470

Qingdao, China - The Australian teams absolutely dominated both the Men's and Women's 470 Class racing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Australian Head Coach Victor Kovalenko has now coached teams to medals in both 470 events at the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games, and further cemented his title as the ‘Medal Maker’.  With a 31 point lead in the Men's 470 Class, and a 10 point lead in the Women's 470, the Aussies took the gold in both classes triumphantly.

Qingdao, China - Six races in, and the 2008 Olympics leaderboard is starting to take shape. The Qingdao sun is definitely shining on team Australia in the 470 classes, with first places in both the Men's event and Women's Olympic event (where they're tied with NED). As with all the other classes, it's been a serious of slow, technical races so far - rewarding some and challenging others. Patience, at least at the Beijing Olympics, seems to be a winning virtue - so far.

Words cannot begin to describe our Opening Ceremony Experience from Beijing last night. There simply isn’t the vocabulary that has the ability to draw deep enough meaning. It was the thrill of our lives to walk through the tunnel and into the Stadium surrounded by our country’s great athletes and wearing the Team USA uniform!

Since 1976, the 470 has been a big part of Olympic sailing, and it is both the Men's and Women's two-person dinghy at the 2008 Olympic Games. It is chosen not only for its sailing prowess, but for its ability to highlight the two-person teamwork this boat both requires and somehow magnifies. The 470 crew have to work in perfect synchrony or lose, it's that simple, and this makes 470 sailors a special lot - like two halves of a whole.

In High School, a Jersey Girl named Sarah Mergenthaler lettered in five varsity sports, none of which were sailing. Sarah has been working toward her goal of becoming a world class sailor for most of her life, but that didn't get in the way of all the other sports at which she excelled. These include soccer, track, basketball, cross-country, and (American) football, where this first-string record-setter was the only girl on the varsity team.

With just six months to go until the start of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, it’s been an action-packed start to the sailing year. The 49er, 470, Finn and RSX classes have already held their World Championships, with the Lasers and Ynglings set to begin later this week, followed by the Tornados then the Laser Radials in March and finally the Stars in April.