Another slow day on the bay

A second day of light winds on Doha Bay left sailors racing in four to six knots of breeze on Wednesday as day two of the sailing competition struggled to unfold.

All classes attempted one race, but due to lack of wind some were abandoned after they started because they did not make it round the course in the allocated time. This leaves most classes up to two races behind schedule after two days of competition

Once again there was a collection of protests in the Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 classes which have resulted in long deliberations and only provisional results being issued for these classes.

Laser Radial world champion and gold medal favourite Xu Lijia had a disappointing result today taking sixth place. This is not the first time she has shown vulnerability in light winds and she - along with most of the other competitiors - will be hoping for more wind in the coming days. Malaysia's Muhamad Mohd Romzi took first and Rajesh Choudhary of India was second. The second race was postponed due to lack of wind.

Protests have impeded the progress of Korea, Pakistan and Kuwait with Kim Sangkyu of Korea being disqualified race, and Pakistan and Kuwait being penalised with DNF (did not finish) results. Korea is protesting China over Rule 12 which relates to the behind boat giving the appropriate room to the boat ahead when boats are overlapped.

After a disastrous day in the Laser standard yesterday when was placed last in both races after being OCS - over the line st the start - in one race and protested in the second, Malaysia's Kevin Lim finally took first place in race three. The protest jury penalised Lim in race one yesterday, claiming he crossed the start line early. Lim disputes the ruling and has lodged an appeal for redress.

Kevin had this to say after the race, "It was good to finally have a win on the water. Mainly, I did not think that I was over at the start [yesterday]. I have lodged a redress and hopefully it [the penalty] will get discounted.

"I will be severely disadvantaged [by penalties]. It depends on what everyone else does, but I will need firsts in all races."

In the Laser 4.7 - same hull as the Laser Radial and standard, but with a smaller sail - World Champion Colin Xinru Cheng from Singapore won from Akshan Jirasinha from Sri Lanka.

Waleed AL Sharshani from Qatar was third; a good result for the local boy who has been sailing in Europe to hone his skills. Yesterday Bahrain's Mohanna Al Dosari lodged a protest against Al Sharshani for not obeying the mark rounding rule and won, disqualifying the Qatari from what had been first place and giving the Bahraini the win. Mohanna Al Dosari finished fifth.

Elia Anuar from Malaysia was called OCS at the start, but has also registered a protest against Singapore over right of way rules.

Two-time Asian Games gold medallists Jung Sungahn and Kim Daeyoung from Korea excelled in the challenging conditions in the men's 470 after a shaky start to competition placing fourth in the only race finished yesterday. Today they won from Kan Yamada and Kenivhi Nakamura from Japan with Zhen Yuan Xu and Terence Koh third.

The 420 course had the least wind, leading to a postponement of both the men's and women's classes. The races were abandoned after they had sailed the majority of the course, but they did not make the final marks in the allocated time. This class is now three races behind schedule.

Japan's women's 470 crew skippered by Ai Kondo and Naoko Kamata had their second win today followed by Singapore and China, with Su and San of Myanmar struggling in fourth place.

After getting in just one race yesterday, the boy's Optimist fleet got away for just one race today, sailing as yesterday in five knots of wind. Ni Wei of China showed his skill in light wind sailing, winning by a substantial margin to hold first place overall. Japan's Tetsuya Isozaki finished in second place and Navee Thamsoontorn of Indonesia third. Home buoy Hassan Al Tamimi from Qatar took fourth.

In the girl's Optimist, it had been widely thought that the battle for the top place would be between Rufina Tan from Malaysia and Griselda Khng from Singapore. These two had fought for the top spot in Asian Optimist sailing for the past year or more, but so far it is not going their way.

Yesterday Haruka Komiya from Japan won, but was adjudged OCS and given last place, today she made no mistakes and reading the wind shifts brilliantly, took first place which puts her in fifth overall. Asian championships gold medallist Rufina Tan was close behind in second place. Griselda Khng was back in sixth while Qatar's 10 year-old Alaa Shouhdy again failed to finish in the very difficult conditions. Only one race was sailed today.

Hong Kong, China's sailboarders dealt well with the difficult wind conditions, taking their total victories to seven races from nine across women's Mistral, men's Mistral heavy and men's Mistral light. It was the four consecutive wins for Chan Wai Kei in the women's Mistral and Chan King Yin in the men's Mistral light. Yao Xinhao from China finished first in the Mistral heavy class with Ho Chi Ho of Hong Kong, China ending up in an unaccustomed fourth.

Light wind sailing is particularly difficult for the Hobie 16 class as they are heavy, with fully battened sails and need more wind than the scant five knots of today to perform.

The Hobie 16 class did not start till 13:30, two and a half hours after the scheduled start time. Once racing got under way it was close and competitive.

Hong Kong, China either used tactical skill or, in sailing parlance, took a flyer, and risked going to a different side of the course. Singapore were leading for the whole second last upwind leg and looked to finish first, but they sailing into a hole in the wind and Hong Kong's duo Tong Yui Shing and Lo Kin Yee sailed round them to finish first. Singapore finally finished fourth. Korea were second, Thailand third

Tactical genius or just lucky? Make up your own mind after reading this quote from Tong, "In light wind I have no patience, so I took a risk.

"The moment I made the decision [to go to the other side of the course to the rest of the fleet] I was crying, at the bottom mark we were still third.

"But then I managed very well because the others [the leaders] were racing one-on-one and were too far down so it opened the gate for me, I covered them and overtook them."

So, just luck then.

Today was also the first day of the match racing in Beneteau 7.5 keelboats. Match racing is one-on-one racing between two boats under special rules. First across the line wins.

They raced three slow rounds of windward-leeward races, with Singapore coming out on top at the end of the day with three wins and no losses. Bahrain, India and Thailand have two wins and a loss apiece, with Korea, Pakistan and Qatar on one win and two losses. Today's whipping boys were Kuwait with three losses.

Forecasts promise more wind for 7 December, which will give home for the programme to proceed more smoothly. In the event that races are still outstanding there is a provision in the schedule for a spare day to be used to complete the series.

By 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006