Winds of 16-18 knots are sweeping across Course A ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Tornado class medal round on Fushan Bay, Qingdao.
Australia’s Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby go into this afternoon’s medal race in second position, just three points behind leaders Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz Spain.
The Aussies need to finish today’s race two places ahead of Spain to take the Gold medal, but they also need to cover third-placed Argentina. For Argentina to win Gold, they need to finish at least three places ahead of Australia and five places ahead of Spain.
However, Bundock and Ashby are highly experienced, with 11 world titles between them. They are the only crew in the Tornado fleet to cross the finish line in the top ten in every race of this regatta, and they are renowned as heavy weather specialists.
Today the wind and tide will be the biggest factors for competitors on Fushan Bay. Right now just 30 minutes before race time, Bundock and Ashby have zoomed to the top of the course, to check out the wind angles along the sea-wall.
by Rob Kothe
3:35 AM Thu 21 Aug 2008 GMT
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