Finn

Great Britain's Ben Ainslie won the Olympic gold medal sailing in the Finn class today, with Zach Railey of the USA grabbing the silver in the first truly exciting sailing race of the 2008 Olympics. Thanks to the approaching storm system, which we reported yesterday, for the first time the wind picked up, the waves got big, and the spectators in Qingdao got to see what real sailing is all about. Now this is the kind of racing we have all have been waiting for.

Qingdao, China - The 2008 Beijing Olympics have seen some close matches so far, but the sailing battle in Qingdao between Britain's Ben Ainsle and Zach Railey of the US is shaping up to be quite an exceptional show.  Racing the FINN class, Ben has a 1 point lead over Zach so far in the overall score, and neither one is letting up for an instant.  Though the winds have been light at these Olympics, the competition has not.

Qingdao, China - The first day of sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics saw light winds and some surprising upsets, with 4 to 6 knots and clear blue skies filtered by less than the usual air pollution. The first scheduled race of the day was in the Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy) class, which was won in rather elegant fashion by Emilios Papathanasiou of Greece, however it is Rafal Szukiel of Poland who now leads the Finn in overall standings.

In 1949, the Finnish Yachting Association started a design competition for the Helsinki (1952) Olympics. Rickard Sarby answered the call, designed, and then actually built the FINN - which was then rejected by the committee. Though the Association snubbed it, the design became instantly popular with sailors. More boats were built, and on the water the FINN was beating the other designs almost every time. So, appearing in

Mallorca - The Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia offered the sailors a beautiful last day of sailing yesterday with a strong breeze, waves and sunshine for the Medal Races.

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.