The first of Monday's two Olympic Laser Radial races off Enoshima Harbour near Tokyo got underway in a 13/14 knot easterly, suggesting that there may have been some effect from the now down-graded typhoon that was forecast to pass north east of Tokyo during Monday evening. Annalise Murphy normally strong in these conditions, could not seem to put her height advantage into play consistently during the race. Still in touch after the first three legs, a poor third windward leg saw her drop 7 places to 26th, recovering a bit to finish 24th.
In the second race of the day, the wind dropped to below 10 knots and was shifting through 20 degrees, emphasising the importance of getting the shift phases in the correct sequence. With the left side turning out to be favoured at top of the first beat, those on the right, including Murphy, struggled to stay in contact and the gap to the leaders was over a minute. The right side of the second beat proved costly as well, as Murphy dropped to 41st place, once again recovering somewhat on the final couple of legs to finish 37th.
Now lying 32nd overall, the Rio silver medallist has her work cut out to make the medal race.
Speaking after today’s two races, Murphy said: “Having such a bad day makes it really hard for me to get a result that I want from this regatta with only six races left. I’m upset for Rory (coach), for my family and everyone who supported me because I really wanted to do them proud. I actually thought it was going to be a good day for me today - I love those conditions - small things just didn’t go the way I wanted them to.”
How much the typhoon impacts on Tuesday's two races will determine the trajectory from here.
Norway, Greece and Denmark are the current overall top three, with Rio Gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester (NED) in fifth place.
Line Flem Høst (NOR) is the surprise package of the Olympic Sailing Competition so far, the Norwegian sailing an unbelievably consistent regatta in such unpredictable conditions. "I was actually feeling kind of shaky, a bit nauseous, not quite ready," admitted Høst. "So it was really great to have such a good day and really feel like I was in the zone."
Vasileia Karachaliou (GRE) rose up the rankings too, on the back of 6,1 scores and sits two points off the lead. "It’s nice to win a race, but it’s just another regatta, even if it’s the Olympics. My most important goal is to try to keep all my scores in the top 10, and then see what happens at the end."
Until the fourth race this afternoon, Anne-Marie Rindom had been the only athlete to keep all her results inside the top 10, but then the Dane proved that even she is fallible in the vagaries of Enoshima as she finished 13th late this afternoon.
However, the bronze medallist from Rio is still in bronze medal position in Tokyo. "I’m a little bit disappointed about that last race. But all in all, I think I managed to keep to my goal, which is to be present in the moment, to look out of the boat and not be affected by my emotions, which is not that easy because there are a lot of emotions at an Olympic Games."
Following a hard first day on the water, defending Olympic Champion Marit Bouwmeester (NED) really needed to up her game and she came away from the day with a 7,2, lifting her to fifth place overall, two points behind Italy’s Silvia Zennaro. Bouwmeester had been leading the fourth race before being passed by Karachaliou, but at least the Dutch two-time Olympic medallist is in striking distance, 16 points off the overall lead. Two years ago when she won gold at the Hempel World Cup Enoshima, she celebrated with singing ‘Barbie Girl’ at a karaoke bar. Bouwmeester admitted the gold medal looks like a big challenge, but promised, "If I win, I will sing Alphaville." Alphaville’s best known song from the 80s being ‘Big in Japan’.
Full results are here
Racing continues for Murphy tomorrow with Races 5 and 6, while fellow sailors, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove will begin their Olympic campaign tomorrow as the 49er class gets underway.
Additional reporting by Andy Rice