Large confused swells combined with gusty, shifty conditions to make the second day of Olympic sailing at Tokyo 2020 a real head scratcher. Andy Rice reportsThere was more wind than expected for the second day of racing at the Olympic Sailing Competition which was just as well as the lumpy, confused wave pattern made it hard to get into the groove.
\nWhen the Pacific swell hits the shoreline of Enoshima and the concrete harbour walls, it reverberates back out to sea, turning the racing area into something akin to a washing machine.
\nFinding a rhythm through the water is difficult, made all the harder by the breeze shifting first one way, then the other, without much discernible pattern. Many of the Olympic sailing competitors suffered, but a few managed to make sense of nature\u2019s chaos.
\nThe Laser, Laser Radial and the Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s RS:X all took to the water in a 10-15 knot easterly breeze and successfully completed their scheduled races.
\nThere have been a lot of big scores on the Laser fleet so far. Photo: Sailing energy \/ World Sailing
\nOlympic Sailing: Men\u2019s One Person Dinghy \u2013 Laser
\nFinland\u2019s Kaarle Tapper was not on many people\u2019s radar as a likely candidate to be topping the leaderboard in the mightily tough Olympic sailing Laser fleet. But after three races that\u2019s where the flying Finn finds himself.
\nFollowing on from a second place on the opening day, Tapper took third in the first race of today, followed by a 14th which in this fleet is not all that bad either.
\nFour points behind the Finn are two great friends and training partners, as well being Olympic sailing silver medallists from the past two Games, Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) and Pavlos Kontides (CYP).
\nWhile the Croatian is nominally in second overall on tiebreak with worst race discarded, he\u2019d rather have the more consistent set of numbers held by the Cypriot. Counting all scores, Kontides has the lowest points in the fleet and is the only sailor to have kept all of his results inside the top ten.
\nHis results of 4,7,5 don\u2019t tell the real story of why the Cypriot is doing so well this week. In yesterday\u2019s race Kontides hauled himself back from 27th to fourth, and today was a similar story of coming back from the dead.
\n\u201cVery changeable conditions \u2013 big windshifts and changes in current as well \u2013 which gave a lot of opportunities for gains, but also losses. I was finding myself deep after the first lap in both races today, but fortunately I was able to finish well,\u201d Kontides explained after racing.
\nIn full hiking conditions and big waves to navigate, it was a full-body workout for the Laser sailors on the Enoshima course. Sweden\u2019s Jesper Stalheim was leading the race for a while before yielding to 2020 World Champion Philipp Buhl from Germany. Stalheim dropped to third and found himself pinned by another boat as he was approaching the windward mark.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOlympic sailing: Struggles for the big names on day one<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAfter two weeks of training in steady onshore breezes, it was all change for the opening day of the Tokyo\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOlympic sailing: How to follow the Tokyo 2020 regatta<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor the 350 Olympic sailing athletes competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a medal symbolises more than their skills; it\u2026<\/p>\n
The Swede misjudged the current pushing the fleet on to the mark, and after hitting the mark it went from bad to worse as he capsized in the course of taking his penalty turn. Meanwhile Milivoj Dukic overtook Buhl and made it a memorable first race victory for Montenegro at the Olympic Games.
\nStalheim must have been kicking himself to have made a mess of his opportunities in the first race of the day. But he kicked himself so hard that he shot into the lead of race three. This time, no mistakes, and the Swede hammered home the win.
\nThe competition is tough in the Laser Radial fleet with several unusual names at the front of the fleet. Photo: Sailing energy \/ World Sailing
\nWomen\u2019s One Person Dinghy \u2013 Laser Radial
\nLine Flem H\u00f8st (NOR) is the surprise package of the Olympic Sailing Competition so far, the Norwegian sailing an unbelievably consistent regatta in such unpredictable conditions.
\n\u201cI was actually feeling kind of shaky, a bit nauseous, not quite ready,\u201d admitted H\u00f8st. \u201cSo it was really great to have such a good day and really feel like I was in the zone.\u201d
\nVasileia Karachaliou (GRE) rose up the rankings too, on the back of 6,1 scores and sits two points off the lead. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to win a race, but it\u2019s just another regatta, even if it\u2019s the Olympics. My most important goal is to try to keep all my scores in the top 10, and then see what happens at the end.\u201d
\nUntil the fourth race this afternoon, Anne-Marie Rindom had been the only athlete to keep all her results inside the top 10, but then the Dane proved that even she is fallible in the vagaries of Enoshima as she finished 13th late this afternoon.
\nHowever the bronze Olympic sailing medallist from Rio is still in bronze medal position in Tokyo. \u201cI\u2019m a little bit disappointed about that last race. But all in all, I think I managed to keep to my goal, which is to be present in the moment, to look out of the boat and not be affected by my emotions, which is not that easy because there are a lot of emotions at an Olympic Games.\u201d
\nFollowing a hard first day on the water, defending Olympic Champion Marit Bouwmeester (NED) really needed to up her game and she came away from the day with a 7,2, lifting her to fifth place overall, two points behind Italy\u2019s Silvia Zennaro.
\nBouwmeester had been leading the fourth race before being passed by Karachaliou, but at least the Dutch two-time Olympic medallist is in striking distance, 16 points off the overall lead.
\nTwo years ago when she won gold at the Hempel World Cup Enoshima, she celebrated with singing \u2018Barbie Girl\u2019 at a karaoke bar. Bouwmeester admitted the gold medal looks like a big challenge, but promised, \u201cIf I win, I will sing Alphaville.\u201d Alphaville\u2019s best known song from the 80s being \u2018Big in Japan\u2019.
\nPhoto: Sailing energy \/ World Sailing
\nMen\u2019s Windsurfer \u2013 RS:X
\nKiran Badloe (NED) came ashore as the new leader of the RS:X Men\u2019s fleet in this Olympic sailing regatta. However, there was a protest against the Dutch sailor from closest rival Mattia Camboni from Italy.
\nIt was a port starboard incident at the windward mark where Badloe had failed to keep clear from Camboni. The protest resulted in Badloe\u2019s disqualification from race five in which he had finished second.
\nThis relegates the three-time World Champion to third overall, a point behind yesterday\u2019s leader Mateo Sanz Lanz from Switzerland, now in second overall. Camboni holds a four point lead going into the windsurfer fleet\u2019s day off from competition.
\nSpeaking as he came off the water before going into the protest, Camboni was his usual, smiling, upbeat self. \u201cThe racing is intense. You must be focussed all the time. You cannot stop watching what is happening around you. This is the Olympic Games. Everyone is at the top level, so it\u2019s always a good fight.\u201d
\nBadloe likes to keep his emotions at the same pitch, regardless of what comes his way, and the same with the wind conditions. He claims not to have a favourite type of breeze. \u201cI like all-round conditions so I\u2019m pretty happy to get what comes our way,\u201d said the Dutchman, who isn\u2019t that bothered about what the weather forecast says for the rest of the week. \u201cWe have a day off now, and we\u2019re going to come here the day after tomorrow and no matter what condition, we\u2019ll turn up at the same time and we\u2019re going to go racing.\u201d
\nFrance\u2019s Thomas Goyard started the day with a 13th but hit the reset button to win the next two races. This lifts the Frenchman to fourth overall.
\nBritain\u2019s Wilson is now in second behind France\u2019s Picon in the Women\u2019s windsurfer. Photo: Sailing energy \/ World Sailing
\nWomen\u2019s Windsurfer \u2013 RS:X
\nEmma Wilson (GBR) moves to level on points with regatta leader Charline Picon (FRA). The Briton put together scores of 1,4,2 in conditions that others were finding very hard to make work on the RS:X board.
\n\u201cIt was pretty shifty with the wind coming from the land, so that was always going to be tricky,\u201d the Brit explained. \u201cI got good starts and just tried to do what I could do best, to trust myself.\u201d
\nIt was a pretty good day for Picon, the defending Olympic Champion, who started shakily with a ninth but then recovered with a race win and a fourth. \u201cThe wind was more intense than we expected, 12 to 18 knots offshore, unstable, gusty. It was complicated racing today,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we are at the halfway of the competition, in a fight with Great Britain and China. So it\u2019s OK.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s Yunxiu Lu had the best day on the water with an incredible set of scores \u2013 2,2,1 \u2013 moving her to just two points off the lead and nine points ahead of Italy\u2019s Marta Maggetti in fourth overall.
\nPre-regatta favourite, the three-time World Champion Lilian de Geus couldn\u2019t disguise her dejection as she stepped ashore from a day that didn\u2019t seem that bad \u2013 8,3,11 were her scores.
\nThe Dutch sailor had gold very much on her mind for Tokyo 2020, and at the halfway stage \u2013 lying in sixth place \u2013 she knows a lot of things need to go her way if that\u2019s to happen.
\n\u201cToday I just missed the wind shifts, I guess. I was a little bit too early or too late all the time. We still have more than half a week and yeah, I just need to see what the next day brings and I hope I can refocus.\u201d
\nWhat next for the\u00a0Olympic Sailing schedule?
\nThe Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s RS:X Windsurfers will enjoy a day off on Tuesday 27 July and the Laser and Laser Radial fleets will continue their competition.
\nTaking to the water for the first time will be the Men\u2019s Skiff \u2013 49er, Women\u2019s Skiff \u2013 49erFX and the Men\u2019s Heavyweight One Person Dinghy \u2013 Finn.
\nRacing starts at 12:00 JST.
\nYou can find a full list of results\u00a0at the World Sailing website.<\/p>\n
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Large confused swells combined with gusty, shifty conditions to make the second day of Olympic sailing at Tokyo 2020 a real head scratcher. Andy Rice reportsThere was more wind than expected for the second day of racing at the Olympic … <\/p>\n