An insider's perspective

China resident Alistair Skinner looks ahead to the 2008 Olympiad

The build-up to the Qingdao regatta has not been without its rumours and stories, “fall in the water and you will suffer a horrible fate”, you will be sailing in raw sewage, the toughest challenge of the first beat won't be strong winds, but strong poisonous algae and so on...

So many sailing venues have had such stories told about them: Barcelona in ’92, Valencia pre-America’s Cup to name but a couple but sometimes - just sometimes? - the hype hides the real truth.

While I have every sympathy for the Australian sailor who was so ill after a visit to the waters of the Olympic Marina last year, many other sailors capsized without incident and more significantly, Qingdao being a principle Chinese holiday destination many tens of 1,000s tourists ‘take the waters’ there every summer weekend where the beaches make Blackpool in its heyday appear quiet. Surely then the water, like the food, cannot be that bad?



As far as the ‘Green Algae’ was concerned, today it is likely only to be found as a starter with peanuts at your local Chinese Restaurant. (Well it would at my one down Nanjing Road here in Shanghai)..

I have to admit that the seaweed, when I first saw it, drew a sharp intake of breath but then I remembered that phrase, much used by those of us who live here “This is China” and sure enough they threw enough manpower at the problem and now sailors are able to report the sailing area clear of foil snagging green strands.

Wind for the next few days is forecast as up around the double figures and swell reckoned to be a couple of feet for the non metric amongst us.

Sure the local audience will not be as knowledgeable about what is going on as your the armchair admiral down at the local club but sailing was a mystery to most Brits until we started winning more Olympic Medals than the other parts of the British Olympic Team from Sydney on.

The spectator boats are all fully booked and as many shore side tickets have been bought as would normally have filled the Qingdao beaches. They may not know what they are watching but then, many of the visitors to Cowes over the last week would probably have just been looking at the ‘pretty boats’.

Today is a big day for us Brits with Sarah and her girls along with Sir Ben (well if he doesn’t deserve an honour who does?) taking to the water, both of them defending their Olympic titles - how many sports can Britain make that boast in?

Will the regatta be a success? That remains to be seen. If the efforts of the Chinese organizers has anything to go by - yes! The marina is unarguably superb and it is hard to believe it is the same place I saw just a few short years ago during its conversion from a former shipyard. It has deservedly drawn compliments from competitors and officials alike over the two test events.

How well will the Brits do? That is all down to the guys and gals in Qingdao. According to the rankings they all have a very good chance of the Medal Race. But who’s to believe rankings? Our poorest hope, if you believe the rankings, is Ben Ainslie, World Ranked 28th. It just shows you that to finish first, first you have to Enter. And finish first is what he has done in every ranking event he has competed in since Athens, four years ago including two seconds and an incredible nine firsts at the test event in 2006 if I remember correctly.

The time for speculation is over, – Let The Games Begin!!