The Qingdao Olympic Test Event 2007 is over and the medals awarded, so it is time to reflect on the last two weeks.

The first thing that hit me on entering the Qingdao Olympic Marina, passing through the metal detector as the camera slides through the x-ray machine was the level of security deemed necessary at such a global gathering as the Olympic Regatta. In contrast to the security ‘cordon’ the smiles and eagerness of the volunteers was a welcome reminder that the Olympics are supposed to be – and indeed are - a celebration of sport.

To say that Chinese people are not behind these games would be inaccurate; the volunteer numbers are oversubscribed by 7 times and the helpers were very polite in their dealings with foreign media.

At times the events met problems. The statistics will show that in most classes the majority of the races were completed. However, the boats were occasionally towed out only to be towed back. On another day racing didn’t start until right at the time limit of 4pm leaving some sailors to return to harbour in the dark, which is not the safest situation in an unlit sailing dinghy.

Certainly most days the competitors spent some time, sometimes a lot of time, hanging around in temperatures in excess of 30 C, often on the water, with approaching 100% UV reflectivity. This was extremely taxing on the athletes.

But let’s not forget that China is very new at running sailing events of this magnitude. The question begging to be asked is, “Where was the wind?” It is the most basic requirement (after water) for a sailboat regatta. It seems that this summer, Qingdao’s Feng Shui is not in balance. Some sailors were unhappy with the weather conditions and their positions on the podium, but one would be hard pressed to find a more reliable or modern venue.

Qingdao can do nothing about the wind. The hardware is awesome however, with the Qingdao Olympic Venue being quite simply the best base for competitive sailing I have ever seen. Little touches matter and every morning the people were out with deck brushes scrubbing the launching ramps because the sea grass grows quickly in summer. It’s not perfect on the ‘software’ side of things but the organisers will do their utmost to ensure it will be, and are already checking out what needs to be improved.

The bottom line is that although the racing wasn’t as exciting to follow as it would have been if all boats had been fully powered up, the pundits who say it will be all down to luck have been proved wrong. The problems met in this regatta will be eliminated before the Olympics.

All but two of the podium spots were filled by ISAF top-20 ranked sailors, and one of the two was Ben Ainslie, who has been sailing America’s Cup boats for the last year. This makes his Gold Medal winning performance all the more remarkable.

Around 80% of the Medal Races were filled by top 20 teams and those guys are all in the hunt for gold at any championship. Where luck would come in to it is if next year there is no wind and Competition Manager Qu Chun’s fear of one race constituting an Olympic Regatta is realised.

Now that would be a scandal but who knows, the wind may blow and all the worries will be forgotten.