FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Derby Anderson
DerbyAnderson@USSAILING.org
+86 139 1082 4981 Beijing cell

Olympic Sailing Regatta Day 6: Racing Canceled for Light Winds

Qingdao, China (August 14, 2008) –Racing was canceled for the day after an on-land postponement. The final calls for the Finn and Yngling classes were made at 3:00 p.m. and the calls for the 49er, Laser, Laser Radial, Men’s RS:X and Women’s RS:X were made at 4:00 p.m. The hazy day in Qingdao could not produce enough wind for racing on any of the four scheduled courses.

Team USA sailors and coaches spent the day in their 40-foot shipping containers, which have been converted with air conditioners for relief from the muggy day. With misty showers and a heat index of 88 degrees F at around 80% humidity, heat management is important for the athletes.

After losing one race to yesterday’s two-hour postponements and losing two more races today, the Olympic Sailing Regatta is running nineteen races behind schedule and does not have the capacity to make up all those races tomorrow at the same time. Six courses would be needed to do so, and there are only five available for the event. The Race Committee has decided to start the Laser, Laser Radial, Finns, Yngling classes one hour early at noon, and to push for three races instead of the originally scheduled two. RS:X Men and Women will also start at noon, but are only scheduled for two races. 49ers are noted as, “No start before 1400,” meaning they will most likely take over on course B once the RS:X windsurfers have finished. Stars and Tornados will start tomorrow with two races as scheduled, and Men’s and Women’s 470 races will also continue as scheduled, with two races tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s rescheduled sailing will see 27 races with all 400 sailors on the five courses. There will be 270 Race Officers and over 100 staff and volunteers on the course, with around 35 media boats present as well. Winds are expected to be lighter in the morning and building in the afternoon with the approach of a tropical system.

Current Standings for U.S. Sailors (for full results please visit http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/olympicresults.php)

Laser Radial: 28 boats
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), 4, 5, 6; 15
2. Petronijevic (CRO), 8, 9, 5; 22
3. Volungeviciute (LTU), 3, 13, 8; 24

Finn: 26 boats
1. Ainslie (GBR), (10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10, 2; 19
2. Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), 2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8), 7; 25
3. Florent (FRA), 5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6, 4; 30

Yngling: 15 boats
1. Ayton, Webb and Wilson (GBR), 2, 3, 4, (7), 4, 2; 15
2. Mulder, Bes, Witteveen (NED), 9, 1, 2, (13), 1, 5; 18
3. Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), (14), 2, 8, 5, 6, 11, 1; 33

49er: 19 boats
1. Outteridge and Austin (AUS), (20 DSQ), 1, 7, 3, 1, 1, 6, 4, 6; 29
2. Warrer and Ibsen (DEN), 2, 4, (10), 4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 9; 30
3. Sibello and Sibello (ITA), 3, (9), 1, 1, 6, 9, 3, 8, (12); 40
5. Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.), 5, 14, 15, (16), 5, 10, 1, 1, 1; 52

Laser: 43 boats
1. Romero (ITA), 6, 3, 5; 14
2. Lima (POR), 5, 8, 3; 16
3. Alsogaray (ARG), 1, 12, 10; 23
8. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.), 14, 18, 1; 33

Men’s 470: 29 boats
1. Wilmot and Page (AUS), 4, (7), 3, 3, 3, 4; 17
2. Charbonnier and Bausset (FRA), 6, 3, 8, 1, 6, (18); 24
3. Rogers and Glanfield (GBR), (19), 5, 1, 4, 9, 6; 25
17. Stu McNay (Lincoln, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.), 26, 12, (OCS), 17, 15, 1; 85

Women’s 470: 19 boats
1. De Koning and Berkhout (NED), 3, 1, (9), 5, 2, 2; 13
2. Rechichi and Parkinson (AUS), 2, 2, 4,1, (9), 4; 13
3. Dufresne and Tutso (ESP), 4, 5, 2, 6, (13), 10; 27
14. Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.), 14, 12, 10, 15, 4, (17); 52

Men’s RS:X: 35 boards
1. Zubari (ISR), 1, 3, 1, 3; 8
2. Chan (HKG), 5, 4, 2, 5; 16
3. Ashley (NZL), 4, 7, 7, 1; 19
22. Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 21, 22, 24, 26; 43

Women’s RS:X: 27 boards
1. Yin (CHN), 1, 1, 1, 1; 6
2. Albau (ESP), 3, 5, 5, 2; 15
3. Crisp (ASU), 2, 4, 3, 8; 17
26. Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.), 25, 26, 22, 26; 97

For more news and pictures from US SAILING, please visit http://olympics.ussailing.org/Olympics.htm

US SAILING offers daily Olympic coverage through e-USSAILING, which includes press releases, features, and blogs from the Olympic Sailing Regatta in Qingdao, China. To sign up for e-USSAILING, please visit http://www1.ussailing.org/enrollment/eussailing.aspx.

For NBC website videos and commentary, please visit http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/index.html

For results and Olympic regatta coverage from ISAF, please visit http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/olympicresults.php

About the United States Olympic Team for Sailing
The athletes of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Team are selected, trained, and managed by US SAILING, national governing body for the sport of sailing. The top three athletes in each Olympic and Paralympic class are part of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the United States. For more information about the athletes of the U.S. Olympic Team for Sailing, please visit www.ussailing.org.