Dear All:It was a long day at the office again here in Qingdao. We appeared to have good winds this morning. The PRO announced that the first race would be at noon and that he would try for 3 races. The sailors were in the boat area at 10:00, launched at 11:00 for the 30 minute tow to the race course and finally got off the water at 6:30 pm tonight. In between, they had a postponement, were sent in and then returned to the water at 4:00pm to have the race start just before 5:00 pm.
Greg improved his performance in the one race that took place today. At the end of the first beat he was 30th and he finished 34th. A much improved performance from his first three races and I have a much happier camper tonight. His confidence has been improved. The starts are still a challenge because he is not yet getting right onto the line and then he does not quite have the boat speed to hold his position. But every race he gets better on the start.
I have been able to observe what Tom Slingsby is going through. Here is a sailor who is ranked number one in the world in the Laser and who all his countrymen expected to be winning gold. He is having a horrible regatta and is not even in line for the medal race. He came off the water very dejected this afternoon. Walked straight pass the press and was one of the first in the dining room tonight. So, Greg is not the only one with disappointments. Even Greg’s hero, Robert Sheidt, had a terrible first race in the Star today. I watched him make the same tactical mistakes Greg did. He went right when left was favoured and got buried.
So, another tough day for all in Qingdao. The wind conditions are not suitable for racing at the Olympic level. If one could select a place anywhere in the world to conduct a top level regatta, Qingdao would not make the top 50. It looks like we will be using all of our spare and reserve days to try to get in the 10 races.
Regards to all.
Peter Douglas
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