US Sailors Holding Their Own

August 12, 2008 - Despite the resurgence of a pesky algae problem threatening to creep back onto the Olympic race course, the satellite Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao - 342-miles southeast of Beijing -  saw competition in full bloom today with American sailor and Olympic medal hopeful Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, FL) in first place after two races in the Laser Radial class.

Tunnicliffe got off to a strong start in both races in 6 to 7 knots of breeze. Her finishes were hard fought and with a fourth and fifth place she currently has a narrow 2-point lead over second place finisher Van Acker of Belgium.

"I made some mistakes but given the caliber of this fleet I'm happy," Tunnicliffe said. "I can see where I might have done better in a couple of places but it is early in the event and it is my goal to have consistent results and that is what I came away with today."

Although an armada of 300-boats cleared the returning algae outside of the sailing area today before the races, the classes starting on Course A still had to pick their way through small weed islands that dotted the starting area.  Course A is one of five race areas on the Olympic course but remains closest to shore. It is about 200-feet away from a massive seawall where hundreds of spectators watch the starts and television cameras cover every tack and mark rounding.

As some classes began racing earlier in the week, after six races, Zach Railey (Clearwater, FL) in the Finn Class is one point away from first place trailing two-time Olympic Gold medalist Ben Ainslie of Great Britain. Railey had held onto first place for the first two days of racing and has just slipped into second before the lay day but he is still very much in the hunt and sailing consistently with finishes of 2, 5, 2, 2, 7, and 8.

"There were 20 degree wind shifts and you didn't know they were coming. It was hard," he said after yesterday's race.  "In these conditions I'll take a seven, eight all day!"

The mental toughness that these sailors have shown cannot be underestimated as they are generally racing in very light air, a sloppy sea state with 95 percent humidity in 80-degree heat. While some of the team may have dug themselves into a hole that will be more difficult to climb out of, the Yngling team of Sally Barkow (Nashotah, WI), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, MI) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, NY) struggled back from a difficult first day when they finished 14^th out of 15 boats and are now tied for third place.

"The scoreboard makes interesting viewing and shows how similarities in boat speed and results mixed up by small weather changes have compressed the fleet. Only two boats have managed to get out in front. After the two lead boats, there are nine of us in a narrow band between 32 and 36 points," said Howe. "We spent more time today in the middle of the pack. None of that nice warm feeling of looking over the transom at the fleet spread out behind you. We finished 6th and 11th. One bonus; the discard rule kicked in and we able to drop the 14th place from the opening race that has been dragging us down."

Racing continues tomorrow for the Finns, Ynglings and 49ers, as well as the Laser and Laser Radials, the RX:S and the 470s. As the fleets are staggered, the Tornado and Star classes are not set to begin racing until August 15. Star sailor John Dane III and his son-in-law Austin Sperry have gained a bit of celebrity during this Olympics even before they begin racing as Dane, 58, is the oldest individual ever to compete in the Olympic Games and has been attempting to reach the Olympics for 40-years.  His Olympic run has been noteworthy and he was treated to a special dinner with President George Bush - who is only four years older than Dane - on the eve of the opening ceremonies.

Laurie Fullerton is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This feature was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.