QINGDAO, China: Britain’s Finn class sailor Ben Ainslie took his third Olympic gold on Sunday, leaving American Zach Railey with silver, shortly after Britain’s Yngling team took the first sailing gold of the Beijing Games in strong winds and heavy rain.
In the fast 49er class, most of the fleet of 10 boats capsized repeatedly in the heavy waves and wind.
The Danish team of Jason Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen were listed as winning gold in initial results that were not immediately confirmed because they sailed in a borrowed boat after tough conditions snapped the mast on their own skiff before the start. Sailing officials said they could be disqualified.
International sailing federation spokesman David Knapman said one protest had been filed against the Danes borrowing a Croatian boat, and another sought to have the race disallowed because it started later in the day than allowed under Olympic rules. He said the protests would be ruled on as quickly as possible.
If the Danes are disqualified, Spain’s Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez, winners of the medal race, will have retained the title they won in Athens fours years ago.
In the Finn medal race, Ainslie, who had been guaranteed at least a silver on overall points, led the whole way in tough conditions, sometimes disappearing from view altogether as his dinghy dipped under the crests of waves.
It was a sharp contrast to Saturday, when the medal race was abandoned because of lack of wind. “It was totally different today. I was able to change the game plan a bit against Zach and sail my own race a little more. So I’m very happy to have won it,” he said.
“The goal was to win gold, and with the conditions being stronger, it was easier for me to go out and use my speed and my fitness,” said Ainslie, who has a gold in the Finn for 2004, as well as a gold in 2000 and a silver in 1996 in the Laser class. Only Danish sailor legend Paul Elvstrom has won more Olympic sailing gold medals, with the four he won between 1948 and 1960.
Railey, a 24-year-old Olympic first-timer, said he had met his goal of taking a medal.
“I picked up the silver medal and it all came out like I hoped,” he said.
Guillaume Florent of France won the Finn bronze. Two of the three on the British Yngling team — Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb — defended their Yngling gold from 2004, with Pippa Wilson as third crew in Qingdao after she replaced Shirley Robertson of the Athens crew.
“When we crossed the line, the of three of us just looked at each other,” said Ayton, the British skipper. “Words cannot put any kind of meaning on it. “ she said.
“You just know that you’re the best in the world at what you do.” Their victory came in Olympic sailing’s first use of a medal race. The top 10 boats in a series of preliminary races advance to the medal final, which counts double in determining each boat’s total score.
Going into the race, which was postponed from Saturday because the winds failed, the British women had a one-point lead on the Dutch team of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen. However, the final race turned into a battle between the British and the German trio of Ulrike Schuemann, Ute Hoepfner and Julia Bleck.
The British led the first two legs, surfing downwind in the choppy Yellow Sea with their spinnaker, only to be passed by the Germans on the third. On the final leg, the British fought back, and crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Germany, to win both the medal race and the gold medal. The Germans ended as No. 4 overall.
The Dutch, which had been the only team in a position to challenge the British crew, were No. 5 in the 10-boat fleet, a finish that secured them the silver.
“This is my first Olympic medal, but it is a pity that we didn’t beat (Britain),” said Bes, of the Dutch boat.
The Greek trio of Sofia Bekatorou, who won the 470 class gold in Athens, Sofia Papadopoulou and Virginia Kravarioti finished third in the medal race to snatch the bronze in the close race with the rest of the fleet.
“We feel great for the 10 million Greeks back home,” Bekatorou said about bronze.
