Team Russia VOR qualifier: Day 6 - Almost Home

[Source: Team Russia] Navigator Wouter Verbraak reports from Team Russia on Day 6 of its qualifier.

Irish Sea, 25-30 knots of wind. Perfect conditions to blast us home on the final stretch of our 2000nm qualifier. It was five and a half days ago that we left Portland under stormy skies and 35-40 knot winds. Needless to say the first 24 hours were challenging in the English Channel and the Straits of Dover.

While blasting through the traffic separation schemes at 30 knots boat speed, Andreas [Hanakamp] reminded us about the hefty fine that Mean Machine managed to picked up last year, so we kept to the right lanes as best as we could. Not always easy!

To push our racing skills we set a course around the UK and Ireland, including the Shetlands. Plenty of corners to turn and variable conditions. Just what we need to check in on our latest generation of sails, work on communication and crew work.

However, the focus of the tests quickly turned to the food. As this is the only luxury we pretty much have on the boat, every meal that exits the galley is given a thorough inspection. Slow sails and poor crew work may hurt, but bad food for 35 days means mutiny! Several meals fortunately got given the approving nod, while others got banned immediately from the race menu.

Another item that has gotten the thumbs up are the kite board helmets. The radical looking sprayrails on the bow are living up to their reputation with noticeable improvement in high speed sailing, but man do they produce a lot of spray! Even at 15 knots of boatspeed, we are covered in a non stop salt water shower. Better than green water over deck, and FAST, so no complaints!

Highlights of the trip so far have been the great sailing conditions, surfing down the ocean swell, and rounding the Shetlands on a sunny afternoon. The very best however, is to be out with the boys and hear all the stories. With nine different nationalities on board, a joke or a good story is never far away. Veteran stories from Stig [Westergaard] and Guillermo [Altadill] are gladly challenged by the latest adventures of the under 30s.

The Volvo is first of all a race to get the team around the world, then a race to get the boat around the world, and then a real race for points and glory. This qualifier is giving us some great building blocks for the first two, and so we slowly getting ready for the real stuff in less then two months. Stay tuned, the Russians are coming.

Gold for Britain and USA with Lasers centre stage in Qingdao

[Source: ISAF] Paul GOODISON won Great Britain's fourth medal and Anna TUNNCLIFFE won gold for the USA on day 11 of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The host nation China also won their first medal of the Olympic Sailing Competition, with other podium places going to Slovenia, Italy and Lithuanian. With four events to go, 14 different nations have now won medals. With three golds and a silver, Great Britain are well ahead at the top of the medal standings.

The focus in Qingdao today was on the two One Person Dinghy fleets, with the Laser and Laser Radial Medal Races on course area A. Paul GOODISON (GBR) took an 18-point lead into the Laser Medal Race and ensured the gold medal was his by match racing his only rival Rasmus MYRGREN (SWE) to the back of the fleet. Unfortunately for MYGREN that cost him any hope of a medal and Slovenia’s Vasilij ZBOGAR took full advantage, finishing second in the Medal Race to win silver. Diego ROMERO of Italy won the battle for bronze.

The standings were much closer going into the Laser Radial Medal Race, with Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA) just seven points ahead of Gintare VOLUNGEVICIUTE (LTU). When the American rounded the downwind mark in ninth place it looked as if Lithuania were on their way to gold. However TUNNICLIFFE showed why she’s the world #1 ranked skipper, spotting a big shift to the left of the course and staging a superb comeback to finish the Medal Race in second place and win gold. VOLUNGEVICIUTE took silver, winning Lithuania’s first ever Olympic medal in sailing, with China’s star Lijia XU taking the bronze.

Tomorrow it’s windsurfing’s turn to take the spotlight with the Men’s and Women’s RS:X Medal Races on course area A. Both RS:X fleets completed the final race of their Opening Series in light westerly winds earlier today. It was a great day for the Chinese windsurfers who scored bullets in both fleets. That means Jian YIN (CHN) takes a five-point lead over triple Olympic medallist Alessandra SENSINI (ITA) into tomorrow’s Medal Race, with Bryony SHAW (GBR) just three points further back. It’s also set to be a three-horse race in the men’s Medal Race, but the standings are even closer. Julien BONTEMPS (FRA), Nick DEMPSEY (GBR) and Tom ASHLEY (NZL) are separated by just one point with light wind specialist Shahar ZUBARI (ISR) just ten points off the lead in fourth.

The Tornado and Star fleets have their final three races of their Opening Series rescheduled for tomorrow after failing to complete any races today as the wind died out on course area A.

Team Russia VOR qualifier: Day 5 - Dodging a low

[Source: Team Russia] It was a fantastic ride all the way from the Shetlands to the Irish Sea. In beam reaching conditions "Kosatka" excelled and even though we ran north of Ireland in lighter winds and a nasty swell from several directions, we clocked an easy 420 mile day.

Constantly we have been monitoring a low pressure system that rolled in from the Atlantic Ocean, setting ourselves up to round it's center in the west and ride the back down cross the Irish Sea towards the Scillies. Once again the boat is shaking all over when sitting in the mid twenties and clocking higher top speeds. Impressive waves have built up in the 45 knots of breeze further to the west.

Lots of water on Kosatka. Ireland, 18 August 2008. Photo copyright Mark Covell / Team Russia

On board all ok, everybody is enjoying the ride and we run a queue for the helm. Even in these conditions, the boat is easy to control, accelerates instantly and shakes off water; the bow digs up without losing speed.

We are very pleased so far with the design the Humphreys office came up with. One thing to improve before the start of the race in October is to reduce water ingress. As water is rushing over the boat at firehose speed, every opportunity to get inside is found, making the inside a wet cave.

Women's 470 pair Pechichi and Parkinson win Australia's second gold

[Source: ISAF] Young guns Elise RECHICHI and Tessa PARKINSON completed an Australian double in the 470 fleets by securing the gold medal in the Women's Two Person Dinghy event at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Elise RECHICHI and Tessa PARKINSON, just 22 and 21 years old respectively, are crowned Olympic Champions, winning Australia’s second gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition. Their victory also cementis the legendary status of Australian Head Coach Victor Kovalenko, aka the ‘Medal Maker’, who has now coached teams to medals in both men's and women's 470 events at the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games. Marcelien DE KONING and Lobke BERKHOUT, World Champions in 2005, 2006 and 2007, win ther silver medal with Fernanda OLIVEIRA and Isabel SWAN of Brazil sailing to regatta of their life culminating with a victory in the Medal Race to secure bronze.

After yesterday’s stormy conditions, brighter skies and less intense westerly breezes around 9 knots provided near perfect conditions for today’s racing. RECHICHI and PARKINSON took an 18-point lead into the Medal Race with the Dutch crew of DE KONING and BERKHOUT the only team that could take the gold medal away from them. To do that the Dutch had to finish first and the Aussies last and to avoid that situation the Australians immediately set about match racing their rivals, forcing them to sail in dirty air and dragging both teams right to the back of the fleet.

The Australian strategy was working perfectly, but as the Dutch rounded the top mark in last place they appeared to be seriously in danger of losing their silver medal. At the front of the race the Brazilians were pushing hard against the Israel team of Nike KORNECKI and Vered BUSKILA and with eight boats between Brazil and the Dutch, OLIVEIRA and SWAN were provisional in the silver medal spot. With the gold medal now looking assured the Aussies loosened their grips on the Dutch and by the time they had approached the second mark DE KONING and BERKHOUT had pulled ahead slightly and started to reel the rest of the fleet back in. Their cause was helped slightly by a penalty on the Spanish boat for an incident at the final upwind mark and by the final leg the Dutch were comfortably mid-fleet.

Brazil went on to win the race ahead of the Israelis, whose second place secured them fourth overall. DE KONING and BERKHOUT crossed in fifth to take silver with the Aussies coming in ninth but assured of gold.

Incredible 49er Medal Race But Results Subject To Jury Hearing

[Source: ISAF] Results from the incredible 49er Medal Race held today at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition are still unofficial with the Jury reconvening on Monday morning to decide on a protest lodged after the provisional gold medallists sailed the race in another team's boat.

An enthralling Medal Race provided a dramatic finish to an incredibly day at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center.

Jonas WARRER and Martin IBSEN of Denmark are provisionally in the gold medal position, but could be disqualified from the Medal Race and therefore fall back to fourth overall. The Danish team were protested by the Race Committee for sailing the Medal Race in a boat borrowed from the Croatian crew (who were not competing in the Medal Race) after the mast on the Danish 49er snapped shortly before the start. 2004 Olympic gold medallists Iker MARTINEZ and Xabier FERNANDEZ (ESP) won the Medal Race and are provisionally in the silver medal position, with the German brothers Jan-Peter PECKOLT and Hannes PECKOLT provisionally winning bronze. Italians Pietro SIBELLO and Gianfranco SIBELLO lie fourth overall in the provisional results.

John DOERR, chair of the Jury panel that heard the protest, said the case was complicated, involving a series of points in the Sailing Instructions, Notice of Race and Measurement Regulations (you can read them all in our Protests & Communications section here). He added that the decision to reconvene tomorrow morning was made to ensure all the facts could be considered fully and the correct decision could be made. Until the outcome of the Protest hearing, the Medal Race results and overall results in the Skiff - 49er event remain unofficial.

Earlier on Sunday, an enthralling Medal Race provided a dramatic finish to an incredibly day at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. The Danish crew of WARRER and IBSEN went into the race as favourites with an 11-point overall lead on the Italian SIBELLO brothers. Australian young guns and reigning World Champions Nathan OUTTERIDGE and Ben AUSTIN lay in third overall, three points further back and just one ahead of MARTINEZ and FERNANDEZ and German brothers Jan-Peter and Hannes PECKOLT.

Winds of around 15 knots and gusting much more and heavy rain had swept across Fushan Bay all day along and the weather worsened as the 49er Medal Race got underway just before the time limit at 16:30. It was to prove a sensational race, with four different crews in the gold medal position at one stage or the other.

The drama began before the race even got underway as WARRER and IBSEN broke their mast whilst out on the water waiting for the race to start. In one small moment, the hopes of a gold medal appeared to have vanished completed. In a desperate attempt to compete in the race they returned to the marina and hastily rigged the Croatian boat (which had not qualified for the Medal Race).

The 49er Medal Race got underway in very gusty conditions with big waves and heavy rain causing low visibility. Almost instantly their was carnage out on the race area. The Spanish gold medallists from Athens, who where lying fourth overall going into the Medal Race but now had a great shot at gold with the Danes seemingly out of contention, capsized just a few seconds after the gun had sounded and were straight away relegated to the back of the fleet. The French team led up the first beat, whilst the Danes made it to the start in their borrowed Croatian boat just 4 seconds before the time limit ran out.

France rounded the top mark in first followed by the Austrians and then the Italian brothers, which at this stage put the Italians in the gold medal position. Big swells and gusts made for incredibly tough conditions on the downwind legs and it didn’t take long before the fleet was left decimated. The French were the first to capsize followed by the Germans, putting the Austrians into the lead with the Italians second and the hotshot young Aussies in third. At this point it looked like being a straight shoot out for gold between Australia and Italy. The Italians held the upper hand on the overall scores and the Aussies had to put at least one boat between them and the SIBELLO brothers to claim gold.

On the final upwind WILMOT and PAGE hit the accelerator and pulled ahead of the Italians with the Austrians next on their hit list. But Austria capsized, crucially robbing the Aussies of the potential one-boat gap they needed between them and the Italians. Australia rounded the final upwind mark in first, 20 seconds ahead of the Italians who still appeared to be in the gold medal position. But suddenly everything changed as the SIBELLO brothers capsized letting the Spanish, Germany and British teams past and leaving the Australians flying down the run on their way to victory. Now though it was the Aussies turn to flip the boat.

All of a sudden the fast finishing Spanish were in the lead and across the line first to win the Medal Race. Germany followed in second, Great Britain were third and the Italians fourth. At this stage the drama had swung full circle and now it was the Spanish who were looking set to win gold, with the Germans winning silver just ahead of the Italians. After several more capsizes the Australians eventually finished in sixth place out of the medal places.

The only question mark that now remained was the Danes. Sailing a boat they were completely unfamiliar with and starting way behind the rest of the fleet they had nevertheless picked up two places with the American and Austrian boats failing to finish the race. If they could cross the line in eighth or better, they would be in the gold medal position. With the Brazilians struggling on the final run the Danes appeared to heading for seventh, but capsized near the finish. Eventually they righted the Croatian boat, crossed the line within the time limit and in seventh place. With the Danes so far behind and visibility very low they had now idea of the other race positions and wild celebrations followed as the overall race scores were displayed on the committee boat.

However, there was one final twist in the tale as the Race Committee protested the Danes for their change of boat. The protest hearing ran late into the night, with the jury decision finally released shortly after midnight.

Ben Ainslie wins third Olympic gold in Finn medal race

[Source: ISAF] Ben AINSLIE of Great Britain joined the list of sailing greats today as he raced to victory the Finn Medal Race at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center to win his third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Ben AINSLIE (GBR) led today’s Finn Medal Race from start to finish in big seas and a strong 15 knot breeze. AINSLIE’s Olympic tally of one silver and three gold medals put him alongside Valentin MANKIN and Jochen SCHUEMANN. Only Danish sailing legend Paul ELVSTRÖM has won more Olympic gold medals, with the four he won between 1948 and 1960.

Ben Ainslie sails to gold medal in Finn. Qingdao, 17 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

In big seas and a strong 15 knot breeze AINSLIE led at the top mark and controlled the race from there, extending on the upwind legs to take victory and the Olympic gold medal in style.

American Zach RAILEY finished sixth in the Medal Race, good enough to ensure he held on to the Olympic silver medal. Guillaume FLORENT of France won the battle for the bronze medal, finishing fourth in the Medal Race, crucially three places ahead of his bronze medal rival Daniel BIRGMARK of Sweden.

Great Britain Win Yngling Gold in First Ever Olympic Medal Race

[Source: ISAF] British sailors Sarah AYTON, Sarah WEBB and Pippa WILSON were crowned Olympic Champions in the Women's Keelboat event after winning the first ever Medal Race held at the Olympic Games.

The British team led around the course on a stormy Fushan Bay to win the first ever Medal Race held at the Olympic Games and with it the gold medal. The Dutch team of Mandy MULDER, Annemieke BES and Merel WITTEVEEN won silver, with Sofia Sofia BEKATOROU, Sofia PAPADOPOULOU and Virginia KRAVARIOTI of Greece claiming the bronze.

For AYTON and WEBB, 28 and 31 years old respectively, it is a second Olympic gold medal, after winning the same event in Athens four years ago with Shirley ROBERTSON at the helm. Following that triumph the team split, with AYTON taking over helming duties at the back of the boat. WILSON, a star from the British youth ranks, joined team team at the start of 2007 and since then they have risen to new heights winning back-to-back World Championship titles and a host of other major events. AYTON says today's victory was confirmation of the team's belief in themselves. "When we crossed the line, the three of us just looked at one another. I can't describe the feeling, because you just know that you're the best in the whole world at what you do," she said.

Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson of Great Britain celebrate winning the Olympic gold medal in today's Medal Race. Qingdao, 17 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

"It has been a fantastic journey. It is so exciting with a little relief and, of course, loads of joy," added WEBB.

Following that triumph the team split, with AYTON taking over helming duties at the back of the boat. WILSON is the youngest member of the team aged 22. A star from the British youth ranks, she joined up with AYTON and WEBB at the start of 2007 and since then the team has risen to new heights. In 2007 they won the ISAF Sailing World Championships and won gold at the Worlds again this year.

In today’s Medal Race, conditions were completely at odds with the past seven days in Qingdao. In place of light breezes, an easterly wind of 15 knots, heavy rain and large waves made for an incredibly testing finale. However, AYTON explained they were conditions very familiar to the Brits, "The conditions today were quite Great Britain: big wind and big rain! We were quite prepared," she said.

Both British and Dutch, who were just one point behind in the overall standings, got away strongly at the start with the Dutch just holding the advantage. However, it was AYTON, WEBB and WILSON who led at the top mark although their rivals were just a fraction behind. The Brits pulled away downwind, lost one place to the German team on the second upwind but again showed their downwind speed to move back into first on the final run. They crossed the finishing line first, just seven seconds ahead of the Germans to win the first ever Medal Race held at the Olympic Games and in so doing claim the first Olympic gold medal in sailing of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

MULDER, BES and WITTEVEEN were an unknown quantity coming into the Games as the unique Dutch selection process of rotating nine crew around three different boats meant the final team for Qingdao had only been formed a few weeks earlier. They sailed superbly over the past ten days in Qingdao, but we unable to match the British crew in today’s heavier weather conditions.

The Greek team were ecstatic with their bronze medal success. Although they had BEKATOROU, gold medallist at the Athens Games in the two-person 470 dinghy, at the helm their inexperience in the boat meant they were not considered amongst the medal favourites coming into the Games. “We feel great for the 10 million Greeks back home. It's wonderful,” BEKATOROU exclaimed.

Germany finished second in the race, but it was the Greek team in third who were celebrating as their position ensured they had won the Olympic bronze medal. Australia came in fourth followed by the Netherlands, with fifth place good enough for them to secure Olympic silver.

Adam Minoprio in second place on second day of Baltic Match Race

Hi all from BlackMatch,

Today was day two of the Baltic Match in Finland and although there was plenty of action on the water in an attempt to finish off the first round robin, we were only involved in three races, winning 2 from 3. We still have 3 races on the final day tomorrow to see if we will proceed through to the semi final stage of the regatta and we are currently looking ok, lying in 2nd position to Australian Evan Walker, who only has 1 loss.

Our loss today came against world #4 and Baltic Match Race regular, Bjorn Hansen. It was however an extremely close race and we took many positives out of it that we are hoping to take into the final day. We are gaining confidence now in the J-80 boats and hope we can win through to the final tomorrow.

We would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Ross Munro from Line 7, also to our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. To our friends and family back home we also thank you for all of your support.

BlackMatch Racing

Medal Races Postponed But Gold Beckons For Australia

[Source: ISAF] Ben AINSLIE (GBR) looked to be well on his way to a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Qingdao today until the Finn Medal Race was abandoned halfway through as the wind died on course area A. Although the fleet waited on the water throughout the afternoon, the conditions failed to improve and the Finns finally returned to the marina shortly before 16:00. The Finn and Yngling Medal Races will now be rescheduled for tomorrow, along with the 49er Medal Race.

The Yngling Medal Race is scheduled for 13:00 local time, the Finn for 14:00 and the 49er for 15:00.

With the Medal Races postponed, the first gold medallists of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition will not now be known until tomorrow. With British sailors leading both Finn and Yngling fleets it was all set to be a bumper day for Team GBR, but instead it will be the Australians and their ‘medal-maker’ 470 coach Victor KOVALENKO who will be celebrating this evening.

Australian 470 duo Nathan WILMOT and Malcolm PAGE just have to make a genuine attempt to start, compete in and finish Monday's Medal Race to win gold in the Men's Two Person Dinghy event. The Aussie pair, who came to Qingdao with "unfinished business" after a disappointing results in Athens (read the full story here), take an unassailable 22-point lead into the Medal Race after their closest rivals wilted in today’s three races.

All Nathan Wilmot and Malcom Page have to do in order to win the gold medal is start the race, sail and cross the finish line. Qingdao, 16 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

The Australian women's team of Elise RECHICHI and Tessa PARKINSON, aged just 22 and 21 years respectively, are also within touching distance of Olympic gold. They maintained their consistent scorecard with third and second place finishes in today’s two Women’s 470 races. Crucially their closest rivals all struggled in the very light and shifty conditions of race 10 giving the Aussies an 18-point buffer going into the Women’s 470 Medal Race on Monday. As long as they finish ninth or better amongst the ten boats competing the Medal Race, they will secure the Olympic gold medal in the Women's Two Person Dinghy event.

Today’s results are subject to any Protests, you can stay updated at our Protests & Communications section here.

Australia also had a good day in the Tornado, with reigning World Champions and world #1 crew Darren BUNDOCK and Glenn ASHBY climbing up three places to second overall. Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ BLANCO of Spain maintain the overall lead with a sixth place and a bullet in today’s races.

However, it wasn’t a success story across the board in the Australian camp today. Nathan OUTTERIDGE and Ben AUSTIN have dropped from first to third overall in the 49er after their worst day of the Opening Series to date. The Danish team of Jonas WARRER and Martin Kirketerp IBSEN will take an 11-point lead into tomorrow’s Medal Race after a fantastic finish to today’s final race in which they hauled themselves from 15th to eighth overall. The Australians are protesting the Race Committee on race 10 under Rule 62.1(a), you can see more details and view the decision of the International Jury when it is posted in our Protests & Communications section here.

Ben Ainslie and Zach Railey kill their time carrying out match races. Qingdao, 16 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

John DANE, at 58 years the oldest sailor competing at this year’s Games, and his crew and son-in-law Austin SPERRY hold the overall in the Star fleet on 14 points. Once again many of the big names of the class posted high scores and it looks set to be a high-scoring series.

The Laser and Laser Radial fleets both managed one race in light winds on course area C. This was enough to bring them up to five races in their Opening Series and allow each sailor to exclude one race score from their overall points total. Following a tenth place finish in today’s race, Diego ROMERO of Italy is back at the top of the Laser fleet, although just six points cover the top six skippers. In the Laser Radials, New Zealander Jo ALEH now holds the overall lead, three points ahead of Gintare VOLUNGEVICIUTE of Lithuania, who won today’s race. China’s Lijia XU has also hauled herself back into contention with a fifth place finish today pulling her up to fourth overall, just behind world #1 Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA).

With the wind getting lighter through the day, the RS:X fleet returned to shore without completing a race.

Team Russia VOR qualifier: Day 2 - Dodging Oilrigs in the North Sea

[Source: Team Russia] Team Russia's skipper Andreas Hanakamp sends his report from Kosatka on the second day of their qualifier for the Volvo Ocean Race:

The low that gave us a quick ride into the North Sea changed its mind, filled up and left clouds, rain and no wind in its wake. But anyway, while the on-watch was working on getting through the windless area, the off watch had enough to focus on the inside of the boat as unforeseen challenges lay hidden in the engine bay. First was the DC hydraulic pump for the keel where a solenoid surrendered to the constant flow of seawater and stopped working. Second the water maker gave us a hard time, as it couldn't get enough water to run properly. The flat underwater body of the boat and the high speeds she is sailing most of the time caused this. After finally working things out, the starter motor of the small engine got stuck which took until this morning to sort out.

In the meantime a northerly breeze kicked in, letting us go west under Code 0 in search of the SE flow that should be closer to the island. Depending on the breeze over the next 12 hours we will decide whether we continue our attempt at the record time around Britain an Ireland, which would led us as far north as the Shetlands.

Position this morning at 06.38 (15 August 2008)
Latitude: 56° 6’ 51.35” N
Longitude: 2° 25’22.61”E

Conditions aboard Kosatska were pretty wild during the first day of their VOR qualifier. Britain, 14 August 2008. Photo copyright Team Russia

Adam Minoprio updates from Baltic Match Cup in Helsinki

Hi all from BlackMatch,

We are currently competing in the Baltic Match Cup in Finland. It is a grade 2 event held in Helsinki on the Baltic Sea and unlike Qingdao, racing got underway today in a fantastic 15 knot breeze and near perfect match racing conditions. There are 12 teams racing here and with a line up that includes world #4 Bjorn Hansen, it is definitely going to be a tough regatta.

We finished today with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss. Our loss today came in a hard fought race against Australian and 2008 Hardy Cup Champion, Evan Walker. Evan and his team got a slight advantage off the start line and kept the slimmest of leads throughout the race to take the victory. We lost to Evan in the Hardy Cup final earlier this year and today he again proved that he is a very talented sailor.

The regatta is being sailed in four man J-80 class boats. They are the same boats that we sailed in France a fortnight ago but we are now getting confident that we are improving how we are handling the boats and looking forward to finishing the round robin off positively tomorrow.

We would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Ross Munro from Line 7, also to our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. To our friends and family back home we also thank you for all of your support.

BlackMatch Racing

Spaniards Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz win opening Tornado race

[Source: ISAF] Two-time World Champions Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ of Spain won the first race in the Multihull - Tornado event at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Race 1 of the Tornado Opening Series got under way almost three hours late on Friday, starting in moderate air and finishing in light air on Course A.

To use or not to use the Chupacabra [a sail designed specifically for light winds] was the question for some. The special sail got John LOVELL and Charlie OGLETREE (USA) out of a hole off the starting line but, in the 9-10 knot breeze toward the top of the first beat, it started to flutter.

What had been a significant lead evaporated and they limped around the windward mark in fourth place. Six boats with larger gennakers rolled over them on the run and they rounded the gate in ninth.

Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz win opening Tornado race. Qingdao, 15 August 2008. Photo copyright Clive Mason/Getty Images

From there, they slid to 14th place, nearly eight minutes behind the winners, Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ BLANCO (ESP), the 2005 and 2007 World Champions.

ECHAVARRI and PAZ trailed behind Iordanis PASCHALIDIS and Konstantinos TRIGONIS (GRE) for much of the race, only pulling into the lead at the top of the final beat.

Said ECHAVARRI after today's race: "Today the wind was very difficult and, if these conditions continue, we will suffer a lot."

Mitch BOOTH and Pim NIEUWENHUIS (NED), who opted against the Chupacabra, were third throughout most of the race a position they maintained at the finish. Reigning World Champions and world #1 crew Darren BUNDOCK and Glenn ASHBY (AUS) recovered from a poor start to post a solid fifth place finish.

The surprise of the day was watching Sydney and Athens Olympic gold medallists, Roman HAGARA and Hans Peter STEINACHER (AUT) sail around the course at the back of the fleet throughout the race and finish 12th out of the 15 competing boats.

British Sailors Lead The Way Into First Olympic Medal Races

[Source: ISAF] British Finn sailor Ben AINSLIE is on course for his third consecutive Olympic gold medal and GBR also lead the battle in the Yngling going into the first Medal Races ever held at the Olympic Games.

The Finn and Yngling fleets both completed their Opening Series on the seventh day of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition in Qingdao. A lack of wind earlier in the day meant only one race, race 8 of the Opening Series, could be held. A second place finish for Ben AINSLIE gives him a 12-point cushion over the USA’s Zach RAILEY going into tomorrow’s Medal Race and assures him of a silver medal at worse.

In the Yngling fleet, Athens gold medallists Sarah AYTON and Sarah WEBB and new crew Pippa WILSON are just a single point ahead of Mandy MULDER, Annemieke BES and Merel WITTEVEEN of the Netherlands. The Dutch team won today’s race to set up a fantastic Medal Race tomorrow. With the Greek team a distant third, the battle for the Olympic gold medal will centre on the two leading teams and whoever of the Dutch or British boat cross the finishing line first will end the day on the top step of the Olympic podium.

Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom of Sweden lead the Star class after the opening race. Qingdao, 15 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

The Medal Race is a new Olympic Format for sailing and is being used at the Games for the first time ever this year. The top ten boats from the Opening Series qualify for the Medal Race, with their scores in the Medal Race counting for double points. The competitors carry their overall scores from the Opening Series of races through to the Medal Race and the medals will be decided by combining the Opening Series score with a boat’s Medal Race score. In addition, where a boat can exclude one score from their Opening Series points total, the score in the Medal Race cannot be excluded. The races will be held just in front of the spectator breakwater at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, on a short 30-minute course with Jury boats to officiate the action on the water.

The Medal Races for both the Finn and Yngling events will be broadcast live and will be followed straight away by the medal ceremonies, held on a specially constructed platform inside the marina. The first Medal Race scheduled is for the Finn at 13:00. The Yngling Medal Race is scheduled to start at 14:00. Check your local television listings for broadcast times. You can also follow the action live with mark-by-mark roundings and estimated finishes on the ISAF Olympic Games microsite.

In addition to today's races in the Finn and Yngling, the Star and Tornado fleets also got their Opening Series underway on course area A. With the forecast northeasterly breeze not arriving until late in the afternoon, there were long delays this morning and consequently only one race was completed in the Star, Tornado, Laser, Laser Radial, Men's and Women's RS:X and Men's 470 fleets. The Women's 470 fleet managed to squeeze in two races.

Iordanis Paschalidis and Konstantinos Trigonis, 2nd placed in the Tornado class. Qingdao, 15 August 2008. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann

Fredrik LOOF and Anders EKSTROM of Sweden won the first race in the Star, with a lot of the pre-regatta favourites posting high scores after getting caught on the wrong side of a big wind shift up the first beat. Spain's 2005 and 2007 World Champions Fernando ECHAVARRI and Anton PAZ BLANCO won the opening Tornado race. In the two windsurfer fleets the Israeli and Chinese leaders consolidated their positions, as did Anna TUNNICLIFFE (USA) in the Laser Radial. In win in today's Laser race puts Paul GOODISON (GBR) top of the overall standings. Australia hold the lead in both Men's and Women's 470 fleets.

Following today's delays the schedule for tomorrow has been updated.