Name	Jodie Bakewell-White
Role	Olympic Sailing News & Comment
Jodie is on the ground in Qingdao, China, working alongside our yachties as they take on the world. She'll keep you up to date with news, quotes, stories and more.

21/08/2008 9:32:54 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 21st August 2008

The 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta has concluded today with the Star class medal race – New Zealand’s Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams have finished 9th. With the wrap up of the Star medal race, sailed in gusty winds, rain and big waves off Qingdao, all eleven Olympic champions have now been decided.

New Zealand’s Final Results

GOLD - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X
5th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser
6th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X
7th - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial
9th - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470
12th - Dan Slater, Finn

New Zealand’s top performance was far and away the gold medal from RS:X windsurfer Tom Ashley, who since his winning race yesterday has been busy fulfilling media commitments.

New Zealand’s most recent Olympic gold medalist had this to say after yesterday’s conclusion to the Men’s RS:X event, “I’ve done it! It’s the most incredible feeling and I can’t begin to tell you how I feel right now.”

“I’ve been working toward this for so many years. It was an insanely tough medal race.”

“The weather had a little bit of everything. I tried to sail as consistently as I could.”

The New Zealand team in Qingdao is extremely proud of the new Olympic champion.
“Tom you’re a legend!! An impressive effort to finally stand on top of the podium!” team-mate Carl William’s commented yesterday, “A true professional with one goal in mind. Being the best!”

Another four kiwi crews had top ten showings with Andrew Murdoch, New Zealand’s second best result at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta. While Murdoch was disappointed to not return a sailing medal at this Games for his country, 5th place in the hard fought 43 strong Laser fleet is no mean feat.

In today’s Star class medal race Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams came home in 8th place which means their overall result is 9th place. Today’s race sailed on course A in rainy, blustery conditions was quite a spectacle for the crowd on the breakwall, who came out to watch despite the weather.

The battle for the gold medal went the way of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Great Britain, who were lying 2nd going into the medal race. Robert Scheidt of Brazil got up to claim the silver edging out Fredrick Loof of Sweden on count back, who went into today’s race with the lead and came away with the bronze medal.

STAR
Star Final Results (top five)

GOLD GBR Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson
SILVER BRA Robert Scheidt & Bruno Prada
BRONZE SWE Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom
4th POL Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Dominik Zycki
5th SUI Flavio Marazzi & Enrico De Maria

9th NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams

MEN’S RS:X
Men’s RS:X Final Results (top five)

GOLD NZL Tom Ashley
SILVER FRA Julien Bontemps
BRONZE ISR Shahar Zubari
4th GBR Nick Dempsey
5th BRA Ricardo Santos

WOMEN’S RS:X
Women’s RS:X Final Results (top six)

GOLD CHN Jian Yin
SILVER ITA Alessandra Sensini
BRONZE GBR Bryony Shaw
4th ESP Marina Alabau
5th AUS Jessica Crisp
6th NZL Barbara Kendall

20/08/2008 12:49:53 p.m.

Comments from Tom Ashley after race ten…

“Tough day today!”

“Very light, VERY shifty offshore breeze for the last fleet race of the Olympics.”

“I had a really great start at the pin end of the line, and was planning to go left. Unfortunately (!) my start was so good that I made all my rivals (FRA, GBR and ISR) tack off towards the right and I succeeded in getting to the left, at which point the wind went 40 degrees to the right and I ended up deep.”

“In those conditions, and being that far behind, there was no way that I would be able to finish in the top seven and make the race count (I was discarding an 8th until today) so I backed off and cruised the rest of the race to save energy for tomorrow's medal race.”

“So, the overall situation is very tight now, with three of us separated by a single point at the front of the fleet. Julien Bontemps of France is leading, followed by Nick Dempsey (GBR) and myself one point back. Shahar Zubari of Israel is another eight points back, and fifth place is nineteen points behind.”

“With the medal race counting double, this means that the medals will be fought out between the four of us tomorrow. It's all on! It'll be a great way to finish a very toughly fought regatta.”

20/08/2008 12:48:14 p.m.

What’s happening Wednesday for the kiwi team?

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 3rd (after 10 races)
Medal Race
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area A

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 7th (after 10 races)
1 race – Races 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area A

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 7th (after 7 races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1100
Course area E

20/08/2008 12:47:33 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 18th August 2008

Today saw the conclusion of the Laser and Laser Radial classes, race ten and the end of the opening series for the windsurfers and no racing for the Star class.

New Zealand’s Standings Summary

3rd - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 10 races)
6th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 10 races)
7th - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 7 races)

5th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser (Final Result)
7th - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (Final Result)
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (Final result)
12th Dan Slater, Finn (Final result)

The stage is set for an almighty battle for the men’s windsurfing medals at the 2008 Olympic Games with kiwi Tom Ashley right in the mix. Just one point separates the top three in the men’s RS:X class - France’s Julian Bontemps, Great Britain’s Nick Dempsey and New Zealand’s Tom Ashley going into their medal race set to be sailed tomorrow off Qingdao.

Andrew Murdoch has finished 5th overall in the Laser class which wrapped up today the gold medal secured by Great Britain’s Paul Goodison, adding the third Olympic sailing gold for his nation at this Games. Olympic debutante Murdoch won today’s Laser medal race in front of a spectator packed break wall which lifted him up into the top five finishers in the 40 strong fleet.

Jo Aleh has finished 7th overall in the Laser Radial class after sailing their medal race today on course A soon after the Lasers. Aleh’s medal race today was defined when she had to return to the start line fearing she was over early, and never managed to get back in the race, crossing the line in 9th place.

Barbara Kendall moved from 7th overall up to 6th place on the women’s RS:X leader board after race ten sailed today, and while the five time Olympian has booked a spot in the medal race her chances of adding a fourth Olympic medal to her collection of three has slipped away. The points gap for her to now catch up with the leaders is too great to get to the podium tomorrow.

Despite race eight getting started and more than half way through, the lack of wind on course area E saw that race abandoned, and no further racing for the Star class today.

MEN’S RS:X

The top ten to sail the medal race were decided today when race ten was sailed for the Men’s RS:X fleet. Things have closed up at the top of the standings and Tom Ashley’s three point leading margin after race nine has disappeared after he finished towards the back of the fleet today in very light conditions on course area B.

Ashley started well at the pin end forcing the others to tack away however after choosing to stay on the left the kiwi suffered dramatically when a 30 degree wind shift hit the course.

The kiwi discards his result from today, while those close on his tail in the standings both managed a decent finish in the race sailed today. Julien Bontemps of France now has the overall lead on 45 points while Nick Dempsey GBR and Ashley are both on 46 points, so it all comes down to tomorrows double-points medal race.

Neither Bontemps, Ashley or Dempsey is far enough ahead of the fleet on points to be assured of a medal just yet. Also in with a shot at a podium finish is early competition leader, Shahar Zubari of Israel. Zubari posted a 4th place in today’s race and is nine points back from Dempsey and Ashley, so a top medal race for him, combined with a poor performance for one of the leading trio could see him climb up.

Further back Ricardo Santos on 65 points has 5th place ahead of the deciding race tomorrow which leaves him an extreme outside chance to close the gap to the podium, though it’s near on impossible.

The Men’s and Women’s RS:X races will be sailed tomorrow with a scheduled start time of 1 o’clock local time.

Men’s RS:X (provisional)
Top five standings going into the medal race

1st FRA Julien Bontemps - 45 points
2nd GBR Nick Dempsey - 46 points
3rd NZL Tom Ashley - 46 points
4th ISR Shahar Zubari - 54 points
5th BRA Ricardo Santos - 65 points

WOMEN’S RS:X

The women’s RS:X fleet rounded out their ten race series today with Barbara Kendall finishing 21st in the race. Today’s race becomes her discard and she manages to leap frog Klepacka of Poland into 6th place.

Despite advancing up the standings Kendall appears to be out of range of the podium with a 22 point gap up to the 3rd placed Shaw of GBR. Alessandra Sensini today relinquished the overall lead to Jian Yin of China, who won today’s race, a master in the extreme light conditions.

Women’s RS:X
Top six standings going into the medal race

1st CHN Jian Yin - 33 points
2nd ITA Alessandra Sensini - 38 points
3rd GBR Bryony Shaw - 41 points
4th AUS Jessica Crisp - 46 points
5th ESP Marina Alabau - 46 points
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 63 points

STAR

Light winds out on course area E where the Star class race caused delays, and eventually abandonment of all racing for the day. The 16 boat fleet has only sailed seven races so far and have only tomorrow remaining in the schedule to conclude the planned ten race series before the medal race on Thursday.

If wind doesn’t appear tomorrow the series may be shortened for the Star class, though if time and breeze allow they will go for three races tomorrow.

Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams are lying 7th overall in the fleet at this stage with a five point gap up to third placed sailors Rohart and Rambeau of France. Despite the close points on the board the talent pool in this, the oldest Olympic sailing class, is phenomenal and the kiwi boys have got a challenge on their hands to finish strongly.

Star (provisional) top seven after 7 races

1st SWE Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom - 23 points
2nd GBR Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson - 26 points
3rd FRA Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau - 32 points
4th POL Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Dominik Zycki - 33 points
5th GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski - 36 points
6th POR Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos - 37 points
7th NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams - 38 points

LASER

Andrew Murdoch performed best at the very start and the very end of the regatta, rounding out his first Olympic Games with a win in the medal race sailed today after also winning race nine yesterday afternoon.

In the extreme light winds Murdoch took the early lead in today’s medal race which got underway just after one o’clock off Qingdao. While GBR’s Paul Goodison was intent on doing what was required to secure gold – simply beat Rasmus Myrgren of Sweden to the finish line – Murdoch led the fleet around the course with only Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia in touch.

Goodison won gold, Zbogar lifted to take silver for Slovenia, and Diego Romero of Italy benefitted from the misfortune of Myrgren to take bronze.

A few average results during the middle of the regatta was Murdoch’s undoing, and given his standing in 12th place going into the penultimate day of racing he did well to recover from there and score a top five placing.

Laser top five final results

GOLD GBR Paul Goodison
SILVER SLO Vasilij Zbogar
BRONZE ITA Diego Romero
4th POR Gustavo Lima
5th NZL Andrew Murdoch

LASER RADIAL

The Laser Radial medal deciding race followed the Laser race of course A.

Jo Aleh’s hopes of a podium finish were dashed yesterday when she slipped out of contention after races 7, 8 & 9 were sailed. The 22 year old Aucklander was 9th in the medal race today which was won by Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania.

Aleh’s final result for the 2008 Olympic Games a 7th place. USA’s Anna Tunnicliffe claimed the gold medal, silver went Gintare Volungeviciute LTU and bronze to China’s Lijia Xu.

Laser Radial top seven final results

GOLD USA Anna Tunnicliffe
SILVER LTU Gintare Volungeviciute
BRONZE CHN Lijia Xu
4th AUS Sarah Blanck
5th FRA Sarah Steyaert
6th SUI Nathalie Brugger
7th NZL Jo Aleh

19/08/2008 1:24:55 p.m.

Comments from Carl Williams after Monday’s racing…

“With the high chance of completing 3 races, today was going to be an influential day to the leader board. A unique day for Qingdao with a strong offshore breeze meaning very puffy and very shifty.”

Race 1 – 1st Place

“We started at the committee boat end in a very strong position. Early off the line it was quite shifty as we played our cards out to the right side. By the top of the beat Hamish had sailed to the shifts well and we lead at the top mark. Closely followed by a group of about 4 boats. We rounded the bottom mark with that group and the lead was up for grabs. Initially we lost it and had to work hard to find the strong side and bring the shift back which we did at the top leading again but by a considerable margin more than the last one. For the final run it was a matter of defending the lead and we sailed cleanly to take the first bullet of the day.”

Race 2 – 12th Place

“It was a tough race from the beginning as we had a bad start which left us little room and clean air to sail where we needed to. It was clear that we had some work to do to get back into the race. We sailed the first beat well to get to the rear of the fleet and the first run was pretty straight forward. The level of racing here is so high across all the teams that any mistake is severely punished and recovering becomes a huge task. During this race we had an opportunity to get back into the top 10 but let it slip and eventually crossed the line with our worst result to date. Opposite of emotions from only an hour earlier but this is the Olympic Games!”

Race 3 – 11th Place

“As the breeze was dying and the tide was turning this was always going to be a very difficult race. The fleet was spread wide across the course and we rounded strongly at the first top mark. The first run was moments of both strength and weakness but we did a good job to pick the right gate and rounded in a similar position and more importantly- clean.”

“Pepsi did a great job up the second beat working every inch out of the shifts that came our way. We rounded the top mark in 4th just behind BRA. The downwind leg to the finish proved to be a weak performance from us, allowing the fleet to get outside us on the stronger side. We literally had half the fleet sail around us by the finish. A horrible feeling as you watch it unfold, but a situation that we put ourselves in and have to bear.”

“The fight continues tomorrow, as it is very tight at the top still with anything possible for whoever can pull off a good day in the forecasted light air. Two races tomorrow, 1 race on the 20th and Medal Race (double points) on the 21st is the current plan.”

18/08/2008 10:04:37 p.m.

What’s happening Tuesday for the kiwi team?

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 6th (after 9 races)
Medal Race only
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area A

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 7th (after 9 races)
Medal Race only
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area A

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 7th (after 7 races)
2 races – Races 8 & 9
Start time: 1300
Course area E

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 1st (after 9 races)
1 race – Race 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 7th (after 9 races)
1 race – Races 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

18/08/2008 10:04:08 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 18th August 2008

Adding three races in one day was always going to make some impressions on the overall standings at the Olympic Sailing Regatta in Qingdao, China. With sufficient breeze, albeit fading through the day, the Laser, Radial and Star and fleets all sailed three races today and things have changed on the leader boards.

The top ten to sail in the medal race has now been decided for the Laser and Radial classes and these will be sailed tomorrow.

New Zealand’s Standings Summary

1st - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 9 races)
6th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser (after 9 races)
7th - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (after 9 races)
7th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 9 races)
7th - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 7 races)

12th Dan Slater, Finn (Final result)
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (Final result)

The RS:X fleets both added two races today, have now completed nine and will be back on the water for race ten tomorrow ahead of their medal races on Wednesday.

Tom Ashley continues to lead the Men’s RS:X class though Nick Dempsey of Great Britain has gained some ground on the kiwi after today’s two races. Ashley returned two more consistent races, finishing 6th and then 8th. Race ten was abandoned late in the afternoon due to a dying breeze and has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Ashley leads on 38 points with Dempsey close behind on 41, while Julien Bontemps of France is third with 42 points.

Barbara Kendall was 6th in race eight and then 13th in race nine today which sees her slip slightly to 7th overall. One race remains before the top ten medal race participants are decided in the Women’s RS:X class.

Jo Aleh sits in 7th place overall going into the Laser Radial medal race. After two 14th places and a 20th in today’s three races her medal chances have slipped away. With a 28 point gap between her and Lijia Xu who holds 3rd overall Aleh won’t be able to make up the ground to hit the podium with only the medal race to sail.

Over in the Laser class Andrew Murdoch had some work to do today to move from 12th place up into contention for the medal race. The 26 year old from Kerikeri, Northland has managed that with ease climbing his way back up to sit in 6th overall at the end of what was a nine race opening series for the Lasers. Murdoch was 5th in race seven, 17th in race eight and closed the day with a win in race nine.

After seven races for the Star class the points remain close. Starting the day with a convincing win in race five, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams then went on to post a 12th and an 11th in races six and seven. They now sit in 7th place on the leader board, on equal points with Robert Scheidt of Brazil in 8th place.

MEN’S RS:X

While the intention was for three RS:X races today only two were possible. The fleets are required to return ashore after two consecutive races in order to recuperate. However in the dying breeze in Qingdao today this meant that by the time the windsurfers went back out for race ten the wind had evaporated.

Tom Ashley was 6th in his first race of the day, and then 8th. His previous poorest race had been a 7th place early on in the series, so race nine now becomes his discard and he has a points total of 38. His five point buffer over second place has dropped to three points, with GBR’s Nick Dempsey moving up and ousting Julien Bontemps of France for second place. The Frenchman has third and is just one point adrift of Dempsey.

With race ten rescheduled for tomorrow the 35 strong fleet will be back on the water on what was originally planned as a rest day. By tomorrow afternoon in Qingdao the overall standings ahead of the Men’s RS:X medal race will be decided.

Men’s RS:X medal race is planned for Wednesday 20th on course area A off Qingdao.

Men’s RS:X (provisional) top results after races

1st NZL Tom Ashley - 38 points
2nd GBR Nick Dempsey - 41 points
3rd FRA Julien Bontemps - 42 points
4th ISR Shahar Zubari - 51 points
5th BRA Ricardo Santos - 52 points

WOMEN’S RS:X

As with the men’s fleet the Women’s RS:X sailed two races today, one short of the planned three, leaving race ten to be sailed tomorrow before Wednesday’s medal race.

Barbara Kendall was 6th in race eight and then 13th in race nine, which becomes her discard score. Today’s results saw her slip from 5th overall back to 7th place in the overall standings. She has 50 points just one shy of Polish sailor Klepacka ahead of her in 5th place.

Reigning world champ, Alessandra Sensini has taken the lead today pushing local Chinese girl Jian Yin back into second place.

Women’s RS:X (provisional) top results after races

1st ITA Alessandra Sensini - 30 points
2nd CHN Jian Yin - 32 points
3rd ESP Marina Alabau - 37 points
4th GBR Bryony Shaw - 39 points
5th AUS Jessica Crisp - 41 points
6th POL Zofia Klepacka - 49 points
7th NZL Barbara Kendall - 50 points

STAR

Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams made a great start today winning their opening race of the day in flying form. Opening up a sizable gap on the fleet in the second beat, the pair was 43 seconds ahead going around mark three and romped home over a minute clear to take the win.

Races six and seven weren’t as fruitful for the kiwi pair who was 12th and then 11th in those races respectively. Mixed results for many Star crews today, Pepper and Williams included, meant that overall standings shuffled continuously. At the conclusion of the day the kiwis have 38 points and 7th place; Robert Scheidt also has 38 points in 8th place.

The points are still close ahead of Pepper and Williams and another three races are yet to be sailed before the top ten are decided, which means there may be more shuffling on the leader board.

Fredrick Loof of Sweden currently holds the lead. The Star medal race is Thursday 21st August.

Star (provisional) top seven after 7 races

1st SWE Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom - 23 points
2nd GBR Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson - 26 points
3rd FRA Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau - 32 points
4th POL Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Dominik Zycki - 33 points
5th GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski - 36 points
6th POR Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos - 37 points
7th NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams - 38 points

LASER RADIAL

Today didn’t go the way of New Zealand’s Jo Aleh on the Laser Radial course who slipped from 3rd overall to 7th place after races 7, 8 and 9 sailed today off Qingdao.

Aleh, competing at her first Olympic Games, will line up with the top ten tomorrow for the Laser Radial medal race, but the points difference that opened up today means that she is not in a position to make a challenge for the podium.

Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA will start the medal race as the favourite for the gold medal, with a seven point leading margin over Volungeviciute LTU in second place.

The Laser Radial Medal race is scheduled to start at 1pm tomorrow.

Laser Radial (provisional) top seven after 9 races

1st USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 33 points
2nd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 40 points
3rd CHN Lijia Xu - 44 points
4th AUS Sarah Blanck - 54 points
5th FRA Sarah Steyaert - 61 points
6th BEL Evi Van Acker - 71 points
7th NZL Jo Aleh - 72 points

LASER
Andrew Murdoch made the most gains today of all the New Zealanders still in action. Leaving the boat park this morning Murdoch was in 12th place and needed to lift his game and return some top results to make the medal race cut for tomorrow.

In race seven Murdoch stayed in the leading pack throughout the race and crossed the finish line in 5th place. He couldn’t repeat this in race eight, and rounded mark one mid fleet in 20th place, then managing to come back to cross in 17th.

In race nine the kiwi took the lead early on, and despite the group just behind in hot pursuit Murdoch held on to take his first race win of the Olympic regatta and further improve his overall position.

The Laser Medal race will be sailed tomorrow on course A.

Laser top five (provisional) after 6 races

1st GBR Paul Goodison - 45 points
2nd SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 63 points
3rd POR Gustavo Lima - 65 points
4th SLO Vasilij Zbogar - 67 points
5th ITA Diego Romero - 69 points
6th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 79 points

18/08/2008 1:14:55 p.m.

What’s happening Monday for the kiwi team?

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 6th (after four races)
3 races – Races 5, 6 & 7
Start time: 1100
Course area E

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 12th (after six races)
3 races – Races 7, 8 & 9
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area C

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 3rd (after six races)
3 races – Races 7, 8 & 9
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area C

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 1st (after seven races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 5th (after seven races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

18/08/2008 1:14:29 p.m.

Comments from Jo Aleh after yesterdays race…

“We were out on the water for a 12pm start, but by the time the guys fleet had a whole lot of recalled starts, and the race committee boats worked out how to lay their anchors so they didn't drift, it was about 1pm when we started our race.”

“The wind was in today, with torrential rain and a rather large swell running as well... Weather that was not quite in the brochure.”

“I had a good start, but got paced a bit on the first leg, to round in an ok position, I held for the first downwind, but on the second upwind leg, I just got smacked! I didn't quite get the sides right, and was struggling for speed, and so I lost a few boats. The tide was running down the course quite strongly, and so the downwind legs were very short, which didn't sit well with me, as that’s where I like to make my comebacks... So I finished the race in 14th.. Not great, but at least it was better than the 22nd in my opening race.”

“We then waited around on the water for quite a while, as the wind picked up, and the rain continued to pour down - it was that sort of hard rain, that stings a little when it hits you in the face, basically just another lovely day for a bit of sailing.”

“Tomorrow is our last scheduled day of racing, and as we are 4 races behind (but can only fit in a max of 3 tomorrow) we will be starting at 11am, and they will be hoping to finally get more than one race in per day. At the moment, we have been racing for 6 days, and have 6 races done - not the greatest record. So here’s hoping to a nice (lightish) breeze, and a few good races!”

Comments from Carl Williams after yesterday’s race…

“To be honest it’s very hard to put today’s experiences into words. Extreme would sum up every element. A day I’m sure l will remember for a while.”

‘After a scheduled start of 12pm was delayed due to the Race Committee Boat sinking while anchored at the start line. We were all held ashore for an hour. Once a replacement committee boat was found we were all out on the racecourse E by 1pm. The conditions were 18-30knts with a serious 2-4m chop. Due to these conditions it took the race committee 3 hours to set a start line that would hold long enough. In the mean time 16 Star boats reached around waiting. Rainsqualls would come through that literally hurt and visibility would drop to about 100m.”

“Finally with the breeze slightly moderated to about 18knts at 4pm we started our race.”

“We a had a very good position at the top of the line but when the gun went and the Individual recall flag went up we were concerned that we were over. Double digits on your score sheet can be bad but letters can be worse and we decided against risking an OCS (on course side). Team GER also made the same decision.”

“Speed up wind so far has been good this regatta and a drag race style of a beat put us in touch with the back of the fleet by the top mark. The POR were flagged as OCS and were pulled out of the race at the top, the exact thing we avoided at the start by turning back. By the run the wind had built to 20knts+ and there were some serious surfing conditions.”

“If for a second you are not catching the waves you will lose a lot. So after a huge effort together we put ourselves in the top 10 by the bottom of the run. However, about 30 seconds after our final gybe into the gate our runner block exploded under sheer load! I caught the runners as they flew past my head and when then wiped out head to wind.”

“Pepsi got the mainsheet on and we rolled into a tack and bore away for the opposite gate. On the second beat while Pepsi dragged us back up to the fleet l lashed the runner to the edge of the boat where the ratchet block once sat. A dury rig (Whitbread style) but the important thing was to finish the race. We rounded the top in 14th and had a full on run to the finish picking up 3 boats on the way eventually finishing in 11th. Both CRO and AUS broke their masts on the last downwind proving how on the limit we all were.”

“Drained from that experience to say the least. An 11th is not great but as this regatta unfolds just finishing race 4 could be very decisive. We are both looking forward to getting out there tomorrow for potentially another 3 races!? Will wait and see.”

17/08/2008 11:57:34 p.m.

Comments from Tom Ashley after day nine…

“Breeze on today! We sailed two races in 17-23 knots with big waves and frequent rain squalls. Epic sailing conditions!”

“I posted a 5th and a 3rd to take the series lead from Julien Bontemps (FRA) and Shahar Zubari (ISR).”

“The first race got off to a pretty bad beginning as I chose the wrong end of the start line and struggled to get going on the first upwind. I passed a bunch of boards on the first downwind and a couple more on each leg to end up fifth in the race, just ahead of rivals Zubari and Nick Dempsey (GBR).”

“The second race went much better for me. I had a great start and was with the leaders for the whole race, sailing conservatively and not having to take any risks to catch up. I rounded the top mark 7th and improved to 3rd as the race went on and a few guys made mistakes.”

“The race committee was planning on holding a third race for us today, but in the end they decided against it. It would have been nice to do another one in those conditions!”

“Tomorrow's forecast is for good breeze in the early morning which should back off as the day goes on. We are scheduled to do three races starting at 1100, but in Qingdao you never know whether racing will happen until the start gun goes, so we'll see!!!”

17/08/2008 11:55:55 p.m.

What’s happening Monday for the kiwi team?

After conditions in Qingdao hit the other end of the spectrum today, Sunday, and some classes are even further behind schedule, organizers have announced an 11am start to racing on Monday. Forecasters are predicting that there will be wind.

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 6th (after four races)
3 races – Races 5, 6 & 7
Start time: 1100
Course area E

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 12th (after six races)
3 races – Races 7, 8 & 9
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area C

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 3rd (after six races)
3 races – Races 7, 8 & 9
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area C

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 1st (after seven races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 5th (after seven races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1100 hours
Course area B

17/08/2008 10:06:38 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap 17 August 2008

It’s been an action packed day at the Olympic Sailing venue, Qingdao, China, on day ten of the regatta. Strong winds and heavy rain, medals decided in three classes, delays and further postponements.

New Zealanders in action included windsurfers Tom Ashley and Barbara Kendall sailing two races each; Andrew Murdoch; Jo Aleh and Star crew Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams all sailing one race a piece. The day has had its ups and downs for the kiwi team.

New Zealand’s Standings Summary

1st - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 7 races)
3rd - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (after 6 races)
5th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 7 races)
6th - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 4 races)
12th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser (after 6 races)

12th Dan Slater, Finn (Final result)
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (Final result)

Tom Ashley has moved up into the lead spot in the Men’s RS:X fleet who have now sailed seven races. After a 5th and a 3rd in racing today the kiwi has ousted Shahar Zubari of Israel from the top of the leader board, and now has a five point buffer over Julien Bontemps FRA in second place.

Barbara Kendall relished the blustery and choppy conditions and came away with two more solid results to add to her scorecard. After a 4th and a 3rd in races six and seven sailed today the veteran Olympian has moved up from 6th overall into 5th place four points back from 4th.

Jo Aleh slipped out of the lead in the Laser Radials after a 14th place in the one race sailed today. She now has 3rd place overall just one point behind Anna Tunnicliffe USA in second.

The Star class has now completed four races, adding just one today, conditions on course area E reportedly rugged. Kiwi crew Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams were 11th in today’s race which means they now sit in 6th place overall in the 16 boat fleet on equal points with USA in 5th.

MEN’S RS:X

Today’s wet and windy conditions provided an exciting prospect for Tom Ashley who often demonstrates the advantage of performing well regardless of the conditions. So while the Auckland based windsurfer, who is competing at his second Olympic Games, has been consistent in the extreme light of Qingdao so far, he can also produce results on windy days. And that’s what Qingdao provided today – 15-20 knots of south westerly winds with swelly, choppy sea conditions.

“The racing is extremely tight and everyone is sailing at a very high level,” said Ashley yesterday. “Events like this generally are won and lost on attrition as guys make mistakes and take themselves out of the running, so consistency will definitely be the key as the regatta goes on and we race in different conditions.”

Underway on schedule today the Men’s RS:X started first on course area B at around midday, organizers hoping to fit in three races to catch up on the programme. At mark one Ashley was buried in the fleet rounding in 17th place, dropping back to 27th at one point. But, as he did in race five, Ashley staged a comeback, up to 5th, and gaining another place on the final run to the line, finishing 4th.

In race seven which followed Ashley didn’t lose sight of the leaders, rounding each mark within the top five, and again passing sailors as the race progressed to record a 3rd place. As some of his counterparts fell by the wayside unable to bring home the results in the strong winds Ashley moved up the leader board to take the top spot after seven races.

Ashley will compete again tomorrow.

Men’s RS:X (provisional) top five results after 7 races

1st NZL Tom Ashley - 25 points
2nd FRA Julien Bontemps - 30 points
3rd ISR Shahar Zubari - 31 points
4th GBR Nick Dempsey 11 - 33 points
5th HKG King Yin Chan - 40 points

WOMEN’S RS:X

Barbara Kendall was strong in the breeze today as well, continuing her climb up the standings in the women’s RS:X improving from 6th to 5th overall after today’s racing. Kendall, like Ashley is showing consistent results finishing within the top four in her most recent four races, her worst result so far coming in her first race of the regatta.

Points are close around her, Kendall is four adrift of Marina Alabau ESP in 4th and three points ahead of Bryony Shaw GBR. China’s Jian Lin of Qingdao is China’s biggest hope for a sailing medal continuing to lead the Women’s RS:X ahead of three time Olympic medalist Alessandra Sensini of Italy.

Both RS:X medal races are scheduled for Wednesday 20th so there is time in the schedule to complete the ten race series to decide the top ten. They will be back on the water again tomorrow.

Women’s RS:X top six results after races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 16 points
2nd ITA Alessandra Sensini - 23 points
3rd AUS Jessica Crisp - 26 points
4th ESP Marina Alabau - 28 points
5th NZL Barbara Kendall - 32 points

STAR

The Star fleet had a long day on the water, despite this they only managed to sail one race, and have now completed four. Set for an early start to racing at midday the sailors on course area E (Star and Tornado) found their racing held up while the Committee boat recovered from a potential sinking.

Finally underway at 3:40pm in the afternoon, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams returned their poorest race yet, coming home in 11th and slipping back to 6th place overall in a day which saw much shuffling of positions on the leader board.

Points remain tight at the top and the kiwis are only five points behind the Polish pair who have taken the lead today. The last class to get underway at the Games regatta, the Stars will see plenty more water under the bridge before the medal race next Thursday.

Star top six (provisional) after 4 races

1st POL Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Dominik Zycki - 21 points
2nd FRA Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau - 22 points
3rd SWE Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom - 23 points
4th GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski - 25 points
5th USA John Dane & Austin Sperry - 26 points
6th NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams - 26 points

LASER RADIAL

Just one race was sailed for the Laser Radial fleet in today’s conditions which were at the other end of the extreme to what’s been seen during the opening week of the Olympic sailing event.

Jo Aleh wasn’t able to continue her streak of 2nd places finishing 14th in today’s race. After today Aleh lies 3rd overall just one point behind Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA.

The Laser Radials will be back on the water tomorrow.

Laser Radial top five (provisional) after 6 races

1st LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 17 points
2nd USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 23 points
3rd NZL Jo Aleh - 24 points
4th CHN Lijia Xu - 26 points
5th FRA Sarah Steyaert - 37 points

LASER

Back in form after suffering at the mercy of Qingdao’s light and shifty wind over recent races, Andrew Murdoch finished 5th in his only race of the day – race six for the 43 strong Laser fleet. The improved result improves his overall standing in the fleet and the 26 year old gains one place to 12th overall.

Murdoch was disappointed that just one race was sailed today, three were scheduled but course officials struggled with sea conditions and had difficulty setting courses and getting the fleet started.

Laser top five (provisional) after 6 races

1st GBR Paul Goodison - 34 points
2nd SLO Vasilij Zbogar - 37 points
3rd ARG Julio Alsogaray - 38 points
4th FRA Jean Baptiste Bernaz - 38 points
5th SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 38 points

12th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 56 points

17/08/2008 3:06:07 p.m.

11:00am Sunday Update from Qingdao

Strong winds and heavy rain are expected to continue throughout the day here in Qingdao for what is day nine of the Olympic Sailing regatta.

25-27 knots south westerly winds are expected for the hours of scheduled racing – which kicks off today at midday. Officials and competitors are heading to their respective course areas right now.

17/08/2008 1:16:15 p.m.

Tom Ashley writing on Saturday 16th August…

“Well, we're five races in to the Olympic regatta. It's been slow going as we've been racing for five days and missed two days of racing due to lack of wind. Now we have three days left to do the final five races before the medal race on Wednesday the 20th.”

“At the moment I'm sitting in 4th place overall, very close to the leaders. I've managed to be pretty consistent so far with races of 4th, 7th, 7th, 1st and 5th.”

“Yesterday's race was particularly stressful- the breeze was extremely shifty and guys were going from zero to hero and vice versa as the wind swung through 40 degrees. I struggled throughout the race, rounding the top mark 14th, catching up to 8th on the downwind then having a shocker on the second upwind to round 27th. Fortunately I picked up a nice gust on the downwind, and felt like I had played a 'get out of jail free' card, catching up from 27th at the last mark to 5th at the finish. Sometimes luck beats skill!! That definitely more than made up for a couple of times that I'd felt a little unlucky during the first couple of days' racing!”

“The racing is extremely tight and everyone is sailing at a very high level. Events like this generally are won and lost on attrition as guys make mistakes and take themselves out of the running, so consistency will definitely be the key as the regatta goes on and we race in different conditions. I'm feeling very happy with the way I'm sailing, so I'm looking forward to the rest of the racing!”

17/08/2008 1:14:52 p.m.

Carl Williams on race three for the Star class sailed Saturday (16th) afternoon…

"This regatta is living up to its potential. Really tough, testing conditions. Once again boat speed was not a factor as keeping your head out of the boat was the key. Something that Pepsi does very well. There were some valuable lessons learned and some good indicators. We have now had to operate in 3 races under some serious pressure and we feel as if we are sailing well. All the results at this stage need to be taken with a grain of salt as there is some more very tough tactical sailing to come."

“Conditions: 5-6knts sea breeze, flat sea, hotter.”

“Starting in a very light 5-6knts we managed another good start and were able to get in phase quickly. Using the right side of the course we rounded 2nd behind the Germans. We did not sail the first run very well by not sticking with our nearest rivals and ending up inside with less pressure. Rounding the bottom mark in 6th we needed a strong beat to get back in the race. Finding some good lanes of pressure we rounded the top mark in 2nd with the USA and GBR teams right with us. Finding the pressure and using it with the tide was key here and we sailed a strong run using both sides of the track to finish second behind GER.”

“Finishing the day with a 9th and 2nd is great. Where we sit right now overall is not important, as there is still a lot more races to execute as best we can regardless of position. That position counts after the Medal race!”

16/08/2008 10:53:47 p.m.

Women’s RS:X top six results after five races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points
2nd AUS Jessica Crisp - 10 points
3rd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 16 points
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 25 points

What’s happening Sunday for the kiwi team?

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 3rd (after three races)
3 races – Races 4, 5 & 6
Start time: 1200
Course area E

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 13th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 1st (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 4th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area B

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 6th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area B

16/08/2008 10:53:19 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 16th August 2008

New Zealand sailors in four classes were on the water off Qingdao today returning some solid results despite the extremely light air conditions.

Just one race was sailed in the Laser Radial’s, Jo Aleh continuing with her great form from yesterday returning another 2nd place in today’s race. Now at the halfway point, the Laser Radial sailors discard their worst score, working in favour of Aleh who moves up into the lead spot.

Star class sailors Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams sailed two races today adding a 9th and a 2nd to their scorecard which improves their overall standing. The pair lie 2nd overall in the fleet of 16 boats, now three races into their ten race opening series.

It was young 470 skipper, Carl Evans, birthday today and the day produced a mixed bag for the boys who got a win on the water in race nine, only to later miss out on the top ten medal race cut. At the conclusion of race ten the boys finished an agonizingly narrow two points off the crew ahead of them who scraped into the medal race.

Wind was light and shifty across all five courses today and racing was long and slow. On course A the Finn class sailed into the last leg of their medal race only to see the race abandoned as the wind dropped away to nothing and the tidal current of Qingdao meant sailors were all but going backwards.

Tom Ashley and Barbara Kendall didn’t sail today.

New Zealand’s Standings Summary

1st - Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (after 5 races)
2nd - Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 3 races)
4th - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 5 races)
6th - Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 5 races)
11th - Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (after 10 races)
13th - Andrew Murdoch, Laser (after 5 races)

12th Dan Slater, Finn (Final result)

STAR

It was day two for the Star class who endured two long races today both around 80 minutes in length the wind strength marginal in both.

In race two of the series the kiwi sailors, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams were 9th to finish, bouncing back with a 2nd place in the second race of the day. Now three races into the ten race series, Pepper and Williams lie in 2nd place just one point off the leaders.

John Dane of the USA move into the lead today just one point clear of the New Zealand crew just behind. Overnight leader Fredrick Loof (SWE) didn’t fare so well on the water today and has slipped to 7th overall after a 4th and a 15th. Afonso Domingo

Star top five (provisional) after 3 races

1st USA John Dane & Austin Sperry - 14 points
2nd NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams - 15 points
3rd POR Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos - 16 points
4th GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski - 17 points
5th FRA Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau - 18 points

LASER RADIAL

Jo Aleh racked up another top result in Laser Radial race five. In the very light wind conditions in Qingdao just one race was completed despite best efforts to get race six underway and concluded it never eventuated.

In a race that played out for the kiwi in similar fashion to yesterday’s race four, Aleh was 7th around mark one, but gained ground as the race progressed to finish 2nd. After this race the discard came into play for the Radial sailors, and Aleh, now able to drop the 22nd from race one, climbs up to lead the Laser Radials at the halfway point in their opening series.

Aleh has 10 points with Lithuanian sailor, Volungeviciute, who won today’s race, close behind in the overall standings on 13 points. Overnight leader Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA remains consistent returning a 6th place in today’s race, but has slipped to third place overall with the introduction of the discard lifting Aleh and Volungeviciute.

Laser Radial top five (provisional) after 5 races

1st NZL Jo Aleh - 10 points
2nd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 13 points
3rd USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 20 points
4th CHN Lijia Xu - 24 points
5th CRO Mateja Petronijevic - 26 points

LASER

Following on the same course area as the Radial’s Andrew Murdoch wasn’t able to emulate his team-mate Aleh’s performance. A 24th place in race five for the Lasers puts Murdoch in 13th place overall with some work to do in the remaining half of the opening series to climb the standings.

Laser top five (provisional) after races

1st ITA Diego Romero - 24 points
2nd SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 25 points
3rd SLO Vasilij Zbogar - 26 points
4th GBR Paul Goodison - 27 points
5th FRA Jean Baptiste Bernaz - 28 points

13th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 51 points

MEN’S 470

Carl Evans and Peter Burling have narrowly missed out on the Men’s 470 medal race finishing in 11th overall just two points behind the Japanese crew in 10th place. In an action packed day for New Zealand’s youngest ever Olympic sailors, the boys sailed three races even winning one of them.

The race win for the kiwi boys came in race nine of the series for the men’s 470 and will serve as somewhat of a consolation birthday present for skipper Evans, who turns 18 today, despite missing out on the top ten medal race cut.

In their other two races sailed today the boys were 12th and 7th – their final result for the Games will be 11th place – impressive for their age and the experience and talent of the 28 boat fleet they compete in.

The top ten placed sailors will sail their medal race on Monday 18th. Australians Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page appear to have an unassailable leading margin on their nearest competitors – with a 22 point buffer the gold medal is almost assured.

Men’s 470 (provisional) top five after 10 races

1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page - 42 points
2nd NED Sven Coster & Kalle Coster - 64 points
3rd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 66 points
4th GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 69 points
5th ESP Onan Barreiros & Aaron Sarmiento - 79 points

11th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 95 points

MEN’S RS:X

No races were sailed today in the Men’s RS:X. Sharing course area B with the 49er class the windsurfers were scheduled to start at 2pm, however the 49er races dragged on and the boards didn’t get started.

Tomorrow’s schedule has three races planned for the Men’s RS:X with a midday start to competition.

Men’s RS:X (provisional) top five results after five races

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 14 points
3rd GBR Nick Dempsey - 15 points
4th NZL Tom Ashley - 17 points
5th FRA Julien Bontemps - 20 points

WOMEN’S RS:X

No races were sailed today in the Women’s RS:X. Sharing course area B with the 49er class the windsurfers were scheduled to start at 2pm, however the 49er races dragged on and the boards didn’t get started.

Tomorrow’s schedule has three races planned for the Women’s RS:X with a midday start to competition.

Women’s RS:X top six results after five races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points
2nd AUS Jessica Crisp - 10 points
3rd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 16 points
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 25 points

16/08/2008 2:02:16 p.m.

Saturday 16th August 2008
Photo by Gettys

Just one race was sailed for the Star class on Friday on course A. Carl Williams describes his first day of competition at the 2008 Olympic Games...

“Well if the energy of the first day of Olympic racing wasn't enough we had to deal with one of the most shifty ruthless days l have ever raced a sail boat.”

“A rare off shore breeze was predicted for the day and our first start was scheduled for 1pm. It was quite clear that the breeze was having trouble settling so at 1pm the postponements flag went up. 10 minutes later we were sent back to the dock to wait (due to the fact we were racing on the closest course A). We had enough time for a quick bite of lunch and a couple of games of table tennis before the flag was dropped and we all headed back out for what we knew was going to be a challenging first race!”

“By the start of the race (and after a few sail changes) the gun went at about 4:30pm. We were sailing in a very shifty, very puffy offshore breeze (Shifts of about 30-40 degrees and breeze between 7-15 knots) and to top it off there was about 3 knots of current pushing us sideways.”

“We had a good spot off the line and held our lane before tacking off with the boats heading right. Initially the group below us were looking "famous" and the group heading left were not looking so flash (we were in between). The decisive moment of the race was about to happen. Do we try and get out under the boats in the left or chase out looking for something in the right. We decided on the prior and rounded just behind the bunch from the left in 7th place. The downwind leg was a bit more of a drag race as the tide allowed us all to lay the bottom, we showed some good moments of speed and rounded the favoured mark alone picking up two boats in the process.”

“The second beat was straight forward until the top where the top marks were placed right under the cliff. Some huge holes and massive shifts caused for some frantic moments. At the top all the boats we rounded except the Germans gybe set. This allowed us to get some leverage and find the breeze to take back. It took some time but patience paid here and we were able to consolidate and cross the bunch outside us finishing 4th.”

“The key to today from a performance point of view was the team work, decision making, risk vs reward factors rather than the boat speed. Some of the teams out there were not so lucky but l feel at some stage this regatta all of us will be in a very difficult spot and bouncing back from that will be one of the keys to the regatta.”

“Bottom line… l loved my first day as an Olympic Sailor.”

15/08/2008 11:45:22 p.m.

What’s happening Saturday for the kiwi team?

Carl Evans & Peter Burling – Men’s 470
Current position: 13th (after seven races)
3 races – Races 8, 9 & 10
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area D

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Current position: 4th (after one race)
3 races – Races 2, 3 & 4
Start time: 1200
Course area AE

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 15th (after four races)
3 races – Races 5, 6 & 7
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 4th (after four races)
3 races – Races 5, 6 & 7
Start time: 1200 hours
Course area C

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 4th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1400 hours
Course area B

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 6th (after five races)
3 races – Races 6, 7 & 8
Start time: 1400 hours
Course area B

15/08/2008 11:43:33 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 14th August 2008

Late start and just one race for all

Today all New Zealand’s yachties sailed just one race in Qingdao, China, late in the day after waiting for wind until around 4pm.

Our two women impressed - both Barbara Kendall and Jo Aleh returning a 2nd place in their respective races. Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams returned a 4th place in the opening race of the Star class and Tom Ashley made a huge comeback in his race five, after sitting deep in the Men’s RS:X fleet, he climbed through to finish 5th.

Things didn’t go the way of Dan Slater, finishing 6th in his race but it seems, failing to make the cut for the medal race tomorrow. At the close of racing Slater was lying provisionally in 12th place overall, though at the time of writing protests were pending which may affect the kiwi’s result. It’s doubtful however that it would put him in the top ten, which means it’s all but certain that his Olympic Games has come to a close.

New Zealand’s Standings Summary

4th – Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, Star (after 1 race)
4th - Tom Ashley, Men’s RS:X (after 5 races)
4th – Jo Aleh, Laser Radial (after 4 races)
6th – Barbara Kendall, Women’s RS:X (after 5 races)
12th – Dan Slater, Finn (after eight races)
13th – Carl Evans & Peter Burling, Men’s 470 (after 7 races)
15th – Andrew Murdoch, Laser (after 4 races)

With an early start to racing planned for some classes, extra races in the schedule and a forecast which talked of northerly winds it was all action at the Qingdao sailing venue this morning. Sailors left the boat park and hit the race track suitably amped to get on with racing after yesterday’s delays and cancellations. However the midday and one o’clock scheduled start times came and went and the wind, once again, failed to show.

During the day the weather watchers observed as much wind as 15 -18 knots on the islands in the outer Fushan Bay, and sloppy sea conditions on the course areas spoke of breeze somewhere nearby. However close to shore in Qingdao was a different story with a light offshore breeze seemingly keeping the wind hitting the outer islands at bay, and most sailors were sent ashore to wait.

Once racing got underway the breeze maxed at around 10-12 knots at times, but sailors reported that the two conflicting breezes were fighting each other and there were big shifts on most courses resulting in some big position changes during racing.

Star

Star sailors Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams are now underway with the first race of the 2008 Olympic Games for them kicking off at 4:20pm on course A with a reported 8-9 knots of wind.

In the small but star-studded sixteen boat fleet, the kiwis got away to a good start and remained in touch with the leading group for the entire race. They finished 4th, Fredrick Loof of Sweden taking the win in the first race of the series.

Speaking ahead of today’s race Williams said, “I am starting to see what really makes this the Olympic Games. This is competition at its ruthless best. Goals are destroyed, ambitions are pressured and resolve is tested.”

They race again tomorrow starting at midday.

Star top five (provisional after one race)

1st SWE Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom (1)
2nd GER Marc Pickel & Ingo Borkowski (2)
3rd POR Afonso Domingos & Bernardo Santos (3)
4th NZL Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams (4)
5th POL Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Dominik Zycki (5)

LASER RADIAL

Jo Aleh was a standout amongst the kiwis today in race four for the Laser Radials. Rounding mark one in 7th place she continued to climb through those in front of her and take 2nd place behind Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania.

Today’s performance sees Aleh move up the leader board to now sit in 4th place overall despite still carrying a 22 from her first race. Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA retains the lead.

An early start at midday is on the schedule for the Laser Radials tomorrow, organizers looking to make up lost races will run three races for the Radials if possible.

Laser Radial top five (provisional) results after four races

1st USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 20 points
2nd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 25 points
3rd CRO Mateja Petronijevic - 26 points
4th NZL Jo Aleh - 30 points
5th FRA Sarah Steyaert - 36 points

LASER

In the largest fleet of the Olympic sailing events, Andrew Murdoch came home mid fleet in their fourth race of the series. A 20th today puts Murdoch in 15th overall.

As with the Radials’ an early start at midday is on the schedule for the Lasers tomorrow, organizers looking to make up lost races will run three races if possible.

Laser top five (provisional) results after four races

1st GBR Paul Goodison - 33 points
2nd SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 33 points
3rd RUS Igor Lisovenko - 37 points
4th FRA Jean Baptiste Bernaz - 41 points
5th POR Gustavo Lima - 43 points

15th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 67 points

FINN

Just prior to 4pm the Finn fleet waiting patiently on course area E got started in race eight – an opportunity for those hovering around 10th place to move up and make the cut to sail in tomorrow’s Finn medal race. For New Zealand’s Dan Slater lying 12th overall, this was a last chance race to close the gap and preclude his regatta coming to an end today.

Unfortunately a 6th place finish in today’s race for Slater failed to improve his overall standing, undone by his results from earlier races and the performance of some others close to him on the leader board in today’s race. He provisionally retains 12th place.

Ben Ainslie was once again in fine form, and now has an eleven point leading margin over Zach Railey of the USA putting him in a good position to collect the Finn Gold medal expected of him from the outset.

Finn (provisional) top five results after eight races

1st GBR Ben Ainslie - 21 points
2nd USA Zach Railey - 33 points
3rd SWE Daniel Birgmark - 44 points
4th FRA Guillaume Florent - 50 points
5th CAN Christopher Cook - 51 points

12th NZL Dan Slater - 76 points

MEN’S RS:X

Underway at 5:30pm local time the Men’s RS:X race five was sailed in winds of around 10 knots on course area B. It was a “topsy turvy” race, kiwi Tom Ashley rounding the first mark in 14th place, dropping as deep as 27th at the third mark only to stage an impressive comeback and finish the race in 5th place.

Points are relatively close around Ashley on 17 points, he’s only two points behind third place and three points off second. Shahar Zubari of Israel retains the lead after race five for the fleet.

Back on the water tomorrow the men’s RS:X are scheduled to start at 2pm on course area B with three races planned if time and conditions allow.

Men’s RS:X (provisional) top five results after five races

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 14 points
3rd GBR Nick Dempsey - 15 points
4th NZL Tom Ashley - 17 points
5th FRA Julien Bontemps - 20 points

WOMEN’S RS:X

With her best race yet at this Olympic Games, Barbara Kendall still sits in 6th overall but has closed the gap up on those ahead of her. Thailand’s Napalai Tansai struck out an early lead, but couldn’t hold on, Jessica Crisp (AUS) and Kendall passing her to take the top two spots in race five for the Women’s RS:X. At the finish Kendall was just 14 second behind the Australian.

With 25 points total, just one behind Bryony Shaw (GBR) Kendall will be back on the water tomorrow aiming to continue her form from today. Racing doesn’t start until 2pm for the windsurfers, who have to wait for the 49er class to sail on course area B before them, but if possible they will have three races.

Women’s RS:X (provisional) top six results after four races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points
2nd AUS Jessica Crisp - 10 points
3rd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 16 points
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 25 points

MEN’S 470

Carl Evans and Peter Burling were back in action in the Men’s 470 class after a rest day yesterday, for them today’s race was race seven in their opening series. Unfortunately for the young up and comers, both just 17 years old, they finished 22nd today which saw them slip three places down the leader board.

They now lie 13th overall in the fleet of 27 boats. Racing continues for them tomorrow where they will be aiming to regain their standing in the top ten ahead of the Men’s 470 medal race which is scheduled to take place on Monday 18th.

Men’s 470 (provisional) top five results after seven races

1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page - 22 points
2nd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 27 points
3rd POR Ãlvaro Marinho & Miguel Nunes - 43 points
4th GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 44 points
5th ITA Gabrio Zandona & Andrea Trani - 49 points

13th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 75 points

15/08/2008 5:37:56 p.m.

1:30pm Friday Update from Qingdao

Despite the talk of decent breeze in Qingdao, it hasn’t yet arrived. Sailors are returning ashore, competition delayed due to lack of wind, on the day organizers were planning to use to catch up on lost races.

The possibility of sending the fleets back out remains, so for everyone in Qingdao – it’s a waiting game again.

15/08/2008 1:15:47 p.m.

9:15am, Friday 15th August

Racing starts for Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams today.
Here's what Carl had to say ahead of day one for the Star class...

"I am starting to see what really makes this the Olympic Games. This is competition at its ruthless best. Goals are destroyed, ambitions are pressured and resolve is tested."

"The conditions here in Qingdao for the racing so far have been tough. A bad day out there for most is an extremely bad day. Regattas are just about over for some after the first day!"

"This is not just unique to Sailing, every sport has its unique element that makes it so tough. Swimmers have one chance to make it, no second race to recover from a bad turn or slow start and they are punished by .3 of a second. Weight lifters are falling short by .5kgs and probably a weight they have lifted countless times before."

"So as we approach our first race day l is led to think of how l prepare. How l can be ready to perform at my potential and leave nothing to excuse. We have had a great two years in this class winning the World Championships, North Americans and many others."

"Just as important we have been through some tough times where we have been slow, sailed badly or just been flat out unlucky. Now that seems all quite insignificant and on Friday all 16 boats start with a clean slate. Because regardless of results along the way big or small it has all been in preparation for this regatta."

"I’m happy, I’m in the best condition l have ever been in, Hamish is sailing very well and the boat is tuned to an Olympic Gold level."

"It is about seizing the moment and executing a remarkable performance."

14/08/2008 8:27:54 p.m.

4:35pm Thursday August 14th
What’s on tomorrow?

Dan Slater – Finn
Current position: 12th (after seven races)
2 races (possibly 3) – Races 8 & 9
Start time: 1300 hours
Comment: Tomorrow is Slater’s last chance to make the cut for the top ten medal race

Carl Evans & Peter Burling – Men’s 470
Current position: 10th (after six races)
2 races – Races 7 & 8
Comment: Coming off a rest day Evans and Burling race Friday and Saturday to round out the first ten races – following that if they’re in the top ten they’ll sail again on Monday 18th in the double-points medal race.

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams – Star
Opening day
2 races – Races 1 & 2
Comment: Pepper and Williams kick off their Olympic regatta with a full week ahead. The Star medal race is scheduled for Thursday 21st.

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
Current position: 13th (after three races)
2 races (possibly 3) – Races 4 & 5
Comment: The Lasers will use the reserve day to make up for lost races today. Murdoch will be hunting the consistency he achieved on day one.

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
Current position: 7th (after three races)
2 races (possibly 3) – Races 4 & 5 (& 6)
Comment: The Laser Radials will use the reserve day to make up for lost races today. Aleh has had two excellent races out of three, and will be aiming to repeat her form from yesterday.

Not racing tomorrow…

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
Current position: 3rd (after four races)

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
Current position: 6th (after four races)

14/08/2008 8:27:17 p.m.

4:30pm Thursday August 14th
No wind day in Qingdao

No sailing took place at the Olympic Sailing venue today - wind was the missing ingredient. A sea fog hung over the race course for the entire day and competitors were kept ashore with the postponement flag flying.

Of the kiwi team Dan Slater, Tom Ashley, Barbara Kendall, Jo Aleh and Andrew Murdoch had scheduled racing, today’s cancelations now putting them behind schedule. Organizers have announced that they will use tomorrow’s reserve day as an opportunity for some classes to catch up.

The Finns, who have sailed seven races so far, will sail their penultimate day of the regatta. For those not in the top ten at the conclusion of racing tomorrow, their Olympic Games comes to a close, while the top ten will go on to fight it out for the podium spots in the Finn medal race on Saturday.

New Zealander Dan Slater has some work ahead of him to make the cut for the medal race currently lying 12th overall in the fleet of 26. The kiwi has a point score of 70, with an eight point margin to 10th place.

Forecasters predict that Qingdao will produce wind tomorrow, and potentially more than has been seen on any race day so far. Talk of around 15 knots lasting as long as three to four days will please some camps, but as always it’ll be a matter of wait and see what the day brings.

The only kiwis yet to start racing are Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams in the Star class – their opening day is planned for tomorrow.

Here’s a look at the current standings…

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 14th August 2008

Laser Radial
Top seven (provisional) results after three races

1st USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 15 points (4, 5, 6)
2nd CRO Mateja Petronijevic - 22 points (8, 9, 5)
3rd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 24 points (3, 13, 8)
4th AUS Sarah Blanck - 24 points (6, 11, 7)
5th GBR Penny Clark - 25 points (2, 22, 1)
6th BEL Evi Van Acker - 27 points (1, 10, 16)
7th NZL Jo Aleh - 28 points (22, 4, 2)

Laser
Top five (provisional) results after three races

1st ITA Diego Romero - 14 points (6, 3, 5)
2nd POR Gustavo Lima - 16 points (5, 8, 3)
3rd ARG Julio Alsogaray - 23 points (1, 12, 10)
4th RUS Igor Lisovenko - 29 points (11, 14, 4)
5th SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 31 points (7, 16, 8)

13th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 47 points (2, 5, 40)

Men’s 470
Provisional top five results after six races

1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page 17 points (4, (7), 3, 3, 3, 4)
2nd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 24 points (6, 3, 8, 1, 6, (18))
3rd GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 25 points ((19), 5, 1, 4, 9, 6)
4th ITA Gabrio Zandona & Andrea Trani - 30 points (10, 4, 7, 7, 2, (21))
5th POR Ãlvaro Marinho & Miguel Nunes - 34 points (2, 8, (15), 6, 11, 7)

10th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 53 points (7, 10, 14, 12, (30), 10)

Finn
Provisional top five results after seven races

1st GBR Ben Ainslie - 19 points ((10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10, 2)
2nd USA Zach Railey - 25 points (2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8), 7)
3rd FRA Guillaume Florent - 30 points (5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6, 4)
4th SWE Daniel Birgmark - 39 points (14, (17), 1, 6, 12, 3, 3)
5th SLO Gasper Vincec - 42 points (9, 11, 6, 5, 3, (13), 8)

12th NZL Dan Slater - 70 points ((21), 19, 18, 4, 9, 7, 13)

Men’s RS:X
Provisional top five results after four races

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points (1, 3, 1, 3)
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 16 points (5, 4, 2, 5)
3rd NZL Tom Ashley - 19 points (4, 7, 7, 1)
4th FRA Julien Bontemps - 23 points (13, 1, 5, 4)
5th GBR Nick Dempsey - 25 points (11, 9, 3, 2)

Women’s RS:X
Provisional top eight results after four races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points (1, 1, 1, 3)
2nd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points (3, 5, 5, 2)
3rd AUS Jessica Crisp - 17 points (2, 4, 3, 8)
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 18 points (6, 2, 9, 1)
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points (4, 3, 11, 6)
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 35 points (12, 7, 12, 4)

14/08/2008 5:48:47 p.m.

1:44pm Thursday 14th August
Waiting for Wind

Postponements remain in place for all scheduled sailing today. Sailors have been kept ashore with as yet no sign of any “puff” at all.

Forecasters say that tomorrow will produce wind – maybe even of proportions that kiwis are accustomed to at home – 15 knots or so!!

If no racing is possible today some classes that are behind in the schedule such as the Finn, Lasers & Radials may use tomorrow to catch up.

14/08/2008 1:05:15 p.m.

9:00am Thursday 19th August
Star Class Preview

Of the nine person New Zealand sailing team the Star class are the only ones yet to start racing. Our men, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams start competition tomorrow, Friday 15th and all going to schedule, the medals will be decided the following Thursday, the 21st.

Ask anyone about the hot contenders battling it out for an Olympic medal in the Star here in China, and the list is long. Around half of the 16 boat fleet look incredibly strong on paper with previous Olympic and World Championship medals galore – perhaps none more so than Brazil’s Robert Scheidt.

Pepper and Williams remain relative rookies in the class having combined forces in 2006 when they went on to take out the Star World Championships impressing the Star fraternity. Since then they collected silver at the 2007 Olympic Test Event sailed here in Qingdao last August.

Here’s what Williams has to say ahead of his first ever Olympic Games…

“It wont be whether or not you are fast enough as l think, in preparation, just about everybody will, but whether you can transfer that performance onto the race course and then once achieving that, how long you can maintain that performance through the pressure, long days and tactics.”

“No more time for development - that work is done now its about executing it which l believe we are truly ready for!”

Despite their significant achievements they’re up against some very stiff competition, notwithstanding the fickle nuances of the venue itself. Here’s a look at their credentials and those of their main rivals…

New Zealand’s representatives…

Hamish Pepper & Carl Williams, NZL
HAMISH
Yacht Club: Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Age: 37 years
Weight: 82kg
Height: 1.76m
ISAF Ranking:
CARL
Yacht Club: Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Age: 27 years
Weight: 110kg
Height: 1.95m
ISAF Ranking:
FACTS
2006 World Champions
New to Star in 2006
Silver medal at 2007 Olympic Test Event

Some top contenders…

Robert Scheidt & Bruno Prada, BRA
ROBERT
Yacht Club: Yacht club Santo Amaro, SP, Brazil
Age: 35 years
Weight: 78kg
Height: 1.88m
ISAF Ranking: 6
FACTS
Star World Champion in 2007, bronze at ’08 Star Worlds
Winner of 2007 Olympic Test Event
Huge Laser career including…
Olympic Gold in Atlanta ’96, silver in Sydney ’00 and gold in Athens ‘04
Seven time world champ in the Laser (plus more medals)
BRUNO
Yacht Club: Yacht Club Paulista, Iate Clube Ilhabela
Age: 37 years
Weight: 100kg
Height: 1.85m
ISAF Ranking: 6
FACTS
Former Finn sailor prior to joining Scheidt in the Star in 2006

Xavier Rohart & Pascal Rambeau, FRA
XAVIER
Yacht Club: La PELLE Marseille
Age: 40 years
Weight: 100kg
Height: 1.88m
ISAF Ranking: 8
FACTS
Moved from Finn to Star in 2002
China will be Rohart’s 3rd Olympics – bronze in Star in ’04, 5th in Finn in ‘00
5 Star World Champ medals including two World titles in ’03 & ‘05
3rd at the 2007 Olympic Test Event
PASCAL
Yacht Club: Rochelaises, La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes, France
Age: 36 years
Weight: 100kg
Height: 1.94m
ISAF Ranking: 8

Iain Percy & Andrew Simpson, GBR
IAIN
Yacht Club: Weston Sailing Club
Age: 32 years
Weight: 92kg
Height: 1.85m
ISAF Ranking: 12
FACTS
Laser (’96) to Finn (’97 – ’00) to Star (’07 to now)
Olympic Gold in the Finn in Sydney 2000 (6th in the Star in Athens ’04)
Star World Champion in ’02, plus bronze at World Champs in ’03, ’04, ’05 & ‘06
6th at the 2007 Olympic Test Event
ANDREW
Yacht Club:
Age: 31 years
Weight: 104kg
Height: 1.85m
ISAF Ranking: 12
FACTS
Former Finn sailor including a bronze medal at ’03 World Champs

Mateusz Kusznierewicz & Domink Zycki, POL
MATEUSZ
Yacht Club: Yacht Klub Polski Warszawa
Age: 33 years
Weight: 100kg
Height: 1.93m
ISAF Ranking: 1
FACTS
Finn (’96 – ’04) to Star (’06 – now)
Reigning 2008 Star World Champion
This will be his 4th Olympic Gamesw
Olympic Gold in Finn in Atlanta ’96, 4th in Finn in Sydney ’00, Bronze in Finn in Athens ‘04
5th place at the 2007 Olympic Test Event
DOMINK
Yacht Club: unknown
Age: 34 years
Weight: unknown
Height: unknown
ISAF Ranking: 1

Flavio Marazzi & Enrico de Maria, SUI
FLAVIO
Yacht Club: Thunersee Yacht Club & Gstaad Yacht Club
Age: 30 years
Weight: 100kg
Height: 1.91m
ISAF Ranking: 2
FACTS
In the Star ’99-now
This will be Marazzi’s 3rd Olympics – 15th in Sydney ’00, 4th in Athens ‘04
4th at the 2007 Olympic Test Event
ENRICO
Yacht Club: Yachtclub Rapperswil, Switzerland
Age: 31 years
Weight: 99kg
Height: 1.9m
ISAF Ranking: 2

Fredrik Loof & Anders Ekstrom, SWE
FREDRIK
Yacht Club: unknown
Age: 38 years
Weight: 97kg
Height: 1.9m
ISAF Ranking: 3
FACTS
Finn class ’92-’00 to the Star class ’01-now
This will be Loof’s 3rd Olympics
5th in Finn Atlanta ’96, Bronze in Finn in Sydney ’00, 12th in Star in Athens ‘04
Star World Champion in ‘04
Two-time Finn Gold Cup winner in ’97 & ’99, plus further medals
8th at the Olympic 2007 Test Event
ANDERS
Yacht Club: unknown
Age: 27 years
Weight: 97kg
Height: 1.9m
ISAF Ranking: 3

Schedule for the Star Class

Friday 15th – 2 races (Course A)
Saturday 16th – 2 races (Course E)
Sunday 17th – 2 races (Course E)
Monday 18th – Reserve Day
Tuesday 19th – 2 races (Course E)
Wednesday 20th – 2 races (Course E)
Thursday 21st – Medal Race (Course A)

13/08/2008 10:12:34 p.m.

6:15pm Wednesday 13th August

What's on tomorrow in Qingdao?...

Dan Slater – Finn
2 races – Races 8 & 9
Course area E
Start time:1300 hours

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
2 races – Races 4 & 5
Course area C
Start time: 1300 hours

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
2 races – Races 4 & 5
Course area C
Start time: 1300 hours

Tom Ashley – Men’s RS:X
2 races – Races 5 & 6
Course area B
Start time: 1300 hours

Barbara Kendall – Women’s RS:X
2 races – Races 5 & 6
Course area B
Start time: 1300 hours

13/08/2008 10:10:52 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap: 13th August 2008

Very light winds challenge sailors

Light winds meant delays, some cancelled racing and tough conditions for the kiwis in action at the Olympic sailing regatta today. Men’s 470 sailed two races, while the lack of breeze dictated that the Finns, Radials and Lasers only managed one race apiece.

In the overall placings Tom Ashley stands as the best placed kiwi lying third overall in the men’s windsurfing. Both Ashley and Kendall enjoyed a rest day today and were probably pleased to sit out what appears to be one of the more challenging days, conditions wise, of the regatta so far.

A highlight today was a second place for Jo Aleh in the Laser Radial which saw her climb up the standings from 11th place to 7th. However, now only three races in, there’s a long way to go for both Aleh and Murdoch who lost his lead in the Lasers after a disappointing race today.

The Laser sailor is philosophical at the end of the day well aware that some other top contenders also came up against the roll of the dice that Qingdao’s light winds present. He now lies 13th overall and along with Aleh in the Radial’s will be back on the water tomorrow.

Evans and Burling sailed two races today, and now sit in 10th place in the Men’s 470, while Dan Slater is in 13th on the leader board after one race today for the Finns.

Laser Radial

The sea breeze took longer to satisfy officials on course area C where the Lasers were racing today on day two of their regatta. They only managed one race and have now completed three.

Jo Aleh was the best performer of the kiwi team today trailing Great Britain’s Penny Clark around the course just a few second behind the Brit who had the lead for the entire race. Aleh came home in 2nd place which sees her take a climb up the leader board from 11th overall into 7th overall.

Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA continues to lead the standings in the 28 strong Radial fleet showing consistency pays off. She was 6th in today’s race and leads with 15 points in total from Petronijevic in second seven points adrift.

The Radial fleet will be back on the water for more racing tomorrow.

Laser Radial
Top seven (provisional) results after three races

1st USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 15 points (4, 5, 6)
2nd CRO Mateja Petronijevic - 22 points (8, 9, 5)
3rd LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 24 points (3, 13, 8)
4th AUS Sarah Blanck - 24 points (6, 11, 7)
5th GBR Penny Clark - 25 points (2, 22, 1)
6th BEL Evi Van Acker - 27 points (1, 10, 16)
7th NZL Jo Aleh - 28 points (22, 4, 2)

Laser

Andrew Murdoch wasn’t able to repeat the form of his opening day yesterday and has slipped from the leading spot after a finishing towards the back of the fleet in race three sailed today. He now lies 13th overall in the standings - Diego Romero of Italy taking over the lead.

With just three races now on the board the Laser fleet has a long way to go. They’re back on the water tomorrow for another two races.

Laser
Top five (provisional) results after three races

1st ITA Diego Romero - 14 points (6, 3, 5)
2nd POR Gustavo Lima - 16 points (5, 8, 3)
3rd ARG Julio Alsogaray - 23 points (1, 12, 10)
4th RUS Igor Lisovenko - 29 points (11, 14, 4)
5th SWE Rasmus Myrgren - 31 points (7, 16, 8)

13th NZL Andrew Murdoch - 47 points (2, 5, 40)

Men’s 470

Race officials made one general recall in getting the Men’ 470 fleet underway in the first race of the day, and unfortunately the kiwis found themselves one of four boats black flagged in the race start proper. This effectively put them out of the running in this race, the fifth in their series, an incident which the young pair will clock up to experience.

They proved their fighting spirit in their second race of the day - the 17 year olds were deep in the fleet up the first leg rounding mark one in 24th place. They went one to recover from there climbing up to a 10th place finish in the race which was sailed in a very light five to six knots of wind.

The fleet has now completed six races in their ten races series to decide who proceed s into the medal race. After today’s performance Evans and Burling are now lying in 10th place overall, but will be aiming to maintain consistent results after their hiccup in race five early this afternoon.

Reigning world champs and hot favourites in the class Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page of Australia retain their lead placing 3rd and 4th in today’s racing.

Men’s 470
Provisional top five results after six races

1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page 17 points (4, (7), 3, 3, 3, 4)
2nd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 24 points (6, 3, 8, 1, 6, (18))
3rd GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 25 points ((19), 5, 1, 4, 9, 6)
4th ITA Gabrio Zandona & Andrea Trani - 30 points (10, 4, 7, 7, 2, (21))
5th POR Ãlvaro Marinho & Miguel Nunes - 34 points (2, 8, (15), 6, 11, 7)

10th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 53 points (7, 10, 14, 12, (30), 10)

Finn

Just one race was possible on the Finn course today due to the marginal wind conditions. Dan Slater finished 13th and now lies 13th overall in the standings.

Ben Ainslie (GBR) has consolidated his lead over Zach Railey (USA) by finishing 2nd in today’s race. He extended his leading margin over Railey and is now six points clear.

If conditions allow the Finn fleet will be back on the water again tomorrow.

Finn
Provisional top five results after seven races

1st GBR Ben Ainslie - 19 points ((10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10, 2)
2nd USA Zach Railey - 25 points (2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8), 7)
3rd FRA Guillaume Florent - 30 points (5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6, 4)
4th SWE Daniel Birgmark - 39 points (14, (17), 1, 6, 12, 3, 3)
5th SLO Gasper Vincec - 42 points (9, 11, 6, 5, 3, (13), 8)

12th NZL Dan Slater - 70 points ((21), 19, 18, 4, 9, 7, 13)

In other standings…

Men’s RS:X
Provisional top five results after four races

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points (1, 3, 1, 3)
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 16 points (5, 4, 2, 5)
3rd NZL Tom Ashley - 19 points (4, 7, 7, 1)
4th FRA Julien Bontemps - 23 points (13, 1, 5, 4)
5th GBR Nick Dempsey - 25 points (11, 9, 3, 2)

Women’s RS:X
Provisional top eight results after four races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points (1, 1, 1, 3)
2nd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points (3, 5, 5, 2)
3rd AUS Jessica Crisp - 17 points (2, 4, 3, 8)
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 18 points (6, 2, 9, 1)
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points (4, 3, 11, 6)
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 35 points (12, 7, 12, 4)

13/08/2008 6:36:29 p.m.

Update from Qingdao
2:30pm Wednesday 13th August

Photo by Gettys: Andrew Murdoch in action yesterday

Carl Evans and Peter Burling found themselves one of four boats black flagged in race five for the Men’s 470s effectively putting them out of the race. Now at the five race mark they discard their worst score, that being from this morning’s race – and now lie 14th overall in the fleet of 29 boats.

For those in New Zealand TVNZ intend to screen action from course A (470s) tonight at 10:45pm.

Elsewhere on the race track – the Lasers, Radials and Finns are postponed waiting for wind. It’s a hazy day in Qingdao and the sea breeze hasn’t as yet appeared today.

12/08/2008 10:17:17 p.m.

What’s on tomorrow…

Dan Slater – Finn class
2 races (Race 7 & Race 8)
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area E

Carl Evans & Peter Burling – Men’s 470
2 races (Race 5 & Race 6)
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area A

Andrew Murdoch – Laser
2 races (Race 3 & Race 4)
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area C

Jo Aleh – Laser Radial
2 races (Race 3 & Race 4)
Start time: 1300 hours
Course area C

12/08/2008 10:16:54 p.m.

Olympic Sailing Daily Wrap
6:30pm 12th August 2008

Day four of the Olympic Sailing Regatta saw kiwis compete in the Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X Men and Women, and the Men’s 470 classes. While light winds saw delays to the start of racing all fleets were able to complete two races as planned.

There were some highlights for the kiwis on the water today including a strong opening day for Andrew Murdoch in the Lasers who has the lead spot. This was the first day of competition for the 26 year old Olympic debutant from Kerikeri, Northland, and the series has a long way to go yet with another eight races planned over the coming week before the Laser medal race on Tuesday.

Another highlight was a bullet for Tom Ashley in his fourth race of the series placing him provisionally in 3rd overall.

Laser…

First time Olympian Andrew Murdoch has opened his Olympic regatta with two solid races enough to give him the lead on a day where some top contenders suffered.

The Laser’s were the first to start racing today, race one kicking off on course area A at around 1:30pm in 6 knots of wind from 130 degrees. Argentinean representative Julio Alsogaray broke away to lead the pack with Murdoch in hot pursuit behind him. By the top mark Alsogaray had just under half a minute over the kiwi with a similar margin back to the chasing pack behind.

Both the Argentine and Murdoch extended away from the fleet as the race unfolded and the kiwi crossed in second place in his first Olympic race.

In race two Murdoch came home in fifth place giving him a points total of seven at the end of the day and a two point leading margin over Diana Daniela Raponi of Italy on nine points.

The Laser’s are back on the water tomorrow for another two races.

Laser
Top five (provisional) results after two races

1st NZL Andrew Murdoch - 7 points (2, 5)
2nd ITA Diana Daniela Raponi - 9 points (6, 3)
3rd ARG Julio Alsogaray - 13 points (1, 12)
4th POR Gustavo Lima - 13 points (5, 8)
5th CYP Pavlos Kontides - 15 points (8, 7)

Laser Radial

Jo Aleh’s day was mixed, as it was for many sailors in the light conditions. In her first race of the series she came home in 22nd place in the fleet of 28 Laser Radials, but came back fighting in race two to record a 4th place on the water.

Overall at the end of day one the 22 years old Aucklander sits in 11th place, while Anna Tunnicliffe of the USA has the lead ahead of Evi Van Acker (BEL) and reigning world champ Sarah Stayaert of France.

Laser Radial
Top five (provisional) results after two races

1st USA Anna Tunnicliffe - 9 points (4, 5)
2nd BEL Evi Van Acker - 11 points (1, 10)
3rd FRA Sarah Steyaert - 12 points (11, 1)
4th LTU Gintare Volungeviciute - 16 points (3, 13)
5th AUS Sarah Blanck - 17 points (6, 11)

11th NZL Jo Aleh - 26 points (22, 4)

Men’s RS:X Windsurfing…

Tom Ashley put in another solid day on the water, consistent in the challenging light airs of the 2008 Olympic sailing venue. In race three for the Men’s RS:X he was 7th and then followed that up with his best race yet – a win.

From the outset of race four Ashley was in the hunt for the gun at the finish line, rounding mark one 12 seconds behind the leader, and then have the lead by mark three going on to secure the race win by a 22 second margin.

Today’s performance on what was day two for the Men’s RS:X has put Ashley in third overall. Shahar Zubari of Israel, who won bronze at the World Champs earlier this year has the lead with a scorecard to date that reads, 1st, 3rd, 1st, 3rd.

Zubari has 8 points, Kin Yin Chan of Hong Kong lies second on 16 points, with Ashley not far behind on 19 points.

Men’s RS:X
Provisional top five results after four races

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 8 points (1, 3, 1, 3)
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 16 points (5, 4, 2, 5)
3rd NZL Tom Ashley - 19 points (4, 7, 7, 1)
4th FRA Julien Bontemps - 23 points (13, 1, 5, 4)
5th GBR Nick Dempsey - 25 points (11, 9, 3, 2)

Women’s RS:X Windsurfing…

Barbara Kendall has also improved her overall standing in the Women’s RS:X fleet who were subject to start delays on course area B due to light winds.

Kendall was 12th in race three and then 4th in race four which saw her gain two places to now lie 6th overall after four races. Local sailor Jian Yin was in hot form once again with a win and a 3rd in today’s racing consolidating her lead on the women’s RS:X fleet.

Women’s RS:X
Provisional top eight results after four races

1st CHN Jian Yin - 6 points (1, 1, 1, 3)
2nd ESP Marina Alabau - 15 points (3, 5, 5, 2)
3rd AUS Jessica Crisp - 17 points (2, 4, 3, 8)
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 18 points (6, 2, 9, 1)
5th GBR Bryony Shaw - 24 points (4, 3, 11, 6)
6th NZL Barbara Kendall - 35 points (12, 7, 12, 4)

Men’s 470

Over on the Men’s 470 course Carl Evans and Peter Burling slipped from 7th place back to 11th after what was day two of the regatta for them. 14th in race three and then 12th in race four the young kiwis find themselves in 11th on a tight knit leaderboard with only three points between them and 7th place.

Aussies Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page who took the gold in the 2007 Olympic Test event have the lead in the fleet of 29 boats after posting two 3rds in racing today.

Men’s 470
Provisional top seven results after four races

1st AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page - 17 points (4, 7, 3, 3)
2nd FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 18 points (6, 3, 8, 1)
3rd ESP Barreiros Onan & Aaron Sarmiento - 25 points (8, 2, 6, 9)
4th ITA Gabrio Zandona & Andrea Trani - 28 points (10, 4, 7, 7)
5th GBR Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield - 29 points (19, 5, 1, 4)

11th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 43 points (7, 10, 14, 12)

Finn…

The Finn class wasn’t on the water today, enjoying a rest day. They resume racing tomorrow.

Finn
Provisional top five results after day three

1st GBR Ben Ainslie 17 points ((10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10)
2nd USA Zach Railey 18 points (2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8))
3rd FRA Guillaume Florent - 26 points (5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6)
4th CAN Christopher Cook - 33 points (8, 3, 7, 10, (23), 5)
5th SLO Gasper Vincec - 34 points (9, 11, 6, 5, 3 (13))

13th NZL Dan Slater - 57 points ((21), 19, 18, 4, 9, 7)

12/08/2008 3:28:40 p.m.

11:30am Tuesday 12th August
What’s on in Qingdao today?

For those in New Zealand… watch for coverage on TVNZ tonight from 9:05-10pm NZT from course A. The planned schedule (subject to change) is for coverage of the Laser class opening race followed by coverage of race two for the Laser Radials.

If the weather allows the kiwi’s in action include…

Barbara Kendall: RS:X Women
Two races: Races 3 & 4
Course area C
Start time: 1300 hours
Current overall standing: 8th

Tom Ashley: RS:X Men
Two races: Races 3 & 4
Course area C
Start time: 1300 hours
Current overall standing: 4th

Carl Evans & Peter Burling: Men’s 470
Two races: Races 3 & 4
Course area D
Start time: 1300 hours
Current overall standing: 7th

Andrew Murdoch: Laser
Two races: Races 1 & 2
Course area A
Start time: 1300 hours
First day of competition

Jo Aleh: Laser Radial
Two races: Races 1 & 2
Course area A
Start time: 1300 hours
First day of competition

12/08/2008 8:07:36 a.m.

Quick quotes from Tom Ashley after day one...

“First day of racing today. Finally! It was great to get underway.”

“7-10 knots, very unstable breeze with lots of current and big waves.”

“Conditions were very tricky and extremely physical, and a lot of guys had at least one bad race, so I am very happy to have come away with two solid races.”

“I made it a little hard on myself with some conservative starts and first beats, but my first downwinds were both awesome and I got back into the races nicely. I wasn't competing for race wins- my focus was on consistency and not making big mistakes as these conditions really punish errors.”

“I'm 4th overall after today. Doesn't mean much yet as we're only one sixth of the way through the event. Looking forward to more racing tomorrow. Looks like a light one.”

11/08/2008 10:03:23 p.m.

Daily Wrap
6:00pm 11th August 2008

Day three of the Olympic Sailing Regatta is now complete with another full day of racing being run off the coast of Qingdao, China.

Windsurfers Tom Ashley and Barbara Kendall sailed two races a piece to open their series, as did Carl Evans and Peter Burling in the Men’s 470. Finn sailor Dan Slater completed races five and six and now has a rest day tomorrow.

Men’s RS:X Windsurfing…

It was a solid start for Tom Ashley who opened with a 4th and a 7th on day one of competition sailed on course area A just off the spectator lined main break wall at the sailing venue. His results put him provisionally in 4th place overall in the fleet of 35 windsurfers.

In race one Ashley rounded mark one in 11th place and went on to make up ground as the race unfolded and cross in fourth place behind Zubari (ISR), Wang (CHN) and Oberemko (UKR).

The eight knot breeze shifted direction slightly and the sailors waited out a short delay while officials reset the course for race two. It was another solid race for Ashley who finished 7th to round out day one of the men’s RS:X racing. The kiwi is just one point adrift of third place.

Bronze medalist at this year’s World Championships in Auckland, Shahar Zubari of Israel leads the fleet with a win and a 3rd in today’s racing giving him a total of four points. Hong Kong sailor King Yin Chan also opened well holding second overall on nine points, while local boy Aichen Wang (CHN) has third place on ten points.

Men’s RS:X
Provisional top five results after day one

1st ISR Shahar Zubari - 4 points (1, 3)
2nd HKG King Yin Chan - 9 points (5, 4)
3rd CHN Aichen Wang - 10 points (2, 8)
4th NZL Tom Ashley - 11 points (4, 7)
5th GRE Nikolas Kaklamanakis - 12 points (10, 2)

Women’s RS:X Windsurfing…

Over in the women’s fleet the local spectators watched on as the Chinese sailor Jian Yin took two bullets on day one of competition, to hold the overall lead at this early stage in the event. Behind her the usual suspects line up in the top ten Barbara Kendall in the mix in eighth place overall at the end of day one.

The light and sometimes fluky wind off Qingdao makes for physically demanding sailing from the windsurfers and today exemplified that. In race one decisions early on in the race made all the difference with the first three around the top mark China, Australia and Spain holding their positions to the finish. Kendall finished 12th in that race.

In race two Kendall came home in 8th place giving her a points total of 20, and eighth place overall.

Both Kendall and Ashley are back on the water tomorrow with another two races on the schedule. Medal races for the RS:X are scheduled for Wednesday 20th.

Women’s RS:X
Provisional top eight results after day one

1st CHN Jian Yin - 2 points (1, 1)
2nd AUS Jessica Crisp - 6 points (2, 4)
3rd GBR Bryony Shaw - 7 points (4, 3)
4th ITA Alessandra Sensini - 8 points (6, 2)
5th ESP Marina Alabau - 8 points (3, 5)
6th UKR Olga Maslivets - 11 points (5, 6)
7th FRA Faustine Merret - 15 points (8, 7)
8th NZL Barbara Kendall - 20 points (12, 8)

Finn…

Dan Slater continued to claw his way back up the Finn placings starting the day in 16th place the kiwi has lifted to 13th overall with a 9th in race five and a 7th in race six. He now discards his worst result of the series, his opening race and has a points total of 50.

Ben Ainslie of Great Britain has climbed into the lead overtaking Zach Railey of USA who has slipped to second place. The Finn fleet will enjoy a rest day tomorrow following which two races are planned for both Wednesday and Thursday. The Finn medal race for the top ten placed sailors will take place on Saturday.

Finn
Provisional top five results after day three

1st GBR Ben Ainslie 17 points ((10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10)
2nd USA Zach Railey 18 points (2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8))
3rd FRA Guillaume Florent - 26 points (5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6)
4th CAN Christopher Cook - 33 points (8, 3, 7, 10, (23), 5)
5th SLO Gasper Vincec - 34 points (9, 11, 6, 5, 3 (13))

13th NZL Dan slater - 57 points ((21), 19, 18, 4, 9, 7)

Men’s 470

The first of the Olympic debutants amongst the kiwi team, Carl Evans and Peter Burling sailed well on day one of competition in the men’s 470 class. It was a tricky day out on the 470 course which made for mixed results all round, no one crew dominant on day one.

Evans and Burling were 7th in race one demonstrating that they know how to make the most of opportunities as they’re presented. 19th at mark one the young 17 year olds fought their way back up through the fleet and finished in 7th place.

In race two sailed in six knots of wind, they climbed through to lie fourth rounding the final mark only to slip back and record a 10th place finish. In the overall standings they lie in 7th place in the 29 boat fleet at this early stage in their regatta.

French pair Charbonnier and Bausset have the early lead with reigning world champs, Wilmot and Page of Australia lying 4th.

Men’s 470
Provisional top seven results after day one

1st FRA Nicolas Charbonnier & Olivier Bausset - 9 points (6, 3)
2nd ESP Barreiros Onan & Aaron Sarmiento - 10 points (8, 2)
3rd POR Álvaro Marinho & Miguel Nunes - 10 points (2, 8)
4th AUS Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page - 11 points (4, 7)
5th SLO Karlo Hmeljak & Mitja Nevecny - 14 points (3, 11)
6th ITA Gabrio Zandona & Andrea Trani - 14 points (10, 4)
7th NZL Carl Evans & Peter Burling - 17 points (7, 10)

11/08/2008 6:32:25 p.m.

2 o’clock Update from Qingdao

Race one for the windsurfers is just complete – Tom Ashley recording a 4th in his opening race, and Barbara Kendall 12th in race one for the women. Race two for the windsurfers will follow shortly.

Carl Evans and Peter Burling have opened their Olympic regatta with a 7th place in the Men’s 470 class. Rounding mark one in 19th place they fought their way back up the fleet to finish in 7th place.

Dan Slater recorded a 9th place in race five of the Finn class continuing his climb back up the overall standings. He now lies 14th overall.

Both the 470’s and finns will also sail another race today.

11/08/2008 2:21:40 p.m.

10:30am Monday 11th August
What’s on today in Qingdao?

Racing starts today for four more New Zealand sailors with the Men’s and Women’s wind surfing and the Men’s 470 set to get underway. Dan Slater will sail races five and six in the Finns.

Windsurfers Barbara Kendall and Tom Ashley will be on the water for day one of competition in the Men’s and Women’s RS:X events – both fleets are scheduled to sail two races each starting at 1 o’clock on course A off the main break wall at Qingdao.

The windsurfers, like the majority of other classes, will sail a ten race series to decide the top ten who progress to the final deciding medal race. The windsurfing medal races will be sailed ten days from now on Wednesday 20th August, with four rest or reserve days built into the programme.

New Zealand’s youngest ever sailors to compete at the Olympic Games, Carl Evans and Peter Burling will take to the waters off Qingdao tomorrow for the start of the Men’s 470 event. The double-handed dinghy class will be contested by 29 entries each representing a different nation.

Relative newcomers to the Olympic 470 class the young kiwis are in China up against the top 470 sailors in the world, all with significantly more time on the race track. The 2008 Olympic Games will be a learning experience for Evans and Burling who are both just 17 years old, and had to take time off school to compete here in China.

The 470 medal race is scheduled for Monday 18th August.

MEN’S RS:X WINDSURFING
New Zealand’s representative:
Tom Ashley, NZL
Yacht Club: Takapuna Boating Club
Age: 24 years
Weight: 70kg
Height: 1.88m
ISAF Ranking: 9
Facts:
•China will be Ashley’s 2nd Olympic Games
•10th place at the 2004 Olympic Games
•Current World Champion, Takapuna ’08, plus silver medal at WC ‘06
•Winner of the 2007 Olympic Test Event
•Numerous Grade 1 wins in ’07 & ‘08

WOMEN’S RS:X WINDSURFING
New Zealand’s Representative
Barbara Kendall, NZL
Yacht Club: Bucklands Beach, Auckland, New Zealand
Age: 40 years (Turns 41 on 30 August)
Weight: 58kg
Height: 1.68m
ISAF Ranking: 7
Facts:
•China will be Kendall’s 5th Olympic Games
•Gold in Barcelona ’92, Silver in Atlanta ’96, Bronze in Sydney ’00, 5th in Athens ‘04
•8 World Championship Medals including 3 gold. Silver in ’08
•6th at 2007 Olympic Test Event

MEN’S 470
Carl Evans & Peter Burling, NZL
CARL
Yacht Club: Kohimarama Yacht Club
Age: 17 years
Weight: 63kg
Height: 1.75m
ISAF Ranking: 14
PETER
Yacht Club: Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club
Age: 17 years
Weight: 74kg
Height: 1.85m
ISAF Ranking: 14
Facts:
•Double 420 World Champions (’06 & ’07)
•Youngest sailors to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games
•Switched to 470 in 2007

10/08/2008 9:50:03 p.m.

6pm, 10th August 2008
Olympic Sailing Day Two for Finns

The Finn class completed a further two races today at the 2008 Olympic Games off Qingdao, China, and have now sailed four races in the eleven race series. Kiwi, Dan Slater returned his best result in race four crossing the line in 4th place and improving his overall standing.

Lying 22nd overall at the start of day two Slater has climbed up the leader board and is now provisionally sitting in 16th place overall.

Racing started on schedule today, the Finn fleet sharing course area E with the Yngling fleet, and enjoying a south easterly breeze which stayed in at around eight knots for the afternoon.

Race four got underway at 2:50pm local time and Dan Slater rounded the first mark in 10th place 42 seconds behind the leader. By the bottom mark he managed to overtake six sailors and rounded the mark in fourth place, going on cross the finish in fourth.

Young American sailor Zach Railey has climbed up to lead the Finn standings after a solid day on the water returning two second places. Three time Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie moved up into second place behind Railey – his results from racing today including a 4th and a win.

Slater and the Finn fleet are back on the water again tomorrow and predictions are that conditions will allow for racing as scheduled. The Finns will sail a further two races following which there is a reserve day planned.

FINN RESULTS
Provisional Top Five Overall Standings after day two

1st USA Zach Railey (2, 5, 2, 2) - 11 points
2nd GBR Ben Ainslie (10, 1, 4, 1) - 16 points
3rd CAN Christopher Cook (8, 3, 7, 10) - 28 points
4th SLO Gasper Vincec (9, 11, 6, 5) - 31 points
5th ESP Rafa Trujillo Villar (12, 4, 3, 14) - 33 points

16th NZL Dan Slater (21, 19, 18, 4) - 62 points

10/08/2008 5:28:50 p.m.

1320 hours 10th August 2008
Racing just underway on day two

Race three for the Finn class and Dan Slater of New Zealand has just started on Course D off Qingdao. Current conditions: 8-9 knots south easterly.

10/08/2008 1:35:57 p.m.

Sunday in Qingdao
9:30am update

Kiwi in action: Dan Slater, Day two Finn class (currently lying 22nd)
Scheduled race start: 1300 hours
On the schedule: 2 fleet races (of around 40 – 60 minute’s duration)
Current conditions: Sunny with a light haze, light south easterly breeze

More to come as the day unfolds…

9/08/2008 9:32:03 p.m.

Saturday 9th August
Slater in 22nd at the end of day one

Racing commenced at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta today in Qingdao, China. Kiwi Dan Slater was on the water in the 26 strong heavy weight dinghy class – the Finn.

Slater sits in 22nd place overall at the end of day one after placing 21st and then 19th in today’s challenging light air conditions. While Slater didn’t perhaps return the results he was looking for on day one – the experienced kiwi will know that it is early days for the Finn fleet with a further five days of racing over the coming week.

Rafal Szukiel of Poland has the overall lead after the first two races of the eleven race series, with one of the youngest in the fleet Zach Railey of USA holding second place in the standings. Hot favourite Ben Ainslie lies third.

9/08/2008 7:15:42 p.m.

Saturday 9th August
Finn Race One: Dan Slater underway

Racing commenced at the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta today in Qingdao, China. Kiwi Dan Slater opened his campaign with an 18th place in a light wind race which tested the most seasoned of Finn sailors.

After one delayed start due to lack of wind the first race of the 2008 Games got underway at around 1:30pm local time in a south easterly breeze of around six knots which fell away to four knots as the race concluded. Hoegh-Christensen of Denmark took the early lead rounding mark one first, but the formidable force of Ben Ainslie took over the lead soon after.

Ainslie looked for much of the opener like he was going to start with a bullet, but the race was somewhat turned on it’s head in the final leg and the gold medal favourite representing Great Britain let nine boats slip past him to finish 10th.

It was 35 year old Emilios Papathanasiou of Greece who took the gun in race one, scooping victory on the last leg and starting his fourth Olympic Games in dream fashion.

While Slater of New Zealand didn’t perhaps return the result he was looking for in race one – the experienced kiwi will know that it is early days for the Finn fleet with another race on the schedule this afternoon, and then a further five days of racing over the coming week.

9/08/2008 3:42:18 p.m.

Saturday 9th August
10:45am Press Briefing

Current conditions in Qingdao

Air temperature: 25-28 degrees
Wind direction: South Easterly
Wind strength: 4-7 knots
Predicted current: Current predicted to change direction from westerly through to easterly around 12:30/1:00pm today at which time it will be at it’s lowest. Maximum current of around 1.3 knots is predicted for later today.

Today’s Racing

The Finn and Yngling classes are scheduled to race today, both sailing on Course A directly in front of the break wall and media centre. Starting time is 1300 hours with the Ynglings set to start first followed by race one for the Finns. New Zealand is represented in the Finn – by Dan Slater, but not in the Yngling class.

9/08/2008 2:31:16 p.m.

Opening Ceremony viewing from under the plastic palms!

Last night members of the New Zealand team remaining in Qingdao settled in to view the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games over a meal.

The chosen venue – a restaurant at the local hotel which provided one of those experiences that perhaps could only be possible in China – amidst plastic palms, complete with plastic bananas and wait staff wearing cowboy hats. Normally attentive, the locals were so excited and enthralled once the opening festivities got underway on the big screen that the supply of food and beverage became scarce.

With no one in the group familiar with the Chinese alphabet it became obvious that there was no way to predict when the New Zealand team would march into the stadium and allow a brief few seconds to try and spot the sailors. Direct communications with the team in Beijing confirmed that they were still in the ‘holding pen’ and it could be a while yet. Finally, around 11pm local time, they emerged – WELL DONE to those who lasted the distance at home in New Zealand!

Sailors and support that went to Beijing for the opening ceremony will now travel back to Qingdao, most returning today. A Launching Ceremony is planned in Qingdao for this evening starting at 7:30pm.

8/08/2008 8:14:14 p.m.

Friday 8th August 2008

Tomorrow Dan Slater is on the water for the first day of racing in the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta. All going well the Finn class will sail two races tomorrow the first set to start at 1pm with the same schedule for both Sunday and Monday.

Facts on the Finn:

• Total fleet: 26 sailors (each representing a different nation)
• Hot favorite: Ben Ainslie, Great Britain (double Olympic Gold medalist)
• Medal race scheduled Saturday 16th August

New Zealand’s representative:

• Dan Slater, 32 years old
• Represents the Murrays Bay Sailing Club, Auckland
• Silver medalist the 2008 Finn Gold Cup (World Championship)

Weather Forecast for Saturday:

• South easterly winds reaching a maximum 4 knots around the middle of the day
• Air temperature high of 27 degrees
• Partly cloudy

7/08/2008 7:49:10 p.m.

Thursday 7th August 2008

The long awaited opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is less than 24 hours away.

The majority of the kiwi sailing team including Barbara Kendall, Carl Evans, Peter Burling, Hamish Pepper, Carl Williams, Jo Aleh and Andrew Murdoch have all travelled from Qingdao to join the festivities in Beijing. The opportunity to march into the “Birds Nest” for the opening of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad is of course a once in a lifetime for these sailors and the scheduled start to racing in some classes allows them the time to take part and return to Qingdao in plenty of time.

No such luxury for Finn sailor Dan Slater who starts racing on Saturday 9th – the day immediately following the opening ceremony. Slater is on the water off Qingdao right now where he and his rivals will line up in the Finn practice race if wind allows. It’s warm and steamy at the sailing venue and so far today the wind has peaked at 3 knots from the south east.

4/08/2008 8:39:37 a.m.

Monday 4 August 2008

Windsurfer Tom Ashley has now been in Qingdao just over a week, travelling to China from his European base in Valencia, Spain. Here’s what he had to say over the weekend…

“The trip from Valencia to China went off with minimal stress. It was quite a long day, however, as I started with a three hour drive to Barcelona, followed by a two hour flight to Frankfurt, an eleven hour marathon to Shanghai, and another short connecting flight to Qingdao. Happily, all my gear arrived on time and in one piece, and I was greeted at the airport in Qingdao by a small legion of Olympic volunteers who helped me get my many bags of equipment onto the bus and to my hotel.”

“The Olympic Sailing venue here in Qingdao is incredible. It is its own world, with accommodation, food and sailing facilities all within the same compound. Most of the sailors are staying in the enormous 5-star hotel that the organisers have built, but I have decided to stay in a different hotel a couple of kilometres from the Venue. I am really happy here- it's great to have my own space and I enjoy the feeling of leaving the sailing venue each day rather than living with all the other competitors and their Olympic-related stress and excitement.”

“As far as the sailing goes, the last few days have been pretty cool. We have had a typhoon passing through which brought us fantastic sailing conditions- 15-25 knot winds and huge waves. Today was a bit more normal, however, with 4-6 knots of breeze, strong current and a bit of fog.”

“I can't wait to do some racing!! Looking forward to getting into it.”

1/08/2008 2:16:03 p.m.

Friday 1 August 2008: Countdown in Qingdao

The New Zealand Olympic Sailing team is in the final countdown to competition with almost the entire sailing, coaching and support team now on site in Qingdao. Andrew Murdoch is the last of the sailors to fly in arriving on Saturday the 2nd.

Predictably, it’s hot, and the winds are light.

The team has set up camp in the boat park with the kiwi’s two containers (one “workshop”, one “lounge”) sandwiched between the Australian and American team bases.

“Both containers are set up and ready to use,” reports Rod Davis from Qingdao. “Everything came though well, so no damage and both the tool shop and lounge containers became fully operational at noon on Monday”.

At the 2007 Test Event, postponements to racing meant that sailors spent plenty of time in the boat park waiting for wind. Once again the kiwi lounge container is well equipped as a cool and relatively comfortable hideaway to escape the heat.

In the windsurfing and Laser events, all competitors sail in and on supplied boats and boards, and they have now been allocated. All the remaining race boats and coach boats are now at the venue and the windsurfers – Tom Ashley and Barbara Kendall - have been on the water to test their equipment.

The much publicised algae problem appears to be under control and ISAF have been assured by organisers of their confidence that the bright green plague on the sailing course over recent weeks will not cause interruption to the approaching Olympic Sailing Regatta.

“The first reports are the weed is under control,” said Rod Davis. “Barb (Kendall) said there was a little out there but nothing too bad.”

Dan Slater, competing in the Finn class is the first of the team to start racing. Their first race is scheduled for Saturday 9th August with a start time of 1pm.

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