless concentration and body control in the light and shifty winds as well as choppy waves take all the energy out of the sailors. The climate is however much better than in Beijing. We have experienced clear skies, temperatures in the high twenties and low thirties with moderate humidity in recent days".

Racing for the Finns continues on Wednesday.

Race Report by: Robert Deaves-Finn Class Association

Posted on: Wed, Aug 13, 2008

1995 Melges C-Scow for sale. Spartan Trailer (excellent condition), 70% new lines. New Battlestick tiller extension. Heavy & medium air sails. The hull is in good condition with the norm battle wounds for its age. Contact High Octane One Designs for more information.
Price is $3500.00

Posted on: Tue, Aug 12, 2008

As Skandia Cowes Week 2008 draws to a close today Stuart Quarrie - Cowes Week Limited's CEO - spoke this morning about the hugely successful week and says the general feeling from competitors and visitors is a positive one.

"It's been another fantastic Skandia Cowes Week and for the first time in the 10 years I've been here we haven't lost a single race, to either too much or too little wind, all classes had all eight races. As far as I'm concerned that's a successful week.

"Most of the competitors, most of the time have been very happy, however, some of the time we set courses that aren't quite at the right angles because the wind shifts and so on, but the overall feeling is really good."

As the 14-year partnership with Skandia comes to and end, Quarrie chatted about the changes that have occured over that period, and how Skandia has really helped to develop the week.

"The event is now really vibrant thanks to the support we've been given. One of the biggest changes over this period has been building the regatta centre four years ago (2004). That was a real milestone and we couldn't have done that without some of the infrastructure money from Skandia. Another milestone that Skandia helped towards is the Parade Landing which again we wouldn't have been able to contribute anything like as much as we did without Skandia's support. So Skandia's support is not just about the week but about the infrastructure as well and we are really grateful for that."

Plans are already in place for next year's Cowes Week which runs from 1 to 8 August.

Posted on: Mon, Aug 11, 2008

After winning race five today on the final downwind to the finish, Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the overall lead in the Finn class from Zach Railey (USA). Ainslie then placed tenth in race six with Railey in eighth to go into the lay day with a one point advantage. Chris Cook (CAN) holds onto third place after placing 23rd and 5th today.

With 14-15 knots of breeze early in the morning, the conditions looked good, but the forecast was for it to drop. When the fleet arrived on Course area E it was still at 12 knots, so most of the fleet hoisted their heavier sails. Then once it was too late too change again, the wind started to decrease.

Eduardo Couto (BRA) only started sailing Finns earlier this year when he won the Brazilian trials, but he is already making an impact on the race course in Qingdao. For the second time this week he led around the top mark, this time from Zhang Peng (CHN) and Nachhatar Johal (IND). All three had favoured the left hand side of the course, while most of the rest went to the right, which looked better and was the forecasted way to go. Overnight leader Zach Railey (USA) was one of those having problems further back, rounding in 15th, over two minutes behind the first boat.

Ranked a lowly 80th in the world, Couto, who is one of the youngest and lightest sailors in Qingdao, maintained his lead on the first downwind, rounding just ahead of Zhang, while Gasper Vincec (SLO) made the best gains to move from ninth up to third. On the final upwind, Couto extended his lead to 26 seconds with Vincec moving up to second, while coming up fast behind him was Ben Ainslie (GBR) who improved from ninth to third.

Ainslie continued his charge on the final downwind to the finish overhauling both Vincec and then Couto to take his third race win on the series so far and to move into the overall lead for the first time. Almost a photo finish, the first three boats finished in the space of one second. Guillaume Florent (FRA) finished fourth in the race to move up to third overall, while Railey recovered well to finally finish seventh, but he had dropped to second overall.

Race six got underway in a reduced breeze of 7 knots – after everyone had changed back to their lighter Mylar sails – with several new faces at the front. The tough conditions so far have taken their toll on a number of sailors who were predicted to be doing better. At the 2007 Olympic Test Event here last year, Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) and Peer Moberg (NOR) won the silver and bronze medals. This year they are struggling just to get into the top 20, with Postma's high scores one of the biggest shocks of the event so far. He said, "A lot of things happened outside the boat with the wind and the current that I did not register on time. I did not get my head out of the boat enough." Meanwhile Moberg did himself no favours by failing to complete a full two turns for a yellow flag penalty in race two and found himself disqualified.

However they both put this behind them in race six with the two of them vying for the race win. Postma led round the first mark just ahead of Tapio Nirkko (FIN) and Chris Cook (CAN). Moberg, who was the Laser bronze medalist in 1996, rounded in fourth place. By the leeward gate, Moberg was up to second and stayed there until the final downwind when he sneaked past Postma to take the race win by just four seconds. Daniel Birgmark (SWE) took third place after remaining in the top seven throughout the race.

Nirkko was holding on to fourth place when he was yellow flagged coming in to the finish and made a mess of doing his penalty turns to finally finish a very unhappy 22nd. Fourth place finally went to Jonas Høgh–Christensen (DEN), which was only the world number one's second appearance inside the top ten this week.

Some small chink was found in Ben Ainslie's armour as he could only manage to finish tenth in the race, just two places and two seconds behind his current main rival Zach Railey. For him this will be a countable score as he also placed tenth in race one. Railey remains the only sailor so far to score only single digit results.

The separation times between boats are a source of great interest. Sometimes this can increase to five minutes during the space of one leg as boats drop into holes or find extra puffs. Sometimes it can be mere seconds between a whole bunch of boats at the finish. In race six today there were just eight seconds between a countable eighth and a discardable 13th.  Boat positioning coming into the downwind marks is proving perhaps the most crucial tactical decision of the race.

With race six completed the Finns have now completed the minimum number of races to constitute an opening series. This means that none of the reserve days will be used and that the medal race will proceed as scheduled on Saturday 16th August.

The organisers must be breathing a collective sigh of relief today as the pessimistic wind pundits and doom merchants have so far been proved wrong. Although the first practice races on Thursday were lost through lack of wind, the first three days of racing have proceeded according to schedule. Michele Marchesini (ITA), who is coach to 2004 silver medalist Rafael Trujillo (ESP) – who is currently lying in tenth place after having scored two 20th places today - said, "In June when we were here the sky was much greyer. Now it is blue, probably because of the factories being turned off. I think this has played a big part in helping the winds to develop."

Dan Slater (NZL) placed better again today posting a 9 and 7. He said, "With four races left to sail before a medal race everyone has a discard now and will be counting all their finishing positions from now on. I'm looking forward [to Wednesday] as I still have nothing to lose and everything to gain and going by today we saw some big scores again from the racing. Really you only have to look at the results to see that the racing is really random and not really how you would like to have a regatta that you have spent four years building up for, but it is what it is and I will keep fighting my way back." Slater currently lies in 13th place, just 4 points away from the medal race zone.

So, going into the first lay day Ainslie leads on 17 points, with Railey close behind on 18. In third is Florent on 26 points with Cook in fourth on 33. The event is effectively only half way over but both Ainslie and Railey have created a useful gap on the rest of the fleet, though in the conditions in Qingdao, no one is taking anything for granted.

Race Report by: Robert Deaves-Finn Class Association

Posted on: Mon, Aug 11, 2008

49er Day One:
It was a tough opening race for Nathan Outteridge & Ben Austin today in the 49er. The team got stuck out of the start at the committee boat end and struggled to find free air after that and finished 18th. Between races the boys got their game plan together and showed their world class form by winning race two. They followed the win with a 7th which puts them in 5th place overnight on 23 points.

49er Top 3
1- GBR 12 points
2 - ITA 13 points
3 - DEN 16 points

5 - AUS 23 points

Finn Day Two:
Anthony Nossiter in the Finn Class scored and 8th and was 8th around the last mark in race two but slipped back to 17th by the finish putting him in 13th overnight on 58 points. Zach Railey from USA has had the best two days racing of his career to date and is leading the regatta over GBR’s Ben Ainslie in second and Christopher Cook in 3rd. There are some very good sailors deep down the fleet showing that the conditions are very challenging out there.

Finn Top 3:
1 - USA 11 points
2 - GBR 16 points
3 - CAN 28 points

13 - AUS 58 points

Yngling Day Two:
The Australian Yngling Team of Krystal Weir, Karyn Gojnich & Angela Farrell still sit in 5th place after day two. The team scored a 6th and 12th today and have 30 points. This is a high scoring regatta with the leaders Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (GBR) having notched up 16 points after only four races. This really shows just how tough it is out there on the race course.

Yngling Day Two: 
1 - GBR 16 points
2 - FIN 23 points
3 - NED 25 points

5 - AUS 30 points

Tomorrows Racing Schedule: Races start at 1pm (China time)
• 470 Women races 1 & 2
• 470 Men races 1 & 2
• RS:X Women races 1 & 2
• RS:X Men races 1 & 2
• 49er races 4, 5 &6
• Finn races 5 & 6
• Yngling races 5 & 6

Report by: Australian Sailing Team

Posted on: Sun, Aug 10, 2008

A quick glance at the Finn scoreboard after four races would seem to indicate someone is rolling the dice in Qingdao. One person who seems to have loaded dice is Zach Railey (USA), who after two awesome second places today moves into the overall lead and would have had a significant points advantage apart from a last minute charge in race four by Ben Ainslie (GBR) to move from seventh to first on the final leg. Chris Cook (CAN) narrowly moves up to third as one of only four sailors to maintain top ten positions so far.

With yesterday's highs and lows consigned to history and experience, the sailors today went afloat knowing that anything could happen once again. The only real difference was they were racing on Course Area E, some 4.2 nautical miles offshore.

Many of the favourites who yesterday picked up one or two high scores were looking to correct that today. Some succeeded, some didn't. However, the forecast of 8 to 10 knots wasn't too far wrong, with a steady 9 knots of breeze at the start.

Building on his overnight celebrity status after being in an unexpected second place, Zach Railey (USA) pulled out all the stops to lead round the first mark in race three from Daniel Birgmark (SWE) and Eduardo Couto (BRA). Like yesterday, many of the favourites were struggling at the tail end of the fleet with yesterday's first race winner Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) rounding in 21st and world number one Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) in 22nd.

Railey maintained his lead on the first downwind while Rafael Trujillo (ESP) moved up to second and Birgmark dropped to fifth. Trujillo took the lead on the next downwind while Birgmark recovered back to second. On the final upwind leg, Birgmark made a small gain to cross the finish line one second ahead of Railey, with Trujillo four seconds back in third. Ben Ainslie (GBR) maintained his fourth place throughout the entire race.

With the steadier wind there were not quite as many massive place changes as yesterday, but still Papathanasiou moved up to 5th by the finish, and the overnight leader Rafal Szukiel (POL) who rounded the top mark in sixth dropped to 21st on the first downwind and finally end up 19th.

Race four got underway at 14.50 local time with Couto, leading round the first mark and the first lap. Guillaume Florent (FRA) rounded second with Haris Papadopolous (CYP) in third. Ainslie was in fourth and Railey rounded eighth.

Railey then sailed a perfect second upwind leg to move into the lead just ahead of Couto and Dan Slater (NZL) who had moved up from 10th at the first mark. Ainslie had dropped to seventh.

The final downwind to the finish was dramatic. In a reversal of fortunes from yesterday, Ainslie found the best wind to take the lead in the final three-quarters of the run to finish six seconds ahead of Railey while Florent moved up from 14th at the top mark to third at the finish. Again those who found the puffs made the biggest gains.

Other big movers on the final leg were Gasper Vincec (SLO) moving from 12th to 5th and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) jumping from 20th to 8th. In fact the finish was really tight, so tight that the first 16 boats all finished with 35 seconds of each other.

One of yesterday's most unexpected disappointments was Dan Slater (NZL) who placed 21 and 19. He was struggling again today in the first race with an 18th after getting a yellow flag from the jury and having to take a 720 penalty turn, but pulled out a fourth in the second to move up to 16th overall. He said "The second race was much better with a good start and I rounded the first mark seventh or eighth and then on the run I was able to gain a few to go round the bottom mark in fourth. Up the second beat it looked like I was leading for a while till the wind shifted back to the left a little and I rounded a close third at the top mark. On the final run I lost one boat to finish fourth and at least post a counter on the scoreboard. So although there are plenty of points still to catch up it's been done before and I will just take one race at time."


Meanwhile one of the pre-regatta favourites for a medal here, Papathanasiou received his third yellow flag - after picking up one in each race yesterday - and had to retire from his second race of the series and scored DNE.

Eighth overall is Guillaume Florent. After two top tens yesterday he placed 20th in race three before a spectacular recovery to fourth in race four. Earlier he said, "The sailing area is really weird, with lots of current compared with the wind. With these conditions, I will not take any risks at the start as I don't want to be pushed over the line by the current. I started on second row and anyway the beats are not that important. You can round the top mark in 15th place and come back on the run. We must concentrate until the very end, especially downwind. I am happy with my downwind speed where I can compete with the best. However, I am slower upwind, especially in winds around 6 to 8 knots. Unfortunately there is not much to do about it. Generally my first day was good, with two races in the top ten. This was a good start even if I thought I could win one. A puff of wind pushed some sailors who were trying a risky coup to come back and pass me."

But the overnight leader is the young American sailor, Zach Railey. Many said he was going to be fast in light winds, but not many expected him to be leading at this stage. "I had another good day. It feels really good to be leading the Olympics, however there are lot more races to come and I am trying not to look at the results and take one race at a time."

On scoring top five in all the races so far he said, "Some races, I got really lucky. It is a mixture of luck and skills. I try to execute everything properly and avoid big mistakes. I try to get a good start and a good first beat. Ben sailed a really good final downwind. He was very fast, so credit to him as he raced really well. Course E had much less current than A, especially during the first race. The wind was also stronger but very puffy and with different zones of pressure. The issue of the race came down on who got the last puff on the last run. The fleet is very close so every puff sees place changes, especially downwind, where the major gains and losses are made."

Two more races are to be sailed tomorrow, Monday, before the Finns take a lay day on Tuesday.

Race Report by: Rober Deaves-Finn Class Association - Finn Class Link

Posted on: Sun, Aug 10, 2008

The waiting is over. The racing has begun. The first starting signal for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition was for the Finn class.

During the next nine days, 26 Finn sailors will be competing for three elusive medals and a chance to stand on an Olympic podium. Over the past few weeks the weather has been anything but stable. With everything from 25 knot winds to drifting around in the fog, to sweltering under an intense blue sky and the cancelled practice race on Thursday, today's optimistic forecast didn't quite materialise. However two races were sailed in what could best be described as trying conditions.

Despite the forecasts of 8-10 knots of wind today, it was business as usual with 3-5 knots of patchy breeze, a strong current stretching out the downwind legs and high temperatures and humidity. It was also a day of mixed fortunes for some in a day characterised by massive position changes. Technically Ben Ainslie (GBR) had the best of the day, but the wind lived up to expectations in the first race, dumping him out of the lead.

After a 20 minute delay for the wind to settle, the first race of the 2008 Olympic Games got underway in what turned out to be the best breeze of the day. Those who favoured the right found more pressure and first round the top mark was Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) followed by Giorgio Poggi (ITA) and Rafal Szukiel (POL).




Ainslie rounded in fifth and had the best of the downwind to lead round the left hand gate with Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) just behind him round the right hand gate, after rounding the top mark in 13th. Høgh-Christensen, the world number, one lost 17 places on the downwind to round in 18th.




Ainslie favoured the middle right on the second upwind to build a useful lead while Kljakovic Gaspic dropped to fourth. Michael Maier (CZE), the oldest Finn sailor in the Games at 44, moved from eighth at the gate to second at the final windward mark while Guillaume Florent (FRA) maintained his third place.




On the final leg Ainslie had a good 100 metre gap on the fleet when everything started to go wrong for him. Half way down the leg with the tide increasing all the time, the wind went very light and then came in from the left slightly stronger. Ainslie immediately started losing places.




Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) went furthest to the left and gradually moved ahead. From 25th at the first top mark to sixth at the first gate to eighth at the second windward mark, he found the best pressure on the final downwind to steel the opening race. Also making large gains down the final leg was Zach Railey (USA) who moving from 15th to 2nd at the finish. Szukiel, who had dropped to 14th at the top mark also recovered well to finish third, while Ainslie's lead evaporated in the slow motion finish to end up 10th. The change in wind also favoured Nachhatar Johal (IND), who had rounded the final mark in 25th, and ended up in fourth place by the finish.




The second race started in more or less the same wind with the right side clearly favoured again. Poggi again sailed a blistering first upwind leg to round the top mark just ahead of Szukiel and Tapio Nirkko (FIN).




Ainslie rounded in a comfortable seventh place and again demolished everyone downwind to lead round the bottom gate ahead of Florent and Nirkko. On the second upwind, Railey sailed well to move up to second with Nirkko remaining in third. The largest gain went to the 2004 Silver medalist Rafael Trujillo (ESP). After a disappointing 12th in the first race, he moved from 15th at the first top mark to fourth by the second.




This time Ainslie managed to maintain his lead on the final downwind to win race two by just 12 second. Szukiel, who again had an appalling second upwind leg to drop to 13th scratched his way way to second by the finish to head the leader board overnight. Another big mover was Chris Cook (CAN) who went from 14th at the final upwind mark to third at the finish, while Trujillo held onto his fourth place. Railey had an unfortunate leg to drop to fifth place and lies in second place overnight while Ainslie's win leaves him in third place.




The opening day proved as tricky as everyone had predicted with virtually all of the medal favourites picking up at least one high score, some of them two. While he can't have been particular impressed with his performance on the water today, world number one Høgh-Christensen was impressed with the regatta centre. "It is very impressive. Unlike anything else. We know that the sailing conditions to say the least will be very challenging, so it is going to be as hard on the organisation as it is on the sailors, but I am sure they will manage. The Olympics always brings out the best on shore and hopefully, the best on the water too."




After a third and a fifth today, Railey commented on the racing after coming ashore, "It was difficult sailing today as the wind was very puffy and there was a lot of current. Downwind was where the gains and losses were made."


When asked about his recovery from 15th to 2nd in the first race, he said, "To be honest I took a bit of a risk as I went to the other side of the fleet. I got a little more pressure and made big gains. We have to find the pressure but the wind is hard to read when it is that light. It is more a matter of getting in the puffs and taking calculated risks than just speed . Then in the second race I went to the right hand side (looking down) with the rest of the fleet, but some went to the other side and passed me."


He continued, "These are the conditions we were expecting in Qingdao - it was typical Qingdao sailing. The fleet is very tight and it is very close racing," which perhaps explains there were such big changes in positions from one leg to another.


When asked about Szukiel - the overnight leader - he said, "I am not surprised to see him do well. He is very fast and has trained a lot with us in Qingdao. He knows the place and the conditions. Now I am going to have some dinner and will then join the team to go to the opening ceremony and really enjoy being in the Olympics."




Tomasz Chamera is the Director of racing of the Polish Yachting Association and in Qingdao he is Sailing Team leader and also deputy Chef de Mission of the Polish Olympic team. He said on Szukiel's performance today, "It is amazing to see Rafal in the lead of an Olympic event. But it is not a huge surprise. Rafal has worked very hard here in Qingdao over the past weeks and was one of the best during the Finn training sessions. However, it is just the beginning with eight races to go, but the truth is that even if you can't win a regatta on a first day even with great results, you can lose it on the first day with bad results. So, so far so good. Today, Rafal was consistent and made good tactics. He has applied all we have worked on recently and it is proving successful."

Race Report by: Robert Deaves-International Finn Association  Finn Class Link

Posted on: Sat, Aug 09, 2008

In the last of three interviews with top Finn sailors, the defending gold medalist Ben Ainslie talks about his preparation, his plans and his thoughts on the future, ahead of the opening Finn races tomorrow.

Ben Ainslie talks to Robert Deaves about his preparation for the Olympic Games, the competition he is faced with and his thoughts on the future.


Without doubt Ben Ainslie (GBR) is one of the biggest names in sailing at the moment, and certainly the biggest name in Qingdao. The Olympic Sailing Competition in China marks his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games, after winning Silver in the Laser in Savannah in 1996, Gold in the Laser in Sydney in 2000 and Gold in the Finn in Athens in 2004.

He has become an icon for a generation of young sailors, a great ambassador for the sport and arguably the most successful Finn sailor of all time, having won five world championships, four European championships and the Gold medal four years ago. Even though he spent two years effectively out of the class after winning his fourth consecutive world championship in 2005, he remains unbeaten in the Finn since winning gold in Athens in 2004.


But what's makes him so good? What has he got that the others haven't? What makes the difference? Typically modest off the water, he said, "I guess I'm fortunate in that I have now been racing boats for 20 years, pretty much continually, yet I am still really motivated to train hard, learn and improve. I feel that I still have a long way to go and I'm still very passionate about winning."


And winning is something he seems to take in his stride, getting back up to speed again in the Finn pretty quickly after the two years off. "I found it relatively easy to get back into the boat. The biggest issue is the sailing fitness, which took a couple of months to regain."


However his success also brings with it the expectation of further success. "It's difficult when people just expect you to win and probably secretly hope that you lose for a change. Pressure is something you just have to deal with and it doesn't get any easier, but it is also part of the thrill of competing at the highest level."


At important regattas such as the Olympic Games? "I generally feel pretty relaxed although I do have some nerves and am obviously pretty excited about getting on with the racing after so much preparation. Sometimes that is hard though as there is always a lot of hype surrounding the Olympics. I try to minimise the number of distractions and just focus on the racing."


What keeps him focused and inspired to keep going at this level for so long?


"I take each year and set goals which I want to achieve. I'm fortunate that I do a lot of other sailing, which keeps me fresh and increases my understanding of the sport. As well as training out of Lymington, UK with the rest of the British Finn squad earlier this year, I have also competed in the Round The Island Race in the UK with Alex Thomson on his open 60 Hugo Boss as well as representing Team Origin at the Swedish Cup Match Race. But as far as the Olympics is concerned, it's not very hard to get motivated about that."


For all sailors here their preparations have been timed to peak at the right time. The tricky sailing conditions in Qingdao have meant that many sailors have been trying new and radical things to get an edge over the competition. For Ben though, it has as usual just come down to hard work.


"My preparation for China has been based around some specific equipment development, working on sails and hulls, along with sailing at a more natural body weight for this season. It was important for me to sail at the same weight all season; making a big dip for the Games is dangerous for a number of reasons."


As far as gear is concerned, "We have looked into a Wilke boat, a new Devoti, Cuban sail cloth and have worked really hard on two new sail designs with Juan Guaray from Argentina. I can't say yet which we will end up using. However, a lot of effort has gone into equipment testing so I have a lot of confidence in the kit that I will use."


Time on the water in Qingdao has also been a vital part of the process. "I sailed with the rest of the British squad for the last week of May and first two weeks of June and then we have been in China now since the 12th July. Since then, the conditions have actually been very good. We only missed one day due to a lack of wind. That said, the weed has been a slight issue but I hope it will have been fully cleared by the time we start racing. The local fishermen are certainly trying their hardest."


"It's been great to have the whole squad to train with. It means we can do our own training and set our own schedule. Other sailors have joined in, which has been fine, but we very much wanted to control the training to avoid all the wasted time that normally occurs when you have a random group trying to train together. All the boys did a great job and pushed me hard. Ed Wright was a great help in what must have been a difficult situation." Ed lost the British Finn trials to Ben earlier this year.


"When training in Qingdao you just spend as much time on the water as possible as the waters are so unique in terms of wave state and tidal influences. Whilst we are expecting lighter winds it is still important to focus on being able to sail in a breeze. I think we might see a few surprises with the weather during the Olympics."


While many sailors have been reducing weight ready for the Games, Ben has a more conservative attitude. He added, "The wind can still blow in China."


Ben also acknowledges the support team behind him. "Skandia Team GBR is a very professional team and the RYA certainly does a lot of work behind the scenes to help the sailors with their campaigns. I also rely very heavily on my personal sponsors JPMorgan Assett Management, BT, Henri Lloyd, Corum and Volvo. I'm also very fortunate to have a great coach in Jez Fanstone and to be able to call on David Howlett for technical support."


"The RYA has been collecting a lot of weather data in China over a number of years. Most teams have a large amount of data, the key is what you do with that data. For any sailor the most crucial decision is what the wind will do in the first five minutes of the race."


Clearly for all sailors here the Olympics is the pinnacle of achievement. "The Olympics is a chance for sailing to represent itself on a global scale and to win a gold medal gives you an immense feeling of achievement."


However, it is not going to be easy for Ben to win his fourth medal. Despite his outstanding and unequalled success in the class over the past six years, there are many other excellent sailors competing in Qingdao, all equally determined to win, and the conditions have proved more difficult to master than at many other venues.


"Jonas [Høgh-Christensen (DEN)] is a very good sailor and is fast in all conditions. Emilios [Papathanasiou (GRE)] can be very fast in the light but has had a tough year so far. Ivan [Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO)] is very good all round and is very consistent. Rafa [Trujillo (ESP)] is also very consistent and normally saves his best for the big occasion. Dan [Slater (NZL)] proved that he can be very dangerous at the Worlds and is very experienced. Pieter-Jan [Postma (NED)] is very fast and is also a bit of a maverick. Gasper (Vincec (SLO)] has been improving all season and can sail very well at times. I'm sure there are guys I have missed there but you can see that it is a very open class with plenty of depth."


He also added, "The regatta centre here is far and away the best I have ever seen for an Olympic Regatta. The scale of the place is astounding and there are plenty of volunteers around to make sure everyone is happy."


And what's coming up after the Olympic Games?


"I am heavily involved with Team Origin and after the Games we will probably get more involved with the Match Racing Tour. I am sailing with Neville Crichton on Alfa Romeo for the Maxi Worlds and there are a number of projects in the pipeline. It's good to have a plan post Games otherwise it's easy to kind of get stuck in limbo once it is all over. Also, I really want to compete on my home waters in 2012."


Ben has strong feelings about the much-debated format for the Olympics. "I don't think people are actually looking at the requirements of the sailors. You need a boat for people over 90 kg to sail. Yes, you have the Star but to sail that you have to be either personally wealthy or very good at finding sponsorship. There are a number of classes for sailors between 60 - 80 kg. I don't see the reason for having two men's double handed boats and I think the 470 women should be replaced by the 29er. High performance boats like the Moth and Tornado are fantastic to watch go in a straight line but they do not offer the same physical or tactical challenges of other boats. I guess it depends if we are chasing classes which look good or which offer the sailors a better challenge. For me, the Finn is a great boat. It is a real mix of physical, tactical and technical challenges."


"I think sailing in the Olympics needs to focus on excellence. I'd like to see shorter races with fewer boats in heats. That way the courses can be closer to shore and people can focus more on the individual teams."


However, in Qingdao the 26 sailors have 11 races ahead of them to decide the three medalists who will stand on the podium next Saturday - three more names which will go down in history. Ben himself is increasingly being compared with the greatest Olympic sailor of them all, Paul Elvström. How does he react to that? "It's very flattering but I can't afford to think about that. We all hope to be like Paul Elvström but four Gold medals is a long way away." By next Saturday it could be one step closer.

Interview by: Robert Deaves (International Finn Association)  www.finnclass.org

Posted on: Fri, Aug 08, 2008

For the last seven years Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN) has had one goal in mind - winning an Olympic medal in his Finn. Three years after entering the class in 2001 he finished 9th in Athens, but he continued to improve and two years ago won the Finn Gold Cup - the class's world championship - and reached the top of the ISAF World Rankings. He has remained firmly in the number one spot ever since.

However, despite this record breaking stint at the top he has only won two other major ranking regattas in that time. But this doesn't seem to have phased the single-minded Dane at all, as he makes his final preparation to do battle in Qingdao.

"I have won a couple [of major regattas] in the last two years, but yes, taking into consideration my ranking I might not have won enough regattas. But I am consistent. I rarely finish outside the top four. I don't think anyone that has done the events that I have has been that consistent. I think I have earned myself a spot in Finn history as I am sure no one has ever stayed on top for that long."


"For me, this is the culmination of a seven year campaign. I think winning an Olympic medal is also a defining moment of your life so I think it would be one of life's greatest moments. It would be a personal victory that would have a positive effect on any plans for the future too."


Jonas is one of the many sailors here who have lost weight in the run-up to the Games. He said "I think it is needed to have the best chance of winning a medal." Jonas actually lost 12 kg in weight and is now down to 93kg, which is on the lighter end of the Finn weight scales. "To do that, I did a lot of running, biking and cross training. Besides that I have just done my usual training in the gym to keep strong."


As far as the boat was concerned, "I have had a speed job done to the bottom. The boat was brand new when I shipped it to China, so that was a bit of a risk. To be safe I shipped my 2004 Games boat too. My mast is very different than any others. I think it is the stiffest mast in the world. I have also tested a lot of new sails and concepts and four masts. The testing went well so hopefully that has given me a bit more speed."


Any last minute changes? "No changes. I was in the fortunate situation that the gear I have been using lately has been very fast. My only problem was that I had three masts that where all good to choose from. But the decision was made weeks ago and I am sticking to it."


"I get a good bit of funding from the Danish sporting association and sailing federation. Besides that I have had great personal sponsors that have helped make it possible to compete at the very highest level. When it comes to the Games we also have had help from the Danish weather services that have made a special deal with the Chinese oceanic department to get a high resolution prediction of the current we will face during the Games."


"We have done four weeks of training here in June and July so far and we also did a bit of teambuilding with the Danish sailors from other classes. Besides that I have tried to kick back and have some fun and relaxation time."


"I went home on July 19 after our second trip to China. In the 12 days I had at home I mostly just relaxed. The first four days I went to a holiday resort in Denmark with some friends and kicked back and went out. I have played more golf then than in the last two years. Besides that I enjoyed the summer in Denmark and spent a lot of time with my friends." Jonas flew back out to Qingdao on August 1 to make final preparations and conclude his training. He has to get his equipment measured on the 6th so everything has to be ready by then.

Being a very friendly and co-operative class there have been many sailors in Qingdao in recent weeks to train against. "My main training partner has been Zach Railey. Zach is fast in the light winds that can be expected and a talented new sailor. I think he is one of the guys for the future. Kenneth, his coach, is Danish and actually my old Opti coach from when I was 12 years old. So I have known him for most of my life and he has had a significant role in me becoming the sailor I am today. So teaming up with them has been very natural. Besides that the Polish, Spanish, Kiwis, Canadians and anybody else who has been arround has trained with me and me with them. That's the good thing about the Finn class, besides the Brits, everybody can train with everybody, the atmosphere is always friendly and we still manage to keep the competition fierce."


"Everybody here is faced with the same conditions. The only way to look at it is to try and get the best out of it. My coach and I, made a plan very early, so whenever we had conditions similar to what we can expect in China we have tested something new. I think everybody feels nervous before a big event like the Games. But for me a feeling of excitement is the most dominant feeling. If I have prepared as well as I have for this event I also have a feeling of confidence, but that also gives a bit of extra tension as there are no excuses for a bad result. But I do look very much forward to it. I try to focus on the training and make sure I run my routines, but I also think it is crucial to have a lot of fun. When it comes to the pressure from the media I think I always put the most pressure on myself so that doesn't really affect me."


Seven years is a long time for anyone to dedicate to achieving one goal, but Jonas explains that for him it has been a fun and rewarding journey. "The enjoyment of sailing and the Finn class keeps me going. I just can't help it. I love sailing. But it does have huge costs on the personal side. Not a lot of time for girlfriend, family and friends. I do see the new young guys and see myself five years ago, so full of energy and inspiration. I think that is cool."


If all goes to plan, by a week on Saturday, it will all be over for the Finns. As the first class to start, they will also be the first class to finish. "Ben Ainslie is of course the main contender. Anything but gold for him would be a catastrophe. He is a very complete sailor and makes very few mistakes. He will be hard to beat. Besides that I think there are four or five guys with high possibility of taking a medal and another six or seven guys that can do it too if they have a good regatta. This shows that the class is very deep at the top level and will make for an exciting Games. I think the race for the medals will most likely will be between myself, Ben, Rafa [Trujillo (ESP)], Ivan [Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO)] and Dan [Slater (NZL)], maybe even Daniel [Birgmark SWE)]"


And what are Jonas's plans for the future? A third Olympic campaign?

"I think that tactical sailing is where the greatest sailing exists. With the faster classes the manoeuvres becomes so important and costly that they outshine the tactics. They might look more flash on a picture but I don't think that is what makes sailing what it is today. Also I think it has been proven lately that it is actually more exciting to watch the more tactical boats as the racing is much closer."


"I would like to see ISAF make a long term strategy for where they want to go, so we don't have classes getting in and out every four years. I think it should represent classes that offer different weight groups and different kinds of sailing. I think if you do that and make it a long term plan you will get the possibility to create the classes nationally on an Olympic level. It is hard to get new sailors to invest time and money in Olympic sailing when they know that there is a chance that within four years the class they are working at might not be Olympic. There are too many horror stories like that and when it usually takes more than four years to get to the Games it is too big a risk."

Report & photography by: Robert Deaves

Posted on: Wed, Aug 06, 2008

After three days of rest and relaxation at their holding camp in Shanghai, Team GB’s sailors are fighting fit and will be raring to go when they head back to Qingdao on Tuesday (5 August) ready for the start of the Olympic sailing competition on Saturday (9 August).

Team Manager Stephen Park, who’s described his charges as the ‘best ever’ sailing line-up for GBR at an Olympic Games, says the team’s preparations have been absolute, and they’re confident of being able to handle the varying, challenging conditions which they’ve come to expect at the coastal city of Qingdao.

Team GB’s sailors are targeting four medals from the 11 events to be contested in sailing, with Ben Ainslie look for a third straight gold in the Finn class, and Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb eying up a second consecutive Olympic title in the Yngling class, to share with third crew member Pippa Wilson – the youngest of the British sailors to be competing at the Beijing Games.

“We’re confident going forward to the Games – very confident that we have got a fantastic team, we’ve got a group of sailors who have really left no stone unturned in their quest for success.

“They are prepared, physically, technically