Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser

The Laser was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics program in Qingdao International Sailing Centre. 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. Ten boats qualified for the medal race.

Course areas and course configurations
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.

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.