LIGHT TO NON-EXISTENT WIND TESTS PATIENCE OF SOME, DELIVERS FOR OTHERS AT ASIAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS IN PATTAYA

There are those who joke that sailing is a sport where one sits around waiting for the wind all day. Day Four of the 2023 Asian Sailing Championships was such a day, sailors hoping to qualify for Paris 2024 finding their patience tested rather than their sailing skills.

After several days of 8-11 knots, the wind faltered. Light wind in the morning allowed for two races, but then it dropped below the threshold for racing. When it did eventually begin building again, course corrections were needed as it had changed direction by 180 degrees. Only around 3pm did the wind finally gain enough strength for racing. The 470s got two more races in, ending just as the sun began to set.

The races that were held may be consequential. In the 470s, China held onto the top two spots, a Korean team snuck in a top three result, and the Malaysians remained in the game for a place on the podium.

In the mixed male-female 470 fleet, Chinese teams are poised to take all three medals, but a poor performance by any of them on the water on December 18 or in the medal race on December 19 could give Malaysian’s Muhammad Fauzi Bin Kaman Shah and Juni Karimah Binti Noor Jamali a bump onto the podium, the duo just one point behind third-placed China’s Wenju Dong and Jingsa Wang.

The final day of fleet racing will take place on December 18.  It will be a long day, at the end of which only the top ten sailors in each fleet move onto the medal races on December 19.

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