No wind, no sailing.
Wind was the talking point from athletes, coaches and the public that attempted to engage in sailing on Olympic Day 10.
A weather delay starting at noon ET was continuously extended until about 3:15 p.m. ET, when wind started strolling in.
With cancellation of the men’s Laser and women’s Laser Radial medal race looming, hope was found as winds continued to pick up.
The women’s Laser Radial boats were given the go-ahead to head to the water and launch their boats in preparation for their medal race.
The wind gods answered, but not as expected. Suddenly, there was too much wind, 38 knots to be exact, which made for unsafe sailing conditions.
The Laser and Laser Radial medal races were canceled; those athletes racing in the medal race will have to wait one more day to crown their champion.
Races eight, nine and 10 for the men’s and women’s 470 scheduled for Monday were also canceled and similarly will attempt to race on Tuesday.
On the bright side, the men’s 49er, sailing in the Copacabana area of Guanabara Bay, and the women’s 49erFX, sailing in the Niteroi area, found decent wind conditions and were able to complete races seven, eight and nine of their opening series.
Men’s 49er and women’s 49erFX
As the rest of the field was docked, the women’s 49erFX was in full sail.
High fives were in order as Spain’s Tamara Dominguez and Berta Betanzos won two of the three races on Monday. They took the lead from Denmark’s Jena Hansen and Katja Salskoc-Iversen, who had a16th place finish in race eight, dropping them to fourth overall.
New Zealand’s Alex Maloney and Molly Meech, who trailed Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of Brazil, overtook the second overall spot. Brazil sits in third.
Team USA’s Paris Henken and Helena Scutt, who won U.S. Sailing their first race of the Rio Olympics, kept steady at ninth overall.
On the men’s side, New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke maintain the lead and are still the heavy favorite for the gold medal in Rio.
Although Germany’s Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel had a 15th-place finish in race seven, they till are in second overall behind Burling and Tuke.
After double digit finishes in race five and six, Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen moved from sixth to third overall after a four, five- and eight-place finish.
Full results: Women’s 49erFX Day 10 of Olympic sailing
Full results: Men’s 49er Day 10 of Olympic sailing