Day #1 of Official Racing and Qualifying

Written by: Jens

The opening ceremonies took place last night at 6:30. An RCMP band marched in, leading a group of dignitaries. After the speeches, a meal was supplied in the competitor’s village tent.

Today is the first day of official racing. The sailors were split into 3 groups (each group having around 56 boats), with Brad being in the red group. Over the next 4 days, each group will sail against the other groups to determine the fleets for the medal races. The results of these qualifying races count in the medal rounds. Brad tells me that the red fleet is really stacked with many of the best sailors, so he is in for a rough go right from the start.

Just to put the worlds into the right perspective, the fellow who won the North American Laser Championship this year, the largest laser regatta in North America, placed 36th in the bronze fleet at last year's worlds in Australia.

It is weird; I have heard from Brad (and others) so many times, the names of the top laser sailors. When I finally see them, it turns out they actually look human. For instance, I saw Paul Goodison from England, ranked number #1 in the world. I don’t think he can walk on water.

Check out the photos at capizzano.com, the web site of the official photographer for this event.

I am also hearing a lot more buzz about the hurricane...