Races 3 and 4 saw further improvement from Tim Goodbody at Qingdao to-day, August 10th
Race 3 started in 9 kts of breeze with sunny conditions. The temperature was 27 degrees C and humidity was 85. It was a windward/leeward course with two rounds. At the weather mark rounding Goodbody was in 15th position and 10th at the leeward mark for the first round, and in the second round moved to 12th and finished in 15th place.
In Race 4 the wind had dropped slightly to 8 kts and Goodbody reached the weather mark in an improved 6th position and dropping slightly to 11th at the leeward mark. He remained in 11th position for the second weather mark and finished again in 15th place. This brings his position to 18th overall. The current leader is Zach Railey of the USA followed by the favourite, Olympic Gold Medalist Ben Ainslie of Britain. A discard will apply if six races are sailed and this will shuffle the pack.
On a personal note, it was a very proud moment to see the impeccably turned out Irish team on television. The TV interviews with Prof O’Connell and James O’Callaghan, ISA High Performance Director, were excellent and Prof was particularly adept at explaining some of the misconceptions and the sailing diffiiculties being experienced at this venue as some of the commentators do not understand the sailing regatta consists of a series of races and a poor result in one race can be compensated for by a good result in the next. All in all it gave an excellent impression of sailing in Ireland.
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