London Olympics 2012- Sailing Olympics News - Day 11

by . on 9 Aug 2012 Welcome to Sail-World.com's 2012 Olympic Newsletter for Day 11

Today was a day of controversy at Weymouth.

The major surprise was that the USA, was going home without winning a single medal.

It was their worst sailing Olympics result since 1936 in Berlin – when they sailed classes to the Metre rule, plus the Star was enjoying its third Olympics.

What happens from here, will be watched with great interest.

Several of the powerhouses of sailing have been in the current position of US Sailing. The prescription for recovery is largely the same – work out what the key points are in the successful nations, and then adapt and apply.

That is not easy and involves lifting standards. Many countries will not send competitors who are not in the top ten in the world – that is not top-ten capable but top ten achieving.

That also involves addressing the conflict between Olympism and Winning. If The US wants to give sailors and Olympic experience, then please continue - but don’t be too bothered about the results.

In this edition, outgoing US Olympic Chairman Dean Brenner offers his thoughts.

Another controversy occurred in the Womens Double Hander (470) when the New Zealand crew who had scored a 1,1,2 score-line in their last three races, came unstuck in he tenth race and finished 18th

That is sufficient for them to be tied on points for the lead going into the Medal race on Friday – meaning it will be a Match Race.

There was controversy as the USA was eliminated from the Womens Match Racing. While Anna Tunnicliffe had been struggling to get on top of the field at this regatta, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist is a tough nut, and most expected to see her there at the end.

Tomorrow, the Mens 470 sails its Medal Race that will be a battle of two fronts. As with the 49ers today the first two places are decided, but only four points separate the points table leader, Australia from the second placed crew, Great Britain. Then it is a two-way contest, or if things get a little stretched, mathematically a third crew can come through.

It will be interesting to see the strategies adopted by the various crews, and how those are put into effect.

In this edition of Sail-World’s Olympic newsletter we have all the background and reports on today's racing, including the two Medal Races, along with some great images from some of the world’s top photographers.

We’ll all be back in action tomorrow – stay tuned to www.sail-world.com

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
Olympic Editor