Qingdao, China
August 22, 2007

It could have been worse, we suppose. A trapeze harness failure left us out of control in the wild and exciting conditions of today’s Tornado Medal Race at the 2007 Good Luck Beijing International Regatta but at least we narrowly averted a potentially nasty collision. We finished in tenth place in the race for tenth overall in the regatta.

Today’s forecast called for more of the light stuff but it blew 18 to 20 knots against the strong web tide, whipping up big ugly white-capped waves. Our course flanked the seawall and we actually had a chance to walk out there and watch the 49ers racing, before it was our turn. A good indicator of the rough conditions was that the top ten guys in the world had their hands full. Four of them capsized on the last run!

We went into the Medal Race knowing we could do as well as sixth. The left looked good and we won the pin end, tacked on a nice lefty and were leading the first half of the race until the right started to pay. Still, we were in the top five or six boats at the weather mark and stayed there with all the top players for the rest of the first lap.

We were still in good shape on the second weather leg, ahead of the boats we needed to beat to gain the maximum possible points. Then, on the starboard tack layline, Johnnie’s trapeze gear broke. He went for a swim and we had no-one steering. Charlie, alone on the boat, freed the mainsheet to prevent a capsize but the jib was sheeted in hard and the boat took off at 20 knots on a reach, straight at the Argentinians. Still on his trapeze, Charlie had to work his way aft, grab the tiller and push the boat up into the wind moments before it sliced into the Argentine boat. It was a tough race and a tough way to end the series.

Despite the outcome this has been a valuable regatta. The conditions here are unique and can’t be duplicated elsewhere. We need time here to be ultimately successful. On-the-water time is obviously very important but we can’t forget all the other factors like food, culture, language, logistics, etc. Learning the lay of the land is vital to winning on the water. We’re shooting to win the US selection trials in October and we’ll be back here early in the summer for more time on site.

Tomorrow we head back home to the States for a week or so of R&R before we head to San Diego on September 10 to pick up training and testing for the trials which start on October 3.

The results from Qingdao are at Tornado Pre-Olympic Results. Also, be sure to visit our website at www.t-squaredracing.com. Our sponsor, Advanced Equities, is at www.advancedequities.com.

Sail fast,

Johnny Lovell and Charlie Ogletree - Team Advanced Equities I