Olympic Sailing Regatta Day 8: Mixed Bag for Qingdao Racing

Qingdao, China (August 16, 2008) â€" Qingdao offered a mixed bag of breezes for today’s packed schedule. 470 Men and Women were able to fully catch up to their ten-race program, with eight knots in their first races dying to a subsequent five or six knots. However, all nine other events were unable to keep up with their allotted races. 49ers may have seen the worst racing today with a 120 degree shift in their first race. Despite the tricky day, Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.) managed a third place. Rast said, “We hoisted the chute halfway up the second beat and then no one knew where the finish was. But we saw 270 degrees displayed at the course change, so we just made progress toward 270.” They sailed most of the final leg without the finish line in sight, but their blind progress was perfectly directed, and they passed from 8th to third on that leg.