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Foerster, Isler still chasing gold Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia -- It was the sailing equivalent of both a rain delay and a false start. Sit around and wait. Now, go out and sail -- oops, come back. There's not enough wind. The men's and women's 470 classes were to sail for Olympic medals Wednesday, but the fickle winds of Sydney Harbor wouldn't cooperate. The women went out on the water before officials gave up and sent them back in. So U.S. skippers Paul Foerster of Rockwall, Texas, and J.J. Isler of San Diego had to wait until Thursday (Wednesday, U.S.) and hope for better wind. Foerster, the Flying Dutchman silver medalist in 1992, was in second place, behind the Australian crew. Isler, the 470 bronze medalist in '92, was third, behind Australia and Germany. Thunderstorms passing over the harbor Wednesday morning caused unstable winds, so officials kept the boats in all classes in the marina for two hours. The skies gradually cleared, and race officials finally sent out the 470 women, figuring there wasn't time to get in the men's race, as well. But while it was a gorgeous, sunny day on the water, there was one problem -- only 4 knots of wind, if that. After bobbing around for a half hour or so, the boats came back in. Isler, 36, and her crewmember, Pease Glaser, 38, of Long Beach, Calif., are the oldest of the 470 sailors. Glaser is making her Olympic debut, but had been through the trials three times before. "Pease and I probably spent more races postponed than most of these girls have sailed races," said Isler, the 1992 bronze medalist. "It's hard to know what other people are thinking, but you know everyone's nervous. The good thing about our trial system is we know we can sail well even when we're nervous and under that pressure." Isler and Glaser won the winner-take-all U.S. trials last fall. Starting races in light, shifting wind can be disastrous, especially in races with such huge consequences. Sydney's winds are so shifty that during the first 49er fleet race in this regatta, the wind turned around 180 degrees, leaving the leaders practically dead in the water. "The first word in our weather forecast today was 'chaos,' " Glaser said. "From the looks of things out there, it was pretty good that we didn't have a race," said Bob Merrick of Portsmouth, R.I., Foerster's crewman. "The wind just totally shut off." The two U.S. crews tried to stay out of the sun to conserve their energy. Foerster and Merrick watched some other Olympic sports on television in the sailors' lounge. "Gosh, it seems like we sat around and did nothing," Merrick said. "There's not much you can do about it. It's our job to stay ready." "We don't mind the really shifty conditions, but you want it to be a fair race," Merrick said. "It looked like it was so light out there that it wouldn't be a fair race." Races in the Star, Finn and Laser classes also were postponed. Late Wednesday, the international jury overseeing the regatta scheduled a one-race sailoff for Thursday between the Soling crews from New Zealand and the Netherlands to decide the fourth and final spot in the match-race round robin that will decide the medals. New Zealand's skipper, Rod Davis, has won Olympic medals for both New Zealand and the United States, and has sailed in the America's Cup for the United States, New Zealand and Australia. U.S. Soling skipper Jeff Madrigali was eliminated in the second round-robin. |  | ALSO SEE Foerster's successful switch could net a sailing medal Clutch 49er race gives McKee brothers bronze U.S. Soling skipper eliminated Finland pair sails to golden heights American Foerster takes lead after six races | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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