London Olympics 2012- Sailing Olympics News - Day 12

by . on 10 Aug 2012 Welcome to Sail-World.com's 2012 Olympic Newsletter for Day 12

Well it had to happen - we lost a day's racing due to lack of wind.

One of the remarkable aspects of the 2012 Olympic Regatta, has been the weather window in which the event has been conducted.

Jokes about the English weather are almost as prolific as cracks about the Irish. While the quips about the Irish have continued unabated, few are making snide comments about the wind in Weymouth.

It has been exceptional.

Until today, when it was hoped to get delayed racing underway in the Men 470 Final and continue the Womens Match Racing.

But it was not to be, and despite an attempt to at least contemplate a start in the Womens Match Racing, it was not to be.

The decision to not race today was made around 3.00pm. All racing will be held over until tomorrow, Friday, when both the Mens and Womens Finals in the 470 will be sailed. The Match Racing will continue as Match Racing does. That event is not scheduled to finish until Saturday.

We have a detailed update on the weather in this edition of Sail-World.com's newsletter, courtesy of www.predictwind.com!Predictwind

Suffice to say there will be a change in the wind tomorrow, mainly in direction.

Saturday promises an increase in strength - and it will be interesting to see if racing is able to be concluded, otherwise it will continue until Sunday.

With the media largely sitting around waiting for the racing to start, the major point of interesty has been the spoof commentary on a Laser Radial race, over real footage by an Irish commentator. It has reportedly been taken down several times, however we have the link in a story in this edition - for as long as it lasts.

The other point of discussion has been the performance of the US team and what is to be done.

It is too early at this stage to conduct a proper analysis, but aside from the Hosts, Great Britain, USA was the only country to send a full team, and they have gone home medal-less.

Most major sailing countries have been through this catharsis, and emerged stronger for it after some serious soul-searching. We don't envy the US team in what they are about to go through. The surgery needs to be dramatic. From what we have heard, they don't seem to get it. They need to nail it.

In this edition of Sail-World, we have Bob Fisher's take on the issues of the day.

There is also a feature on the Finn Medal Race - not about how the Gold was won, but how the Bronze was won, or lost - depending on your perspective.

There are also a couple of image galleries from the best day we have had on the water - last Monday when the seas were big, the wind fresh and the sun bright - and the 470 Men came out to sail two races. Magic stuff.

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