Diary From Qingdao
August 28, 2006
Star sailors Andy Horton and Brad Nichol write:
Today provided yet another difficult day of sailing in Qingdao with light wind and strong currents. We left the harbor at our usual time today only to be chased down by the Marshals and told to return to the harbor because the race committee had postponed on shore after we had left the dock. After a short delay and a long tow out, we began our preparations to figure out the race course.
There were 5-6 knots of breeze from the East with 1.5 knots of current from the West and about half a mile of visibility in the haze. The current was pushing the fleet over the line so we held back as much as possible at the boat end. One boat was over early and retired at the first mark. We jibe-set to lay the leeward marks in the current and rounded the left gate first. Unfortunately, the Aussies picked the other gate, which was favored by the current and mounted a big lead. We were caught up in a battle with the British and the Italians and came up short, finishing fourth.
In the second race, the current began to switch. In most places, the current goes slack (stops) and then slowly builds from the opposite direction when the tide changes. In Qingdao, it behaves very differently, and sometimes differently from day to day. In past days we have observed the current actually clock around from flood to ebb. Needless to say, it is difficult to plan your race when you do not know what the water is going to do under you!
The leeward end of the line was favored so we decided to start there and protect the right side as we had observed a persistent shift that way. We got pushed left off the start and did okay despite a right sift and rounded close 4th. On the run we decided to go to the opposite side, hoping for more righty. The fleet let us escape and we sailed the leg alone with more pressure, rounding first and extending the rest of the race.
With a 4, 1 today, we lead the regatta, but the scores remain very close. We are scheduled to make up our remaining two races tomorrow with good winds forecasted and then we have the Medal Race on Wednesday, which counts double and acts as the tiebreaker for the series.