Wind to start Olympic regatta in Qingdao
by Rob Kothe on 8 Aug 2008
Scenes from Qingdao - 2008 Sailing Olympic venue Richard Gladwell
www.photosport.co.nz
While yesterday winds on the 2008 Qingdao Olympic course area were soft and shifty with the practice races cancelled, looking ahead the weather is better than many expected.
This morning, looking out over the inner harbour, just before 6am local time, pressure bands can be already seen on the water.
The latest
Predictwind.com data for the Fushan Bay course area suggests that winds tomorrow Saturday for the first two races for each of the Yngling and Finn classes, are likely to peak at 11 knots around 1500.
On Sunday when the 49ers join the Ynglings and Finns, weather models suggest Sunday 10-13 and Monday 12-14 knots.
Perhaps a Chinese soothsayer can look further ahead with confidence as local meteorologists reminded everyone a few days ago, at least two typhoons could build out of the Yellow Sea over the two weeks of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Regatta in Qingdao.
Certainly the water temperatures continue to climb and this season’s typhoon number seven built out of the Yellow Sea south of Qingdao last week. On Wednesday severe tropical storm Kamnuri produced winds gusts of over 100 knots above Hong Kong airport, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled.
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