Wind to start Olympic regatta in Qingdao
'Scenes from Qingdao - 2008 Sailing Olympic venue'
Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo
While yesterday winds on the 2008 Qingdao Olympic course area was soft and shifty, with the practice races cancelled, looking ahead the weather is better than many expected.
The latest Predictwind.com data for the Fushan Bay course area suggests that winds on Saturday for the first two races for each of the Yngling and Finn classes are likely to peak at 11 knots around 1500.
On Sunday when the 49ers join the Ynglings and Finns, weather models suggest Sunday 10-13 and Monday 12-14 knots.
Perhaps a Chinese soothsayer can look further ahead with confidence but local meteorologists reminded everyone a few days ago that at least two typhoons could build out of the Yellow sea over the two weeks of the Beijing 2008 Olympic regatta in Qingdao.
Certainly the water temperatures continue to climb and this season's typhoon number seven built out of the Yellow Sea south of Qingdao last week and on Wednesday, severe tropical storm Kamnuri produced winds gusts of over 100 knots above Hong Kong airport, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled.
by Media Services 
Ormiston, QLD
