Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 49er

The mixed 49er was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics program in Qingdao International Sailing Centre. Sixteen races (last one a medal race) were scheduled. Only thirteen races were completed including the medal race due to lack of wind. 38 sailors, on 19 boats, from 19 nations competed. Ten boats qualified for the medal race.

Course areas and course configurations
For the 49er course areas A (Yellow) and E (Red) 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°2'21"N, 120°25'32"E) points to the center of the 0.6nm radius Red course area. The target time for the course was about 30 minutes for all races. The race management could choose from several lengths of the course configuration.

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.