Tokio 2020

Strong winds, heavy rain and waves of more than two meters are expected from Sunday, the first day of competition in Enoshima

The mild wind and heat conditions that accompanied the first day of training for the Spanish Olympic sailing team are gradually changing in Enoshima, the sub-venue of the Tokyo Olympic Games for sailing, as if they wanted to offer sailors a smooth adaptation to what is outlined in the meteorological reports: wind, rain and wave.

This is what Riccardo Ravagnan, meteorologist for the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, announces, stating that “a light aperitif in the days leading up to the Olympic Games does not mean that the main course continues the trend that the ESP Sailing Team athletes seem to follow. they are getting used to it ”.

And it is that the long-predicted meteorological part shows much more extreme conditions that could arrive in the next few days: “If the conditions throughout this week are being light winds, between 6 and 10 knots in intensity, with a southern component , and waves of between half and one meter high, the parties announce surprises: starting on Saturday there will be a radical change that will offer very strong winds from the northeast, intense rains and waves of more than two meters ”, details Ravagnan.

Without being influenced by these echoes, the 15 sailors of the Spanish Olympic team continue with their training schedule and set-up of the boats, marinating in a bay that, although known, can always give surprises.

The 49er FX crew is grateful for the days prior to the first sailing, dedicated to preparing the boat which, as Paula Barceló, a Támara Echegoyen crew member, tells us, “were quite productive and necessary; We prepared all the material and on the first day of the water, everything was ready to focus solely on sailing. They have been long hours, but it seems that the days are getting a little shorter, that there is less and less work ”.

But there is no relaxation for our sailors, athletes who have thoroughly prepared for a test in which not only the physical aspect counts. On this, Diego Botín, skipper of the Spanish crew in 49er, comments that “representing your country is a great honor and coming out with medal options means that we have done the job well in recent years, but it also means an extra pressure and responsibility. We impose the pressure on ourselves, because we have to be very professional when sailing, doing things as we know how to do them, aware that it is a race course where all conditions can be met and we must be prepared for everything, something that we like, and, at the same time, act with the utmost responsibility in everything that concerns protection against covid-19 ”.

And the fact is that, although immersed in their sporting objective, our sailors are not oblivious to the demands of the health situation, with details that do not escape Patricia Cantero, Silvia Mas’s crew member in female 470: more, in general all the norms are fulfilled. Everything is quite restrictive and demanding in aspects such as washing your hands, or putting on gloves when eating and, above all, not leaving your area. Moving out of your bubble is basically impossible, anti-coronavirus protocols are being complied with very well ”.

The countdown marks only 3 days for the opening ceremony of these long-awaited Tokyo Olympics; 5 days for the action to begin in Enoshima with the entry into the scene of the RS classes: X male and female and Laser Standard and Radial; days in which the Spanish Olympic sailing team will continue its preparation, and we will all be very aware of the evolution of the meteorological models that confirm or modify the conditions that will mark the pace on the regatta field.