Olympic Games 1996

IYRU Olympic Update

Report from Savannah -- July 16

No news is good news.....

Great sailing the last two days, lovely winds 15-20 kts, and challenging waves. The organizers have begun to set up training courses, they ran starts today for anyone interested, with short training races tomorrow.

The Europe dinghy is the problem at the moment, with lots of issued centerboards somewhat less than Olympian in quality.... the fight is over an equitable solution, fair to all. Of the issued boats (Finn, Europe, Laser, and the Mistral boards), the only one that has been hassle-free with super quality and no complaints from the sailors has been the Finn.

The bottleneck with ferry transport between the marina sites has gotten worse at peak travel times, with still no solution clear; there are 7 boats for athlete transport, the round trip takes one hour minimum, each boat holds 40 people, security won't let all out at one time, and there are 400+ sailors and another 200+ officials who need to get out - and back. Do the math, and its clear there is no room for athletes waiting to be on the last ride out to minimize time in the heat/sun.

Village population continues to grow, at 57nations/382 residents Sunday. On Monday housing becomes free and about 20 more nations expected to arrive.

IYRU Olympic Update