Olympic Diary: July 27, 2024 - Light winds forecast for first day of racing
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 27 Jul 2024 06:30 BST
27 July 2024
49er - Olympic training - Marseille - Paris2024 Olympic Regatta - July 25, 2024 © Gilles Martin-Raget
The 2024 Olympic Sailing Regatta starts tomorrow, Sunday when the Womens Windsurfer face the starter at 1213hrs (local time or 1013krs UTC), for the first of four races to be sailed in their Event, on Day 1.
They will be joined 30 minutes later by the Mens Windsurfer, who will sail three races on Day 1.
Sunday will be the first day in which we will see the new iQFoil foiling windsurfer used in Olympic competition. If the weather forecast proves to be correct we could see some big margins open up, if some sailors are able to get their windsurfers onto the foil.
Both events are scheduled to sail on the Marseille course.
Mid afternoon at around 1535hrs local time. the third event - the Womens's Skiff races on the Frioul course, which is one of the two outer courses. The Mens Skiff event starts 10 minutes later on the Marseille course - one of two inshore courses.
Winds are now expected to be light for the first four days of the regatta, with the fresh 20kt plus winds now not forecast to arrive until Thursday when the Medal races are due to be sailed in the Mens and Womens Skiff (49er and 49erFX). The Mens (ILCA 7) and Womens Dinghy (ILCA 6) will start their official racing on that day.
The Mens and Womens Windsurfer sail their Finals on Friday, when the breeze is expected to remain fresh.
The Predictwind current model shows an interesting forecast of circular tidal flows on the racing courses. However fortunately for the competitors they are in the morning before the start of racing, and by the time racing is due to begin they should have moved offshore to the outer course areas.
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