London Olympics 2012 - Day four unfurling

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 1 Aug 2012 There’s plenty of great racing action to watch on Day Four of the sailing section of the 2012 Olympiad. Thankfully, the massive front that was forecasted to rake the different racing courses today was a (relative) non-issue, with some sporadic showers passing overhead, although the skies were stained with clouds and a moderately low ceiling. For the sailors, this likely translated to easier-to-read wind patterns than a direct glare, although based on the comments that I’ve been hearing from the athletes each day, ex post facto, reading the wind here is no easy feat.

The breeze has shifted from the south-southwest to the south, although the average windspeed is slightly up from yesterday, with the air speed hovering around 16 knots. The sea state was also up slightly today, but the Nothe and Portland Harbor courses were both void of whitecaps.

Speaking of the race tracks, the Portland Harbor course saw plenty of action in both the 49er class and the Women’s RS:X class. Starting guns began sounding for the hyper-quick skiffs at 1200 hours, local time, while the Women’s RS:X class had to wait until 1400 hours to get serious.

A bit further out, on the Nothe course (which, incidentally, offers great shore-side viewing), the Men’s RS:X class enjoyed two races, which started at 1200 hours. Once the windsurfers cleared-off the Nothe, the hotly contested Women’s Match Racing (WMR) event took over, rifling off four flights.

Meanwhile, on the Weymouth Bay West course, the action was hot in both the Lasers and Laser Radials, with both classes cranking out two races.

And on the Weymouth Bay South course, the Men’s 470 class used today for their official practice race. This, of course, gave sailors the chance to do some speed checking, and to fine-tune their knowledge of the shifty, testy conditions that make Weymouth such an engaging place to sail.

Please stay tuned to the website for results and in-depth reports, as they become known.