Rio ramp collapse is no problem for Irish sailors

The moment of truth arrives in Rio today when the Olympic Games get underway, with four boats representing Irish sailing hopes.

The latest problem to hit the sailing venue has been the collapse last weekend of the new launching ramp at the Marina Da Gloria, where the regatta is based.

Yet training at the venue continued as normal this week and Irish team-leaders appear unfazed by the problem that has local organisers rushing to complete repairs in time for Monday’s opening races.

“The launching ramp isn’t an issue at all,” said Irish team member James O’Callaghan. “We can just launch off the older facilities – it’s not going to stop anyone racing.”

"We've been on the ground for two days now and there's the usual teething problems with a big event," O'Callaghan told The Irish Times. "This is my fifth Olympics and we've seen this all before. We have a happy bunch of sailors so we're pretty much ready to roll."

Issues unique to Rio are still a reality that all the competitors have had to adapt to, though few are strangers to the venue.

The Irish sailing squad decided almost two years ago that the distance between the marina and Olympic village was going to add too much of a commute to the venue – it’s more than an hour from the village to Marina da Gloria and in some cases it’s another hour out to the racing areas.

Several reports have suggested that traffic build-ups mean the commute from the main Olympic centre to the sailing venue can be up to two hours long.

“We’ve seen a huge improvement in the site over the last 12 months, it’s a really nice place to be, so no complaints from the Irish sailing team,” said O’Callaghan.

Sailors had the option of not staying in the Athletes’ Village and the Irish, like most of the other sailing teams, chose to stay close to the marina.

Racing conditions

But the racing conditions will certainly present a different challenge to that of the London 2012 venue at Weymouth four years ago.

“Conditions remind me of Dublin Bay last week during the Laser Radial Worlds when there was breeze in the bay but not necessarily across the whole bay – that’s what makes Rio so unpredictable,” said O’Callaghan.

Meanwhile, fears over the Zika virus appear to be receding with mosquitos seemingly absent, so far, in the sailing venue.

Medical briefings to date have concentrated on the water-quality on Guanabara Bay where heavy rain earlier this week brought pollution into the bay.

However, training sessions have been problem-free and acceptable for racing standards.