Canada handily placed in two after Day 1
Brian Todd reports on the Canadian fortunes on Day 1 of the 2008 Paralympics 
'McRoberts and Louttit (Canada) passing the Paralympic flame in Qingdao'
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Day 1 Qingdao Paralympics
Brian Todd reports on the Canadian fortunes on Day 1 of the 2008 Paralympics
Racing today was a mixed bag of wind, the forecasts were for good winds around midday but they were well off the mark as the 2.4 and Skud 18 fleets were sent back in as the wind was not enough to start a race.
By 3:00pm the AP went down, so out the fleets went again for 2 races in 6-9kts of wind from 110 in the first race and 120 on the compass in the second race. Over on the Sonar course they did not go in but their races were held up for some time. When the competitors finally did get in it was well past six o'clock and the sun was going down, definitely a long day on the water but excellent racing.
On the 2.4 Meter Course Paul Tingley from (RNSYS) had 2 first place finishes, he felt that the wind was pretty steady in both races and he was happy with his pace. To quote Paul and his coach Craig Guthrie, ' it is just the beginning of a long series but it is nice to get a few good races on the scoreboard'. 
This was the first start for the Skud 18 class in the Paralympic Games, with the country coded spinnakers they were exciting to watch downwind. Nick Scandone and Maureen MacKinnon Tucker (USA) led the day with a 1 and 2 but following very closely are Team China them Team Australia. Out Canadian sailors John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit (RVicYC) are a very close 4th (actually tied for third) They sailed two very solid races and had good speed all around the course but got on a few bad shifts in each race.
I did not get out to the Sonar course today but from what I could see the racing was extremely close, when you look at the mark roundings you have Ken Kelly , Don Terlson and Marc Shaw (RVicYC) in top 5 and one mark then 10th at the next, they are in 12th place at the moment.
Tomorrow is one of the long days, with three races scheduled and a 12:00 start, it will be a workout for the sailors, coaches and race committee!
Brian Todd
Canadian Sailing Team
by Brian Todd 
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Curl Curl, NSW
