2PM update: FISA has made the following ruling on the repechages:
See:
FISA will meet tomorrow at 1pm to decide if the racing will happen; if it goes off, they will decide on Wednesday racing at that time as well. Additionally, there is a possibility that subsequent races could be moved forward; that is, the semifinals could be moved a day earlier.
At present, the weather forecast for the weekend finals looks favorable.
You can find the full Weather Contigency program in our Resources dept in our Olympics coverage, linked at left.
FISA's decision to cancel racing proved to be the right one; the course looks like its neighbor the Aegean Sea. Crews are staying off the course, and are practicing in the 1200m practice loop behind the course. The water is streaked with whitewater and crisscrossed with waves and chop; it's not nice out there.
As a result, all of the boat modifications and add-ons are being tested this morning.
The most radical design is Rotschow-Stomporowski's double bow, shown in the photo at right.
From what i saw, the storied New Zealand pods might be trouble; in the headwind, I would almost swear the sloping addition facilitated the flow of water right onto the bow seat's back.
Most crews are splitting their workouts between the erg and the boat; a warmup on the erg, then a short row, or vice versa, with some harder work either here or there.
The site has had to be battened down as well; all of the Athens 2004 fence netting has been rolled up, and everything that moves been lashed down. This wind is a serious wind; I went running around the course last night while yesterday's racing photos uploaded over a dialup line, and stopped in a portajohn at the 1000m mark. While I was inside, the wind came up strong, and to get out of the thing, i had to lean into the door with my shoulder. The whole thing was shaking and bending - I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Does anyone find it ironic that the Athens 2004 logo looks like an endless series of breaking waves?
Anyway, I've posted a small gallery of conditions and some of the boat modification from last night and today in the Olympics photo section.
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