A Love 4 Sailing

Short Version:  Gold Medal.

Long Version:  GOOOOOOOOLD MEDAAAAAAAAAL!!!

It official, with only two races to go, Maureen and I have clinched the Olympic Gold Medal.  Today we will take a ceremonial victory lap in the first race and watch the second race from the sidelines.  Thank you all for your emails and support, I will write more in the coming days.

 Nick

Short version: After two days of racing we completed 5 races.  Our finishes have been 2,1,1,1,3.  For a total of 8 points.  This puts us currently in first place with 6 races to go. 

Long version:  Qingdao has been what we have expected.  Light winds and warm weather.  Breeze has been in the 3 to 7 knot range with lots of lulls and chop.  There has been no green algae that we heard so much about. 

Race 1:  After a so so start we sailed the middle of the course up the first beat.  Left side ended up paying which had us rounding the first mark in 3rd.  With a tight reach, no passing occurred.  As we stayed down the right side on the run the first two boats jibed and played the left.  This allowed them to slightly extend their lead as our attempt to stay out of the current was over shadowed by the lack of wind on our side.  Up the next beat we passed the second place boat but were unable to catch the team in first, finishing second.

Race 2:  With a good start we protected the left side and extended throughout the race. We ended up first with a comfortable lead.

Race 3:  Starting in about three knots we struggled to hold our lane and was forced to tack to the right.  We rounded the weather mark in 4th and maintained that position to the reach mark.  With some good down wind jibes we passed the 2nd and 3rd place  boats.  Up the next beat we played the shifts and rounded in first. We held on to the finish.

 Race 4:  We started in the middle of the line but the individual recall flag went up as Maureen and I debated if we were over.  We decided to return to the start line and restart.  Up the first beat we passed five boats and rounded mid fleet.  We jibed around the reach mark and picked off three more boats.  Up the next beat most of the fleet stayed left as we played the middle.  This turned out to be the right move as we rounded 2nd at the top mark.  Down wind we jibed on the leader and covered.  This allowed us to roll over the top of him and claim first place.

 Race 5:  After a very poor start, we rounded the weather mark in 5th as the front group had a big lead.  We steadily gained one spot at a time until we were in 2nd at the last top mark.  Unfortunatly, I failed to cover the 3rd place boat downwind and we lost our first boat in the middle of a race.  This gave us a 3rd place finish which is our current throw out. 

 We sit in first place overall with  6 races to go.  This experience has been somewhat overwhelming.  At the dock before the first race I had about a 10 minute moment of tears realizing that after all this time the racing was about to begin and I had officially survived to compete at the games.  It’s hard to describe what I was feeling but it was definitely a sence of accomplishment.  More to come, thanks for everyone’s support.

For current results go to www.sail-world.com OR www.isaf.comÂ

Hello from Quindao China! I have arrived safely and have checked into the athletes village.  I am restricted to what I can blog based on Olympic guidelines.  Updates will be limited to personal experiences and brief racing results.  If you would like to be included in more thourough updates, send Wendy Bell (wendybell87@yahoo.com) your email contact and she will be sure to add you to my distrubution list.  I will do my best to forward information once the racing begins on September 8th.  Until then, I am focused on final boat preperpations.   I have completed measurement and received my new US Flagged Spinaker.  Over the next few days I will be practicing on the designated race course and attending the Qingdao Opening Ceremonies.

I  am looking forward to fulfilling my life long dream,  and want to thank you all one more time for your support.

 My best,

Nick