blue-green-al-gae (blü-grēn-alj'ē), —1. A phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. 2. A nutrient-dense food containing glyco-proteins, vitamins, minerals, simple carbohydrates, lipids and biologically active enzymes (sez one "health foods" company) 3. A negligible source of nutrients. Like green plants, they are rich in chlorophyll, a pigment that enables them to turn sunlight into energy. But chlorophyll is of no use to the human body (U.C. Berkeley Wellness Letter); 4. The only way to get Olympic sailing on TV, apparently.
Said it before, saying it again. The guys who run China live in interesting times.
In a still-mostly-poor country, they're rich, but are they 愉快的 ?
And if they assure us that everything will be fine, just fine, why, we have to believe them, don't we?
And . . .
Debbie Capozzi is certainly smiling through it all. Here she is on the water off Qingdao as Yngling crew for Sally Barkow, along with Carrie Howe, who is doing most of the blogging for US Olympic reps Team 7 Sailing . . .
You can see some of the algae cleanup in progress in the background. These pics don't have credit lines, but I assume they're shot by one of the ladies and probably by Carrie. I'd "credit" the photographer with a good editorial eye. This one's too good not to share . . .
So Carrie, just how bad is it?
"Team 7 has always taken the attitude of "Roll with the punches" so we are learning to deal with the seaweed, the fog, light wind, and strong current. Funnily enough, amongst all of the negative reporting going on around us, we have been logging some great training."
50-Knot Checkup
There's a mood of expectancy that somebody is close to finally busting 50 knots. Windsurfer Antoine Albeau has pumped up the 500-meter record to49.09 knots–so close—and there is pressure from—
L'Hydroptere: Presently "calculating measurement systems" in moderate winds around Marseille and waiting for the mistral to come roaring out of the Rhone Valley, in the south of France. When the mistral comes, the team will move to Port-St.-Louis-du-Rhone. It's hard to not believe this thing is capable.
Wotrocket: Frustrated so far by teething issues and too much or too little breeze along the southern beaches of Sydney, Australia. The most recently-posted news: "As the media gathered for the much-anticipated first shot of Wot Rocket up on its hydrofoils, the breeze hit the high twenties and the test sail was abandoned."
And now, less pressure, from—
Sailrocket: After an extensive development session in Namibia, headed home to England for further development. Project head and driver, Paul Larson says, "I know I keep saying this, but speed will come with control. Part of the joblist will be to install sensors on the foils to give a better indication of the balance of the boat."
