Olympic equipment to be shipped in a refrigerated container!
Norbert MARIN, ISAF Technical Officer, spent two days at The Neil Pryde factory in China inspecting masts, sails and booms for the RS:X equipment. The inspection then moved on to the Cobra factory in Thailand for five days for the inspection of the RS:X boards, fins and centreboards. David MEAD, Production Manager Neil Pryde Windsurfing, co-ordinated the project with assistance from Bruce WYLIE and Prayat VIBOONTUN, Manager and Quality Assurance Manager respectively in Cobra’s Windsurf Business Unit.
The visit to manufacturers forms part of ISAF’s responsibility for technical control and direction of the sailing competition. The equipment is inspected in preparation for the allocation of equipment to the sailors who will compete at this year’s Olympic Games.
Four of the 11 sailing events will be contested in supplied equipment, which is provided to the athletes when they arrive at the venue, the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre. As the sails of the supplied equipment are adorned in the national colours of the competing athletes, a draw for supplied equipment was made back in April. Following on from this, the next step in the process has been the manufacture of the boards, dinghies, masts and booms. Following on the successful visits to the manufacturers, the equipment will now be shipped to Qingdao ready for the start of the Olympic Sailing Competition on 9 August.
The boards will now be shipped to Quingdao in a refrigerated container ensuring a constant 27 degrees within. This unprecedented precaution has been taken to avoid the interior tempertature rising to a possible 60 degrees C and will esnure that hulls arrive in the state in which they departed.
Sailors competing in the remaining seven events of the Olympic Sailing Competition ship their own equipment to Qingdao. The equipment will then be inspected by the ISAF Measurement team over two Measurement periods which last from 2-7 August and 6-13 August.
The Measurement Regulation and all the other documents and news related to the Olympic Games at www.sailing.org/olympics .
RS:X FAQs at http://www.rsxclass.com/documents.htm