Lack of wind just one of many issues

IT’S NOT official yet but sailing looks set to be become the next extreme sport when the Olympic regatta starts tomorrow. If smog, strong currents and the absence of wind was not enough, there’s even more trouble lurking for the combined fleet of 400 sailors in Qingdao.

But the time for whinging about the vagaries of the Yellow Sea venue is long since gone; having completed two test events here last year and in 2006 the world’s top crews are resigned to a tortuous fate starting tomorrow. It is a series not only predicted to be cut short due to lack of wind but a washout of a sporting spectacle.

Ireland is represented by a four-boat team, three of which make their Olympic debut.

After days of moderate breeze (six knots) it was a frustratingly calm day in Qingdao yesterday. The flotilla of regatta management, race committee and media boats, Finn and Yngling fleets waited for over an hour for the wind to settle and fill under mostly sunny skies before abandoning. Sailors have been dealing with the situation as best they can and this week optimised craft have been unveiled; 62 nations aiming to be the fastest at floating in the fog.

Focusing on a gold-or-nothing approach the Netherlands’ Tornado champion Mitch Booth is to use a Code zero gennaker built especially for light conditions. The general feeling is if the conditions are light, Booth would end up a half a leg in front as his boat is significantly faster upwind.

The Irish squad are also to the fore in light air development. Dún Laoghaire’s Ger Owens and Phil Lawton will hoist a mainsail this morning using the lightest sailcloth available. It’s a development that will save them half a kilogramme aloft. Regrettably it’s a technical advantage that has been copied by at least one other team.

Ireland’s 470 pair is the most experienced of the Irish crews. They’re also the lightest in class and, say insiders, the most likely to reach the target set by sailing officials here by finishing in the top eight. Also afloat were Star pairing Peter O’Leary and Steven Milne in the men’s keelboat, and both single-handers Ciara Peelo debuting in the Laser Radial and Tim Goodbody in the Finn.

Lawton as 470 crewman has lost 20 kilograms in weight (going from 83 to 64 in 12 months) an indication of the lengths sailors are prepared to go to race in a series that Britain’s Ben Ainslie has already predicted “a nightmare”. “It’s like running the 100 metres with pot holes,” he said.

On paper Britain have the strongest team, and Ainslie is their linchpin, but significantly the strongest nation has lowered its expectations because it faces such a snakes and ladders challenge on the Yellow Sea. And if it’s enough to knock the wind out of Team GBR sails it is a daunting prospect for a rookie Irish squad.

The regatta could be spoiled by a carpet of foul-smelling algae that remains out there over the course, kept at bay by the might of the Chinese navy.

The World Sailing Federation appear to have held little sway when it allowed the world’s top sailing regatta to proceed in one of the most windless places on the planet. Over the next two weeks it must witness the results of such inaction. It’s all very well maintaining the conditions will be the same for everyone but the light winds will lead to shortened races where good fortune rather than pure ability will play a leading role.

But in adversity lies opportunity, says Irish manager James O’Callaghan, who aims for a finish in the top eight.

A top-eight result has not been achieved since 1980 – when Ireland took silver in Moscow. O’Callaghan says he does not want to curse Owens and Lawton by making predictions but he favours the 470 duo to make the top eight. With smog, strong tides, foul-smelling algae and no wind to contend with it is hard to see how such positive insight could be a jinx.