470 medal races and others

Ideal conditions today allow Aussies to secure double 470 Golds, while Rogers and Glanfield clinch silver

A first - near perfect conditions today off Qingdao with good visibility and 10-13 knots, the wind having shifted back into the northwest! A busy day on the water started with a tense 470 Medal Race for the Men. Race management were making maximum use of the clement weather to get in three races today each for the Laser, Laser Radial, Star and Tornado, while the RS:X Men and Women managed two races before being sent ashore with the wind going soft.

Australia took their first sailing Medals of the Olympics today, impressively winning Gold in both the Men's and Women's 470, a testament to this country's dominance in this class.

DeKoing and Berkhout (NED) took Silver in the Women's 470 while Fernanda and Swan (BRA) were delighted with their Bronze.

However the story of the day were the British 470 Men Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield who started the day in fourth to finish the Medal Race third, enough to give them a Silver medal, matching their result in Athens. Bronze went to Charbonnier and Bausset (FRA)

Elsewhere the Lasers and Radials have now finished their qualifying series, ready for their Medal Races tomorrow. Following his results today, provided Paul Goodison (GBR) does better than last tomorrow he is assured of Gold a fantastic performance. In the Radial it is the American Anna Tunnicliffe who is still leading, by seven points going into their final race tomorrow.

Elsewhere it was a great day for the Brits as Percy and Simpson are now in Silver Medal position in the Star, as is Dempsey in the Men's RS:X. Bryony Shaw is also still in the hunt, in fourth overall in the Women's RS:X class after a solid day. The RS:X classes both have one race to go before they go into their medal race on Thursday.

Finally news is coming out of Qingdao that the Danes have had their controversial Gold Medal in the 49er class confirmed after 19 hours of protest room action, following their use of a different boat in the Medal Race yesterday. We are still waiting for more details regarding this matter.

470 Men - Medal Race

As with the Finn fleet yesterday, the unlimited pumping flag was raised before the start. With the Australian team of Wilmot and Page having already won Gold, the fight would be for Silver and Bronze. Coming into the race the Dutch team of Sven Coster and Kalle Coster were in Silver medal position, however, only two points behind them were Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset (FRA) while Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (GBR) were in fourth, just three points adrift of the French.

Out of the start the Dutch were not looking good and started to head off out to the right hand side of the course, trying to find wind .Wilmot and Page were strong out of the start and were clearly not planning on just coasting through this race. Up the first beat the teams were split between left and right with a few boats heading up the middle looking strong. The Brits chose the left, with the French and Australians in the middle and Tetsuya Matsunaga and Taro Ueno (JAP) and the Dutch furthest right.

Half way up the beat the Australians were into the lead while those out on the left of the course were definitely struggling with the French looking strongest out of those who stood a chance of a medal.

Coming into the top mark for the first time, the Australians comfortably led the fleet by 29 seconds, but most importantly the French rounded in second which would convert them to a Silver Medal. Disappointingly the British team rounded the mark in ninth, just one place ahead of the Dutch.

On the run, again there were some big splits, particularly at the tail end of the fleet as the Brits went left (looking downwind) and the Dutch went far right. At the leeward mark Australia went round in first with the French still second. The Bits were on the move, though, and had snuck up to sixth, while the Dutch were still at the back of the fleet. This would hand bronze to the Brits...

Most of the fleet rounded the left mark of the leeward gate (looking upwind) and went left a little before putting in a long tack over to the right. The Dutch, though, went out hard left, the opposite tactic to their first lap. However, the Brits chose the middle and working the shifts they started to look strong.

At the final windward mark Australia rounded first, Spain second eight seconds astern, but all eyes were further back...Japan rounded in third with the Brits up to fourth position....the Italians were fifth, then the French. The Dutch were up to eighth, but this would now hand Silver to the Brits....

Thus the final two places on the podium were going to be decided by the position changes on the final run as the fleet headed off to the finish. The Brits needed one boat between them and the French if they want to win Silver. Again down the run, the Dutch selected a corner, this time the left - looking downwind. The Brits, however, were on the charge, sneaking past the Japanese half way down the run. The French were going well, though and putting pressure on the Italians.

Things were getting very mixed up down the run as the Japanese managed to get back in front of the Brits and the Spanish leaving the Brits back to fourth. Coming into the finish it looked as though the Brits had taken ground on both the Japanese and the Spanish, while the French were still struggling behind the Italians.

At the finish, the Australians won, followed by Japan, with Britain just missing out on second position and the Spanish third. The Italians followed in fourth, the French fifth, the Dutch sixth. So while Wilmot and Page have Gold, this race saw Rogers and Glanfield start the day off the podium but come home with Silver while the French had to suffice with Bronze. A good day at the office for Rogers and Glanfield - and a repeat of their result from Athens.

"In Athens we were going in pretty tough to win gold, whereas he were really clawed back to get silver," admits Rogers after racing was over. "I am really pleased we turned it around and did it again," Glanfield added.



470 Women - Medal Race

Coming into the women’s Medal Race, Elise Rechichi and Tess Parkinson (AUS) were leading by an almost unassailable 18 points. Behind them, deKoning and Berkhout (NED) on 43 points, were the only team that could take gold from the Aussies, while Fernanda and Swan (BRA) were in third with 58 points and Kornecki and Bouskila (ISR) were fourth with 62 points.

At the start the committee boat end was favoured, though there was a fairly even spread down the line. The Italians and the Spanish were both closest to the committee boat and looking strong. The Brits crossed the back of the fleet on port to be spat out of the right hand side of the course. The Spanish and the Italians soon followed them.

At the front of the fleet, Brazil were looking strong early on as were the Australians, the Austrians and the Israelis. Meanwhile the Brits were still hammering out to the right hand side of the course along with the Italians. At the cross the Brits looked strong, crossing ahead of the the Brazilians by inches.

Coming into the top mark, Israel put in a leebow tack on the Brazilians, with these two looking as though they wanted to fight hard for bronze medal. A slight shift came through at the top of the beat, and Israel rounded in first, with Brazil a close second, Italy third, Spain fourth and Britain fifth. Perhaps most importantly, though, the Dutch echoed the 470 Men as they rounded in last place which would drop them to Bronze medal position.

Down the run, the Brazilians were fighting hard to catch the Israelis with the two of them extending significantly over the rest of the fleet. Meanwhile, the Dutch needed to climb the fleet to maintain their Silver. It was clearly the Dutch on the charge down the run passing the Australians.

Round the leeward mark Israel were first, rounding the left hand leeward gate. The Brazilians were second seconds astern, while the Dutch rounded ninth.

Up the final beat most teams were heading out to the right hand side of the course after rounding the left leeward mark. After a drag race out to the right hand side, the Brazilians managed to overhaul the Israelis and sneaked around the final windward mark in first position. Israel rounded just seconds behind in second, while the Italians were in third. But all eyes remained on the Dutch who would need to be eighth or better to protect Silver. However, the Dutch had made gains up this beat and rounded sixth, effectively ending the Brazilians shot at Silver, relegating them to bronze.

A big fight developed on the way down to the finish as the Israelis desperately tried to get themselves in front of the Brazilians. With the two boats matching one another gybe for gybe, the Brazilians crossed the finish first, with the Israelis second... But where were the Dutch? The French crossed in third, the Brits fourth and finally the Dutch came home in fifth, leaving them in Silver. Despite finishing last the Aussies still managed to take the Gold Medal. The Brazilians did not seem disappointed with their bronze medal as they leaped from the boat, madly celebrating.



Star R5

The first race of the Star today saw 2006 World Champions Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZL) come to the fore on the first beat to lead around the top mark with Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Życki (POL) and Marin Jr Lovorovic and Sinisa Mikulicic (CRO) astern of them, and Skandia Team GBR’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson holding fourth.

But on the run the Germans Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski gained seven places to squeeze around the leeward gate ahead of Percy and Simpson with the Croats holding third ahead of the Kiwis.

Reading the upwind legs well, Pepper and Williams recovered first place on the next beat with the breeze going light, to round the top mark ahead of the Germans with Aussie America’s Cup legend Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey coming into contention in third, while Percy and Simpson got stung, dropping to ninth. The final leg saw the Kiwis extend to take their first bullet of this Olympics with Murray and Palfrey moving up to second ahead of the Germans with Percy and Mitchell coming home eighth.

Star R6

With the wind maintaining its pressure but backing slightly to the west, the second race for the Stars belonged to Frederik Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE). On this occasion they were first into the top mark ahead of Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau with Percy and Simpson once again starting strongly and up to third.

On the run Percy and Simpson overtook the French and closed on the Swedish leaders rounding the leeward gate just four seconds astern, with Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos (POR) behind them. But on the next beat it was Rohart and Rambeau who were on the charge again, moving into the lead. On the run into the finish Loof and Ekstrom recovered first place while Percy and Simpson pulled up second, their best result to date. The Portugese ended up third. After winning the previous race, the Kiwis came home in lowly 12th, now their discard.

Star R7

About time! In a demonstration that they now fully have the bit between their teeth, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson were first to the top mark and led for the remainder of the race, scoring their first bullet in this Olympics.

With the breeze down in the 8 knot range, so Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey followed the Brits around the top mark for the first time, ahead of a tightly grouped bunch (a proper Star race this one) including Diego Negri and Luigi Viale (ITA), the Kiwis and Croats.

An impressive run saw Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik (POL) in the chocolates followed by Negri and Viale, but with the ominous sight of triple Olympic Laser medallist Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) in their rear view mirror. And sure enough down the final run it was the Brazilians who claimed second ahead of the Poles.

With these results Percy and Simpson have moved up to second just three points astern of leaders Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom (SWE), with a useful eight point cushion between them and the third placed French, Rohart and Rambeau. With just three to go prior to the medal race, there are some unhappy faces, including John Dane III and Austin Sperry (USA) who were leading the series but who are presently in 12th while pre-race favourites Scheidt and Prada and the light wind specialists from Italy are down the pan in 8th and 10th places respectfully.

Tornado R5

The first race today for the Olympic catamaran saw Oskar Johannson and Kevin Stittle (CAN) come to the fore. The Canadian pair, who are ranked seventh in the world and came second at the Worlds this year, led from start to finish ahead of Greece’s Iordanis Paschalides and Konstantinos Trigonis.

This left the fight for third place between Francesco Marcolini and Edoardo Bianchi (ITA) and the Olympiad’s only mixed pairing of Carolijn Brouwer and Sebastien Godefroid (BEL) with Brouwer and Godefroid taking over on the second beat and finishing on the Greek’s transom.

Leigh McMillan and Will Howden (GBR) were near the back of the 15 boat fleet on the first beat and were never in contention, finishing in 14th, their worst result to date.

Tornado R6

Race two and there were more position changes, the wind going soft and right in the latter stages of the race. At the top mark it was tight with the Italians leading, ahead of Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED) and Austrian two time Olympic Gold medallists Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, with the Brits putting in a better showing in fourth.

On the first run Hagara and Steinacher pulled into the lead ahead of the Italians, who in turn won it back on the next beat, with the Canadians up to second. Once again on the run the Austrian favourites pull ahead but on the final lap it was Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz (GER) who moved ahead to secure victory from Booth and Nieuwenhuis with the Austrians having to be content with third. McMillan and Howden put in a strong finish after rounding the top mark for the last time second last, to come home in seventh. This race turned the results on their head with the Canadian duo, winners of the previous race coming home last – but they were in good company with Spain’s former World Champions Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz finishing 13th and even the leaders Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby (AUS) coming home ninth, their worst result to date.

Tornado R7

The final race for the cats today saw the old hands take centre stage. At the top mark it was Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz (SPA) who edged into the lead overlapped with Bundock and Ashby (AUS), closely followed by Hagara and Steinacher (AUT) and Brouwer and Godefroid (BEL). The first trio remained the same throughout this race in the more regular 8-9 knot winds, with Iordanis Paschalides and Konstantinos Trigonis (GRE) moving up to third briefly at the final weather mark rounding. McMillan and Howden came home seventh.

With three races to go until the medal race, the Spanish and Australians are tied for first place on 20 points, with a 12 point margin ahead of the third placed Greeks, although there is a gaggle of boats including the Argentinians, Italians Germans, and Dutch within two points of third. McMillan and Howden currently hold a disappointing 12th place and will have to post some good results tomorrow if they are to make it through to the medal race. But they are not the only ones with work to do. At present both Athens gold medallists Hagara and Steinacher and silver medallists Lovell and Ogletree are outside of the top 10.

Laser – R7

Three races were on the menu in the Laser fleet, today being the last one ahead of tomorrow’s Medal Race, with the breeze up around the low teens.

Out of the blocks it was Uruguay’s world number 17 ranked Alejandro Foglia who was having his five minutes of fame, rounding the first mark in the lead. It was another sailor not usually seen at the front of the fleet in second - Kristian Ruth (NOR) rounding eight seconds behind Foglia. Britain’s Paul Goodison, overall leader at the start of the day was a further 20 seconds back in third.

With the Laser fleet sailing an ‘inner loop’ course, they headed back they way they came as they sailed the sausage section of their race. On the run Foglia held onto his lead, Ruth had dropped back to fourth, Goodison outgunning the Norwegian to take second position while Julio Alsogaray (ARG) had moved up to third at the leeward gate.

But on the next beat it was just too much for Foglia to hang on to his lead both Goodison and Alsogaray both got past him. In fact, the Uruguayan dropped all the way back to fifth on the leg as Luka Radelic (CRO) moved into third and Deniss Karpak (EST) added to his strong race yesterday, up to fifth.

There were no changes to the top four for the rest of the race as the fleet reached out to a final run and another reach to the finish. Foglia continued to drop through the fleet, finally ending up in sixth as Andrew Murdoch (NZL) also got past.

Laser - R8

It was a day for relative unknows to make excellent starts today as in their second race Seng Leong Koh (SIN) reached the weather mark in first position. He was just six seconds ahead of Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) who was busy making up for a very disappointing 18th in race one today. Round the mark in third position was another relative unknown in the form of Thomas Barrows lll (ISV).

But down the first run it was all change as Zbogar move into first, Koh, dropped back to second, Leigh (CAN) shot up from fifth to third, while Romero held fourth. Goodison (GBR) who had rounded the first mark in 14th was up to ninth and looking strong. Jean Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) was also on the move, from 11th at the first mark to eighth at the bottom of the run.

Up the next beat there was no change in the top three, but Goodison and Bernaz were still on the climb. The Brit had moved up to fourth, though still 58 seconds from the lead, while the Frenchman was up to fifth. Through the rest of the race there was little position changing, with the top five ramining the same until the finish.

This impressive performance from Goodison so far today this increases his lead to 17 points ahead of second placed, Zbogar.

Laser R9

The final race of the day and the full-fleet series for the Laser fleet took place in light winds as the breeze dropped through the late afternoon.

On this occasion at the first mark it was Andrew Murdoch (NZL) who rounded in the lead, just three seconds ahead of Rasmus Myrgren (SWE) in turn two seconds ahead of Maciej Grabowski (POL). Goodison (GBR) was in a solid fourth, a position that would see him certain of Gold if there were no changes through the rest of the race.

But changes in position there were, as Murdoch slipped back to second on the run and Myrgren took first. The man on the move was Gustavo Lima (POR), though, as he sailed a fantastic run to move from 20th to third. His impressive leg moved Grabowski down to fourth and Goodison to fifth.

It was all change again up the second beat as Murdoch regained the lead, pushing Myrgren back to second. Grabowski had moved up to third but all eyes were on Britain’s Goodison, who dropped all the way back to 11th position, after a disastrous leg.

On the reach across the top of the course, the top three remained unchanged, but Goodison was charging, pulling up to seventh position, one position behind Lima. Down the run Lima was on his way up the fleet, jumping from sixth to third, a position he held until the finish. Murdoch held onto first down the run and across the finish, while Myrgren maintained his second. Goodison managed to take one more place to finish the race in sixth, just behind Javier Hernandes (ESP).

With the qualifying series now over, the Lasers will sail their Medal Race tomorrow morning. Goodison sits in a very strong position with 45 points, in the lead by 18 points. Second position overall is Myrgren on 63 points while Lima is in third on 65 points. Realistically the only way Goodison can lose Gold is if he is last and Myrgren is first tomorrow.

Laser Radial – R7

With a good breeze in the low teens the Laser Radial fleet had three races to complete today ahead of their Medal Race tomorrow.

Round the first mark in race seven it was Eftychia Mantzaraki (GRE) leading, just three seconds ahead of Katarzyna Szotynska (POL). France’s Sarah Steyaert rounded in third with local star Lijia Xu (CHN) rounding out the top four.

The fleet then reached across to the top mark of their outer loop with no major position changes. However, down the run a number of sailors were on the move while others dropped back. Germany’s Petra Niemann shot from fifth to first on the downwind, while Steyaert dropped from third to fifth.

Up the next beat it was Xu, who was on the move, romping into first place, while Szotynska climbed back to second. Steyaert also bounced back up the fleet, returning to third, while Niemann dropped back to fourth. Mantzaraki was in fifth as the fleet headed down their final run.

There were no major changes on the downwind with the top five remaining the same. Previous series leader, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) had a bad race, finishing in 15th, opening up the leaderboard further.

Laser Radial R8

Sarah Blank (AUS) came out of the start line, with clear determination in the second race of today. The Australian came into the top mark for the first time six seconds ahead of Paloma Schmidt (PER) who had a fantastic first beat. It was another relative unknown in third position as Florencia Cerutti (PAR), who had impressed earlier in the week with a second, rounded in third. Meanwhile Tunnicliffe (USA) was making up for a disappointing start to the day, sitting in fourth at the windward mark.

On the reach across to the outside loop there were no changes in a rapidly dying breeze. Cerutti and Schmidt swapped positions down the run with Cerutti now 36 seconds away from the lead. Up the next beat, the big names began to apply the pressure as the wind dropped further still, now firmly under the ten knot mark. Tunnicliffe moved up into second position, while Tania Elias Calles (MEX) clawed her way up to third.

The top three remained the same for the rest of the race, with Evi Van Acker (BEL) moving through the fleet to take fourth after rounding the first mark in ninth position.

Laser Radial R9

After taking a third position in race eight, Tania Elias Calles (MEX) took her second top three position of the series today, by winning the final race of the series. The Mexican led from start to finish, finally crossing the finish line fully 48 seconds in front of second place.

Behind her was Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) who put in a sterling performance throughout the race to move from 12th position round mark one to take second by the finish, a result that leaves the American still at the front of the fleet overall going into the Medal Race tomorrow, seven points ahead of her closes rival.

Second position overall at the end of the day is the potent Lithuanian Gintare Volungeviciutewho also put in a stellar performance in the last race of the day. She rounded the first mark in 22nd position, before moving up to 19th on the second leg, tenth on the third, fifth on the fourth leg and finally crossed the line in fourth position.

Lijia Xu, China’s first sailing World Champion, had a solid final race, coming home in sixth position leaving her in bronze position, sitting four points away from Silver. She has a ten point gap to Blanck (AUS) who was fifth in the final race today.

It proved a bad day out on the water for Britain’s Penny Clark who scored an 18th, a 23rd and a 13th. She just made the cut for the Medal Race but is now unable to take a medal tomorrow.

RS:X Men R8

On race area B, the men’s sailboards were greeted with a stiff breeze in the high teens for their first race today as they sailed the trapezoidal outer course (beat, reach, run then windward-leewards).

Impressively this race belonged to Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL), currently lying 14th overall, who led from start to finish. While Ivan Pastor (SPA) followed the Pole around the top mark and on to the reaching mark, on the first downwind leg he was overtaken by João Rodrigues (POR), while on the next beat it was Casper Bouman (NED) who moved into second, which he held through to the end. Come the finish the Dutchman had closed Miarczynski down to 17 seconds, finishing almost two minutes ahead of third placed Rodrigues.

Britain’s Nick Dempsey got off to a reasonable start, eighth at the top mark to come home fifth, leaving him in second overall seven point astern of leader Tom Ashley (NZL) who came home sixth in this race.

RS:X Men R9

With the breeze dropping off substantially, there was another unexpected face at the top mark in the second race when David Mier Y Teran (MEX), 18th overall in the 35 strong fleet, was first round. He was followed by Maksym Oberemko (UKR) and Ricardo Santos with Nick Dempsey fourth with Ashley hot on his heels.

It proved to be a race with considerable place changing. Down the first run Dempsey powered ahead to pull into the lead, rounding the bottom mark with Shahar Zubari (ISR), but on the next beat it was Julien Bontemps (FRA) who got ahead. Bontempts hung on for the next lap until he was overhauled on the final beat by Shahar Zubari (ISR). Zubari was first across the line at the finish, followed by Bontemps with Nick Dempsey taking a well earned third.

After this race Tom Ashley remained holding first overall but Dempsey had closed his lead down to four points, Ashley having come home eighth in this race. However Julien Bontemps was holding third overall just one point adrift of Dempsey.

RS:X Women R8 - 17 knots and surfs up

Monday was to see the women windsurfers, like the men, attempt three races to conclude their series before a rest day on Tuesday and their medal race on Wednesday. This fleet again holds one of China’s sailing medal hopes - Jian Yin who at the start of the day was leading the fleet by seven points.

The breeze was in for the first race of the day and Poland’s Zofia Klepacka stormed the beat to lead the fleet of 27 boards by 2 minutes 39 seconds. This lead was eroded to 1 minute 30 at the finish as the Italian sailor Alessandra Sensini climbed from ninth to second. It was a good race for Byrony Shaw (GBR) coming in third.

RS:X Women R9 - Yin reliquishes overall lead

The wind was on the wane for the second scheduled race of the day with dropping to 11 knots by the finish. This proved to be a great race for Britain’s Bryony Shaw - a win propelling the Test Event winner from 2007 to fourth overall and into medal contention.

Another solid race by Alessandra Sensini (ITA) scoring a fifth has put the Italian sailor on top of the overall rankings, snatching the lead from Yin, who with two unlucky eighth places so far, has slipped to second overall.

Spain’s ISAF ranked number one RS:X sailor Marina Albeau kept her Olympic regatta alive with a fourth place in this race. With 11 points separating the top five in this class it is still too early to call with just one more race before the top ten sail the medal race.