British Olympic Sailing Team Prepares for Beijing 2008

The Summer Olympic Games 2008 start in Beijing, China on August the 8th and last until August 24th. This year the British Olympic Sailing Team 2008 will compete in 11 different classes.

Seaweed Problem

The conditions for sailing in China will be challenging. Light winds and high tides will test the technical skills for all 18 sailors of the British Olympic Sailing Team 2008. Recent and widely reported problems with seaweed, that has made sailing waters thick and carpet-like, just adds to the challenge and the British Olympic Sailing Team 2008 is now working really hard to ensure an excellent performance.

Medal Winners Return

The Yngling team (pronounced ‘ING-ling’), comprising of the same three women (Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson) who won gold at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and is now aiming for its second gold in Beijing.

Single Handers

Single handed dinghy classes of the British Olympic Sailing Team 2008 include Ben Ainslie in the Finn class, Paul Goodison in the Laser class and Penny Clark in the Laser Radial class.

The 49ers

Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes are competing in the double handled 49er dinghy class. The 49ers are exciting boats and racing success depends on close crew coordination to prevent capsizing. Keep up with the latest updates from the British Olympic Sailing Team 2008 49ers by visiting their blog.
Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who are racing the men’s Star keel-boat class, are training really hard in China, in spite of the aforementioned sea weed problems.

Windsurfing

The British Olympic Sailing Team for the windsurfer RS:X class is Nick Dempsey in the men’s category and Bryony Shaw in the women’s.

470 Class

The highly successful men’s crew of Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield for the two person dinghy 470 class have been competing for 10 years together, winning silver in Athens, 2004 and are now one of the favourites for a gold medal in Beijing. The women’s crew in this class consists of Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark.

Tornado Class

Leigh McMillan and Will Howden’s Tornado crew is ranked sixth in the world. The Tornado is capable of reaching speeds of over 65 km/hour and is considered to be the ‘formula-one’ of the sailing world. The British Olympic Sailing Team’s Tornado crew has not only superb skills and competence to ensure its success, but it also has tremendous tactical thinking ability, which is crucial in handling this multi-hull fast vessel.

Boat News from Cover My Boat

Cover My Boat, the marine and boat insurance specialists, will be bringing regular updates of the British Olympic Sailing Team’s successes throughout this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games.