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August 12 - Sorry for the break in
reports but things have been very busy. All of our boats (except Star
and Tornado who measure later) have passed measurement and are
officially registered for the start of the 2004 Olympic Regatta.
Training on the water continues every day as the Opening Ceremonies
approach Friday evening.
During the past few days the press attention has continued to grow, with
requests being handled by USOC Sailing Press Liaison Barby MacGowan.
The media is more restricted at these Games than previously, primarily
due to security concerns. Their access to the athletes is being
limited, as well as their time in the Media Center. Gary Jobson has
also been on-site preparing for his daily coverage for NBC to be aired
on the BRAVO channel. Today he came by our apartment and interviewed our
meteorologist, Chris Bedford, who is providing daily forecasts and
briefing each team before they leave for the venue. I also spent about
an hour with Tom Meade of the Providence Journal discussing the
competition.
The Olympic Torch Relay passed through Glyfada on Thursday, with an
exchange of the flame taking place just outside the sailing venue. It
drew a big crowd. A demonstration of traditional Greek dancing took
place in the middle of the highway that runs past the venue. Four lanes
of traffic were held up to let the dancers perform a three-minute dance
-- after waiting in the hot sun for close to an hour in very hot
costumes. The enthusiasm of the participants and spectators, not to
mention the bus drivers -- who had cameras out just like the rest of us
– is indicative of the emotions the Olympic Games generate.
 Each
class has a practice race and on Thursday the Finn, 470, Mistral and
Yngling classes had theirs. Although not all boats sailed the entire
race, following “practice race superstition,” Katie McDowell and
Isabelle Kinsolving finished first in the 470 Women’s fleet by a wide
margin, while Paul Forester and Kevin Burnham made a huge comeback to
finish fifth.
In addition to the practice races, the 49er, Tornado and Yngling fleets
were outfitted with on-board cameras and GPS units as well as on-board
microphones --complete with a five second delay. One comment heard
around the dinghy park was “we’re not sure a five second delay is enough
for sailors!”
As our team heads to Opening Ceremonies to experience a
once-in-a-lifetime event they are as well prepared as possible to
represent the USA in the 2004 Olympic Regatta.
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