Sailors dazzled by China's Olympic sailing venue

Updated: 2006-08-24 13:49

QINGDAO, China (AFP) - The world's best sailors have been left dazzled by China's quest for perfection in staging the first test event for the 2008 Olympics, however one vital element is missing -- the wind.

"This place is like a dream," Roman Budzinski, coach of Poland's windsurfing class, said this week during the international regatta at the picturesque coastal city of Qingdao 500 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Beijing.

"I'm almost not sure if it is an illusion -- it is just an incredible place, one of the best I have seen."

Denmark's Kristian Kjaergaard, a Laser class competitor who is aiming for his second consecutive Olympic appearance, had similar plaudits for the ultra-modern sailing venue.

"Everything is really perfect, both the organization and the facilities," said Kjaergaard, one of 460 world-class sailors from 41 countries racing in the 11-day event that began Monday.

Unlike the 2004 Games in Athens, which struggled with poor planning and last-minute completion of its facilities, the applause for Qingdao seems to bode well for the country's preparations for the 29th Olympiad in Beijing.

"They could hold the Olympics tomorrow," said Luissa Smith, communications director for International Sailing Federation (ISAF), yachting's governing body.

"We've never seen a facility built so fast and at such advanced stages of preparation and planning."

The Qingdao Olympic sailing center was thrown up in just two years on the site of an old shipyard wharf.

Its 45 hectares (111 acres) gleam with glass buildings in sail-shape motifs and a harbor-side marina capable of docking 800 yachts.

The high-tech facilities have not come cheap, costing a total of 3.28 billion yuan (410 million dollars).

"I was fortunate to see the site in 1999 when Qingdao was a candidate city, and I can tell you that the plans that the Qingdao government presented were exceptional," said ISAF vice president David Kellet.

"They have delivered everything on time."

Organizers have promised that by next June the venue will be completely finished including the Olympic village and a museum.

Concerns that China risked running aground when it came to the on-the-water complexities of getting 300 boats racing on the Yellow Sea also seem to have been assuaged.

"The race organization is good, there have been no mistakes and that is usually an enormously good sign," said Matthias Schmid, Austria's number one-ranked skipper in the 470, the men's double-handed dinghy class.

China held only its second major international dinghy regatta last year when it hosted the Europe class world championships in Rizhao, about two hours south of Qingdao by car.

The 2001 world title for the Optimist class, a popular children's racing boat, was the first held in Qingdao.

But no amount of planning, hard cash or cutting-edge technology has been able to dispel one consistent worry -- Qingdao's persistent lack of breeze at this time of year.

"It is our first time here and we find the conditions very hard, very technical. It's very choppy, with very little wind," said Benjamin Bonnaud, 25, skipper of France's number one-ranked 470 team.

"But that is why we're here, to see the place and see the conditions," added Bonnaud, who will stay in China to prepare for the 470 world championships next month in Rizhao.

Elizabeth Tan, a crew member on the women's 470 team from Singapore, echoed the sentiments of Bonnaud and many other sailors.

"In these conditions every move requires a lot of planning. More wind would really be good," she said.

Before the racing ends here on August 31, China will have embarked on its second Olympic test event, a week-long softball tournament in the Chinese capital that begins on Sunday.