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Qingdao International Regatta - Sailing 2006 :: First Olympic Test Event |
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Monday, 21 August 2006 |
 The first test event for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition is underway in Qingdao. The Qingdao International Regatta will take place at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center from August 18th-31st, and will give sailors from around the world their first opportunity to test the waters upon which the next set of Olympic Sailing medallists will be decided.
The Qingdao International Regatta is the first of two test events scheduled for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, and is one of the first test events to be held by any of the 28 summer sports currently on the Olympic program.
Two boats from each ISAF MNA will be accepted at the regatta, with the possibility of a third boat at the discretion of the Organizing Committee if the entry quotas have not been met.
The Regatta
The opening three days of the regatta from August 18th-20th are reserved for registration and measurement with racing held from August 21st-31st. The regatta will follow the format of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, with a ten race opening series, followed by a Medal Race between the top ten competitors. The Medal Race will be judged on the water and scored at double points, with letter scores counting double points based on the original fleet size.
The Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, located at the former Beihai Dockyard on Fushan Bay in East New Zone of Qingdao, will host the regatta. The Race Committee, working with guidelines from ISAF, will set courses as similar as possible to those of the Olympic Sailing Competition.
Continuing Preparations
As the preparations intensify, a delegation from Qingdao recently attended the ISAF World Sailing Games in Austria to see first hand the challenges of organizing an international regatta. Even more recently the Mayor of Qingdao Xia Geng, who is also the Chairman of the Qingdao Sailing Committee, visited the ISAF Secretariat in Southampton, Great Britain. ISAF Web site. "Qingdao International Regatta 2006," 7 July 2006. <http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j67Fh%60,qC&format=popup>.
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