Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser

Men's Laser[1] at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Line drawing of the Laser
Venue	Qingdao International Sailing Centre
Dates	First race: August 12, 2008 Last race: August 19, 2008
Competitors	43 from 43 nations
Medalists
Paul Goodison   Great Britain   Vasilij Žbogar   Slovenia   Diego Romero   Italy

Sailing at the  2008 Summer Olympics
RS:X		men		women
Laser Radial				women
Laser		men
Finn			open
470		men		women
49er			open
Tornado			open
Yngling				women
Star		men

The Laser was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics program in Qingdao International Sailing Centre.^[2] Eleven races (last one a medal race) were scheduled. Only ten races were completed including the medal race due to lack of wind. 43 sailors, on 43 boats, from 43 nations competed.^[3] Ten boats qualified for the medal race.^[4]

Race schedule^[1][5]

●

Practice race

●

Race on Yellow

●

Race on Green

●

Medal race on Yellow

Date	August
	7 Thu	8 Fri	9 Sat	10 Sun	11 Mon	12 Tue	13 Wed	14 Thu	15 Fri	16 Sat	17 Sun	18 Mon	19 Tue	20 Wed	21 Thu	22 Fri	23 Sat	24 Sun
Men's Laser					●	2	1	No wind	1	1	1	3	●

Course areas and course configurations ^[6]

For the Laser course areas A (Yellow) and C (Green) were used. The location (36°1'26"’N, 120°26'52"E) points to the center of the 0.6nm radius Yellow course area and the location (36°2'44"N, 120°28'9"E) points to the center of the 0.75nm radius Green course area. The target time for the course was about 60 minutes for the races and 30 minutes for the medal race. The race management could choose from several course configurations.

• 
  Course Areas
• 
  70° Trapezoid Outer Course (O)
• 
  70° Trapezoid Inner Course (I)
• 
  Windward - Leeward Course (W)

Outer courses

• O1: START – 1 – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3p – FINISH
• O2: START – 1 – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3p – FINISH
• O3: START – 1 – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3s/3p – 2 – 3p – FINISH

Inner courses

• I1: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 2 – 3p – FINISH
• I2: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 2 – 3p – FINISH
• I3: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 2 – 3p – FINISH

Windward-Leeward courses

• W2: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – FINISH
• W3: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – FINISH
• W4: START – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – 4s/4p – 1 – FINISH

Weather conditions

In the lead up to the Olympics many questioned the choice of Qingdao as a venue with very little predicted wind. During the races the wind was pretty light and quite unpredictable. Due to lack of wind (< 1.6 knots) one racing day had to be cancelled and the medal race needed to be postponed to the next day.^[7]

Final results^[8][9]

Rank	Country	Helmsman	Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Race 4		Race 5		Race 6		Race 7		Race 8		Race 9		Medalrace		Total	Total – discard
			Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.	Pos.	Pts.
	Great Britain	Paul Goodison	15	15.0	2	2.0	15	15.0	1	1.0	9	9.0	7	7.0	1	1.0	4	4.0	6	6.0	9	18.0	78.0	63.0
	Slovenia	Vasilij Žbogar	24	24.0	4	4.0	14	14.0	6	6.0	2	2.0	11	11.0	18	18.0	1	1.0	11	11.0	2	4.0	95.0	71.0
	Italy	Diego Romero	6	6.0	3	3.0	5	5.0	36	36.0	10	10.0	15	15.0	11	11.0	9	9.0	10	10.0	3	6.0	111.0	75.0
4	Portugal	Gustavo Lima	5	5.0	8	8.0	3	3.0	27	27.0	17	17.0	6	6.0	16	16.0	8	8.0	3	3.0	5	10.0	103.0	76.0
5	New Zealand	Andrew Murdoch	2	2.0	5	5.0	40	40.0	20	20.0	24	24.0	5	5.0	5	5.0	17	17.0	1	1.0	1	2.0	121.0	81.0
6	Sweden	Rasmus Myrgren	7	7.0	16	16.0	8	8.0	2	2.0	8	8.0	13	13.0	22	22.0	7	7.0	2	2.0	10	20.0	105.0	83.0
7	Argentina	Julio Alsogaray	1	1.0	12	12.0	10	10.0	28	28.0	14	14.0	1	1.0	2	2.0	31	31.0	16	16.0	4	8.0	123.0	92.0
8	France	Jean Baptiste Bernaz	19	19.0	1	1.0	12	12.0	9	9.0	6	6.0	10	10.0	30	30.0	5	5.0	34	34.0	6	12.0	138.0	104.0
9	Canada	Mike Leigh	13	13.0	23	23.0	26	26.0	5	5.0	4	4.0	3	3.0	28	28.0	2	2.0	19	19.0	7	14.0	137.0	109.0
10	Norway	Kristian Ruth	10	10.0	11	11.0	17	17.0	10	10.0	3	3.0	8	8.0	13	13.0	21	21.0	38	38.0	8	16.0	147.0	109.0
11	Russia	Igor Lisovenko	11	11.0	14	14.0	4	4.0	8	8.0	7	7.0	26	26.0	37	37.0	19	19.0	7	7.0	-	-	133.0	96.0
12	Croatia	Luka Radelić	26	26.0	15	15.0	7	7.0	21	21.0	1	1.0	21	21.0	3	3.0	16	16.0	17	17.0	-	-	127.0	101.0
13	Cyprus	Pavlos Kontides	8	8.0	7	7.0	24	24.0	14	14.0	5	5.0	12	12.0	14	14.0	29	29.0	35	35.0	-	-	148.0	113.0
14	Spain	Javier Hernández	17	17.0	25	25.0	11	11.0	3	3.0	28	28.0	BFD	44.0	19	19.0	13	13.0	5	5.0	-	-	165.0	121.0
15	Greece	Evangelos Cheimonas	22	22.0	21	21.0	9	9.0	11	11.0	DSQ	44.0	BFD	44.0	9	9.0	6	6.0	8	8.0	-	-	174.0	130.0
16	Poland	Maciej Grabowski	9	9.0	19	19.0	22	22.0	18	18.0	16	16.0	23	23.0	32	32.0	20	20.0	4	4.0	-	-	163.0	131.0
17	Uruguay	Alejandro Foglia	12	12.0	27	27.0	33	33.0	7	7.0	36	36.0	4	4.0	6	6.0	26	26.0	18	18.0	-	-	169.0	133.0
18	Turkey	Kemal Muslubaş	4	4.0	42	42.0	27	27.0	19	19.0	15	15.0	27	27.0	7	7.0	15	15.0	32	32.0	-	-	188.0	146.0
19	Austria	Andreas Geritzer	28	28.0	6	6.0	2	2.0	30	30.0	20	20.0	BFD	44.0	DNC	44.0	18	18.0	9	9.0	-	-	201.0	157.0
20	China	Shen Sheng	40	40.0	35	35.0	6	6.0	4	4.0	37	37.0	14	14.0	10	10.0	28	28.0	25	25.0	-	-	199.0	159.0
21	Virgin Islands	Thomas Barrows	20	20.0	28	28.0	20	20.0	24	24.0	26	26.0	31	31.0	15	15.0	10	10.0	21	21.0	-	-	195.0	164.0
22	Australia	Tom Slingsby	21	21.0	22	22.0	21	21.0	22	22.0	35	35.0	20	20.0	12	12.0	11	11.0	40	40.0	-	-	204.0	164.0
23	Denmark	Anders Nyholm	18	18.0	26	26.0	19	19.0	15	15.0	19	19.0	BFD	44.0	27	27.0	27	27.0	13	13.0	-	-	208.0	164.0
24	Estonia	Deniss Karpak	16	16.0	20	20.0	41	41.0	37	37.0	38	38.0	2	2.0	DNC	4.0	35	35.0	14	14.0	-	-	207.0	166.0
25	United States	Andrew Campbell	14	14.0	18	18.0	1	1.0	26	26.0	32	32.0	BFD	44.0	8	8.0	DSQ	44.0	31	31.0	-	-	218.0	174.0
26	Chile	Matías del Solar	3	3.0	34	34.0	30	30.0	25	25.0	21	21.0	9	9.0	25	25.0	23	23.0	DNE	44.0	-	-	214.0	180.0
27	Brazil	Bruno Fontes	31	31.0	17	17.0	31	31.0	12	12.0	12	12.0	24	24.0	35	35.0	22	22.0	39	39.0	-	-	223.0	184.0
28	South Korea	Ha Jee-min	23	23.0	33	33.0	37	37.0	31	31.0	13	13.0	17	17.0	17	17.0	34	34.0	22	22.0	-	-	227.0	190.0
29	Hungary	Zsombor Berecz	27	27.0	31	31.0	36	36.0	23	23.0	18	18.0	22	22.0	24	24.0	14	14.0	37	37.0	-	-	232.0	195.0
30	Finland	Pierre Collura	25	25.0	10	10.0	18	18.0	41	41.0	23	23.0	25	25.0	20	20.0	33	33.0	DNE	44.0	-	-	239.0	198.0
31	Czech Republic	Martin Trčka	29	29.0	36	36.0	38	38.0	13	13.0	29	29.0	19	19.0	26	26.0	DNF	44.0	12	12.0	-	-	246.0	202.0
32	Seychelles	Allan Julie	33	33.0	37	37.0	13	13.0	33	33.0	27	27.0	16	16.0	21	21.0	30	30.0	30	30.0	-	-	240.0	203.0
33	Guatemala	Juan Ignacio Maegli	DSQ	44.0	9	9.0	39	39.0	16	16.0	BFD	44.0	32	32.0	39	39.0	12	12.0	15	15.0	-	-	250.0	206.0
34	Netherlands	Rutger van Schaardenburg	32	32.0	29	29.0	34	34.0	32	32.0	25	25.0	18	18.0	38	38.0	25	25.0	20	20.0	-	-	253.0	215.0
35	Japan	Yoichi Iijima	36	36.0	32	32.0	16	16.0	17	17.0	31	31.0	BFD	44.0	31	31.0	DNF	44.0	28	28.0	-	-	279.0	235.0
36	Singapore	Koh Seng Leong	35	35.0	41	41.0	29	29.0	39	39.0	BFD	44.0	33	33.0	23	23.0	3	3.0	36	36.0	-	-	283.0	239.0
37	Switzerland	Christoph Bottoni	34	34.0	13	13.0	32	32.0	40	40.0	39	39.0	BFD	44.0	36	36.0	24	24.0	23	23.0	-	-	285.0	241.0
38	Malaysia	Kevin Lim	BFD	44.0	24	24.0	28	28.0	42	42.0	22	22.0	34	34.0	34	34.0	39	39.0	26	26.0	-	-	293.0	249.0
39	Venezuela	José Ruíz	39	39.0	40	40.0	23	23.0	29	29.0	40	40.0	29	29.0	33	33.0	32	32.0	24	24.0	-	-	289.0	249.0
40	Dominican Republic	Raúl Aguayo	37	37.0	30	30.0	35	35.0	38	38.0	34	34.0	28	28.0	29	29.0	36	36.0	29	29.0	-	-	296.0	258.0
41	Luxembourg	Marc Schmit	30	30.0	39	39.0	25	25.0	35	35.0	30	30.0	35	35.0	41	41.0	40	40.0	33	33.0	-	-	308.0	267.0
42	United Arab Emirates	Adil Mohammad	38	38.0	38	38.0	42	42.0	43	43.0	11	11.0	36	36.0	42	42.0	38	38.0	27	27.0	-	-	315.0	272.0
43	Barbados	Gregory Douglas	41	41.0	43	43.0	43	43.0	34	34.0	33	33.0	30	30.0	40	40.0	37	37.0	41	41.0	-	-	342.0	299.0

Legend: BFD – Black flag disqualification; DNC – Did not compete; DNF – Did not finish; QUA – Qualified for next phase; Discard is crossed out and does not count for the overall result.

Daily standings

Graph showing the daily standings in the Laser during the 2008 Summer Olympics

Further reading

• "Digital Library Collection (Official Olympic Reports 1896 - 2008)". Digital Library Collection at la84.org. la84foundation. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
• "Beijing 2008". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.

References

1. Official Report of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games • Volume II Ceremonies and Competitions: Celebration of the Games (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
2. Official Report of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games • Volume I Bid Documents and Analysis: Passion behind the Bid (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
3. The 2008 Olympic scoring system was used.
4. For the medal race the top ten boats qualified. Each position scored double points. All medal races were sailed on course area Yellow in front of the Qingdao International Sailing Centre.
5. Official Report of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games • Volume III Preparation for the Games: New Beijing Great Olympics (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
6. "The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Sailing Competition: Sailing Instructions" (PDF). International Sailing Federation. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
7. "Qingdao Report - Luke Van Der Kamp" (PDF). Team GBR. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
8. Official Results book Part 3 (Sailing) (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
9. "Sailing at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Men's One Person Dinghy". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 25 March 2014.