Workers clean up blue-green algae from the sea as windsurfers sail behind, at Qingdao, the host city for sailing events at the 2008 Olympic Games, in eastern China's Shandong province Tuesday June 24, 2008. The Qingdao government organized 400 boats and 3000 people to help remove the algae after Olympics organizers ordered a cleanup. Experts say the algae, which has clogged the coastline of the Olympic city, is a result of climate change and recent heavy rains in southern China, according to the Xinhua news agency. (AP Photo/EyePress)

Thats gross...

tell ya what, im kinda glad im not sailing there..

No wind, green algae in ya toes!!! YUCKKY!

They should be converting that algae into Biodiesel.

that way the keep the waterways clean, create an environmentally friendly fuel, and make money from the Olympics.
all win win

^ I think it goes to make athlete food.

Does the RSX have a weed fin option?

Its "soylent green"

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DavMen said...

Its "soylent green"

It might be soylent but its noisome.

I think I saw Chalton Heston.

In the early 80s off Toronto (Great Lakes), you could follow the trail of a board in the water for the last 15-20 minutes. And it wasn't algue, more like 3-inch long bacteria...

poor blokes scooping up that green crap, looks like hard yakka. You would think for such a technological advanced country they would have designed a machine to do this?

by the way - those blokes slogging around out there - doesnt look like windsurfing to me. I reckon that if the medal is decided in such light conditions as this it is going to generate some bad perceptions of the sport..

Any links about Olympic windsurfig? Vids? Anything?

I googled olympic windsurfing and found nada. So they're having it? Windsurfng, I mean.

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Wet Willy said...


Any links about Olympic windsurfig? Vids? Anything?

I googled olympic windsurfing and found nada. So they're having it? Windsurfing, I mean.

I think windsurfing at the Bejing Olympics will be one of the least exciting events... if reports are right this will be more a case of standaround-surfing.

I noticed it was on Saturday, somewhere in amongst all the other sailing, between 3pm and 9am local time.

-6hrs difference (I think) so perhaps they are sailing at night (I wonder)???

It's a real shame; the athletes who are competing in the Olympic windsurfing are among the most talented of all windsurfers, and have worked incredibly hard and with great discipline to get where they are.

Nevertheless, even to the most avid windsurfer, the conditions look **house, and the whole thing looks as boring as bat**. It will be of little interest to the average punter, and is totally unrepresentative of the sport we all love.

It's sad, but what is the solution? Hold the Olympic windsurfing in the Canary Islands or Maui?

Now there's a t shirt -
"No one pumps like an olympic windsurfer"

I guess it needs asking then... should windsurfing even be part of the Olympics? Same question applies to many of its other sports...

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It's sad, but what is the solution? Hold the Olympic windsurfing in the Canary Islands or Maui?

The solution is easy, use Mistral Superlight ( 1982) or Windsurfer One Design, you can sail them anywhere in any condition. There would be a hell of a lot more tactics involved as well.

It'll be pretty easy to remember all the windsurfers' names, we've only one:
Jessica Crisp
www.olympics.com.au/Portals/3/pdf/sailing.pdf

Day 3
Monday 11/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 01
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 01
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 02
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 02

Day 4
Tuesday 12/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 03
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 03
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 04
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 04

Day 6
Thursday 14/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 05
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 05
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 06
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 06

Day 8
Saturday 16/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 07
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 07
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 08
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 08

Day 10
Monday 18/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 09
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 09
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 10
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 10

Day 12
Wednesday 20/08 13:00 - 19:00 (local time)
Men's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 11 (Medal Race)
Women's Windsurfer -RS:X - Race 11 (Medal Race)

> and is totally unrepresentative of the sport we all love

It is true that racing is completely unrepresentative of recreational windsurfing.

Racing has a goal, it requires skills that windsurfers who have never competed (at some level) could never, never relate to and understand.

Recreational windsurfing, that is, going left two miles and back and fro and back and fro in fancy gear (that is often underpowered so that it's easier to hold on to), requires little skills (proof: many many thousands can simply do it). It has no goal, no comparison with others.

This is not to demean mass windsurfing and our sport, it's a great activity. But there is no doubt that my little pro mates with equipment I-go-out-only-in-strong-wind at the local beach here and elsewhere would look like absolute beginners in any serious-level race. In my racing days (olympic and slalom), the non-racers just could understand that their local little reaches were much easier than any racing.

Now, this is not to say that racing should be in Olympics, that I don't know. There are sports where Olympics are representative of the fad of the day, others - not.

About standing around in lesser winds: the only reason that this kind of windsurfing is not representative indeed is that we have all these I'm-too-good-for-the-wind moping types sitting on the side.

In short, I concur with the guy who said it's not representative.

Back and forth windsurfing now has a goal, thanks to technology. Its called GPS sailing and its competition almost all windsurfers can take part in. Now with GPS sailors can measure their performance and get as analytical as they like, just like racers do.

Personally because I can't have a long board I'll go out in winds from about 10 knots. Thats enough to get me going on my Tabou 140. I recently watched a Formula race and it was amazing to see them getting going in very light winds. Thats what should be in the olympics, with a minimum wind limit of about 7 knots.

No one likes watching windsurfing turning into rowing.

At the moment i'm a part of a Bic Techno (205L with centerboard) windsurfing squad thing here in SA which is the junior division of the RSX sailing. It's a heap different to what i'm used to and i'm finding it quite challenging. Always having to have a 6.8m cammed sail rigged, i've been sailing in 18+ knots and even when there was absolutely no wind at all (as in we moved faster if we dropped the sail and sat on the board to drift). Yeah it's a heaps different and probably not quite as fun as full out planning in big winds with small sails, but its very challenging and would take a heap or skill to do it well. The courses they have are two buoys (spelling) directly upwind/downwind of eachother. This is a very difficult course to navigate and takes a lot of practice using techniques i would have never used just in my normal recreational sailing. So yeah it's different and everything, but incrediably dicfficult course and conditions you have to sail.

Bubs

Olympic windsurfing is waste of time it doesnt represent any of the sport, is almost always held in an unsuitable places and now is performed on an absolutlely ridiculous board (both design and price) should have at least stuck with the Mistral One Design!

Although it's nice to have windsurfing on the world stage, i would much prefer if windsurfing was scrapped from the olympics completely. I think that it is only a matter of time before it is canned anyway. Im almost embarrased when I see olympic windsurfers pumping around a course in zero knots of breeze, its not windsurfing!

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Mobydisc said...



Formula race and it was amazing to see them getting going in very light winds. Thats what should be in the olympics, with a minimum wind limit of about 7 knots.

WRONG. You arnt guaranteed wind. The next Olympics is London there will be no wind at all there. You are better of with a Mistral Superlight or Windsurfer OD, you can sail them in anything , perfect for the Olympics very tactical.

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WRONG. You arnt guaranteed wind. The next Olympics is London there will be no wind at all there. You are better of with a Mistral Superlight or Windsurfer OD, you can sail them in anything , perfect for the Olympics very tactical.

??? I hope you are not suggesting that they will he holding the sailing events in London. My guess is they will be done somewhere on the South Coast of England... either way.... the UK can get anything from no wind to hurricane force almost anytime of the year... remember having a great summer way back in 1996 on Rutland water (it was home spot while living in Leicester)???

crazy thing was they had a law which didn't allow you to sail past 6pm or something... so there I was on Rutland water at 6pm (it get's dark around 10pm in summer), overpowered on a 5.0 and the ranger standing at the shore with a signal light asking me to leave... needless to say I just ignored him.

I say F### it, and you can quote me on that.

BTW if a Chinese person said that, they'd probably be shot for it. I have no idea why they gave the honour of holding the olympics to that country. But then again, they gave it to Germany under Hitler in the 1930s.

Yay for sport! *BUUUURP*

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Krusty said...

(...) doesnt represent any of the sport (...)

Not disagreed, but again what is? Is it going back and fro (probably the majority of windsurfers, fun but hardly competitive). Is it buying a lot more equipment with a trailer, and change gear all day? (fair number of guys, but still not representative I hope).

Is it sitting on the side and moping there's no wind because is too good for the 10-20 knot range? (lotsa of that for sure nowadays, almost representative, but that's not sport). It could be just planing in fair winds, but that's what one does after 1-2 months learning, gets plain boring.

Is it fancy wavejumping? Surely not, that must be a very small % of all windsurfing, and requires very special conditions. Is it freestyle? Surely not, still a small % (that's too bad - I'd personally vote for that one).

Seems windsurfing is a mish-mash of all that. In the end, nothing will be representative of the sport.

I think Olympic windsurfing is representative of sailboat racing in general - triangle, tactics, make do with restricted equipment, etc. I cannot denigrate it, since I was only an average racer, and I know most guys could even near their skills, in any kind of wind.

Some of the most popular windsurfing races take place in France. This is due to those clever French working out windsurfers like to do, just like Pierre has done. So instead of putting three marks out for a triangle or two marks out for upwind/downwind, they put two marks out for two reaches and gybes.

Any kind of board can go in the race so you get formula, race boards, slalom, wave or whatever, depending on what gear people have and the wind. People also use their GPSes to measure their speed and tracks. The get hundreds of people competing on a regular basis.

There is a push to have a larger formula board the next Olympic board, something from Starboard. I really doubt the Olympic sailing village will be on the Thames river. I am not sure but I would imaging it would be somewhere like Bournemouth or Brighton.

Clearly when Beijing was awarded the Olympics, sailing was not high on the list of priorities for the selection committee. The London Olympics will be better for sailing than this one.

If you had had Formula at the Sydney Olympics you would have been lucky to have 2 races ( wind, tide etc) We have the Worlds Championships for Formula where it is just for windsurfing,with the Olympics
your with every sport and you have to pick a country that is good for everything, so you need an all round board that performs well on a course in all wind conditions ( 2 - 25 Knots ) like a Mistral Superlight or a Windsurfer OD. Leave Formula to the World Championships and an all round board to the Olympics. The Olympics and the Worlds are 2 completly different events. The Olympics is a man on man event not an equipment race, leave it at that.

why not just put fans along the side of the olympic swimming pool!

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pierrec45 said...

Krusty said...

(...) doesnt represent any of the sport (...)

Not disagreed, but again what is? Is it going back and fro (probably the majority of windsurfers, fun but hardly competitive). Is it buying a lot more equipment with a trailer, and change gear all day? (fair number of guys, but still not representative I hope).

Is it sitting on the side and moping there's no wind because is too good for the 10-20 knot range? (lotsa of that for sure nowadays, almost representative, but that's not sport). It could be just planing in fair winds, but that's what one does after 1-2 months learning, gets plain boring.

Is it fancy wavejumping? Surely not, that must be a very small % of all windsurfing, and requires very special conditions. Is it freestyle? Surely not, still a small % (that's too bad - I'd personally vote for that one).

Seems windsurfing is a mish-mash of all that. In the end, nothing will be representative of the sport.

I think Olympic windsurfing is representative of sailboat racing in general - triangle, tactics, make do with restricted equipment, etc. I cannot denigrate it, since I was only an average racer, and I know most guys could even near their skills, in any kind of wind.

Yes! Everything you said above and more is what windsurfing is and always will be! Windsurfing is the buzz you get when you first start planning, the excitment you feel when you win a race, the skill you have when you crack a loop, the adrenalin you feel at 30knts and most importantly the time you spend waiting for wind, etc.

Windsurfing will NEVER be represented by one particular discipline, thats what is great about it everyone gets their buzz differently, that is why it will never be a sport capable of being in the olympics. Windsurfing is about the freedom to have fun on the water and the olympic bull**** is sooooo far from what real windsurfers are doin, windsurfing is a soul sport !

It's like having surfing in the olympics, imagine that??? What would they ride esky lids, longboards, tow ins, shortboards.....

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evlPanda said...

Now there's too much wind:

AUSTRALIAN team officials say they will not allow sailors to compete if a typhoon which has hit Taiwan moves on to the east coast of China and makes conditions too dangerous.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24089464-5016782,00.html

Time to pack up the RSX and get the small wave gear out!

Olympic speedsailing anyone? Less tactics, more speed, better spectacle, better crashes, and even your mum will be able to tell what's going on..