No surprise to see who continues to be the #1 nation at Olympic sailing. Great Britain leads the pack with seven teams in a top three position; and of the eleven Olympic sailing disciplines, Great Britain leads the rankings in three of them: Paul Goodison (Laser), Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark (Women's 470), and Nick Dempsey (Men's RS:X).
Only one American is top of the rankings in an Olympic class. Can you guess who? Answer at the bottom of the page after entirely merited patriotic song in support of Great Britain's Olympic sailors.
When Britain first at Heav'n's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
The nations not so blest as thee,
Shall in their turns to tyrants fall;
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame,
All their attempts to bend thee down
Will but arouse thy generous flame;
But work their woe, and thy renown.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
To thee belongs the rural reign;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine;
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair;
O blest Isle! With matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to guide the fair.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never shall be slaves.
2 comments:
This is no surprise to me. Every Brit (sailors that is) who I have met is a great sailor. It must be the growing up on the island thinghy. All that fog and wind sweeping across the UK keeps the folks on their toes. Mind you. I would like to see a outrigger sailing canoe event at the Olympics. It would be good to see the Polynesians kick some.....
... grass (hula skirts). At least, a hula skirt and lei was one of the presents swapped at the New Mexico Sailing Club white elephant gift exchange and holiday party. We came out of it with a couple of books and some drink mix and glasses for making Hurricanes... which one of our sailors had picked up just a couple of weeks before Katrina hit New Orleans.
Of course, if the International Sailing Federation had voted for the Etchells instead of the Soling ... there would still be many thousands of better sailors between me and the top ranked folks and I'd still have tons of role models.
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