The wind was light on Day 2 of sailing at the Olympic Games off Marseille, France, but the competition on the water was fierce nonetheless. 

The women’s skiff class ran three races. Sarah Stevaert and Charlene Picon, representing France, have finished second in five of the first six races and lead the 20-boat fleet by 10 points over Odile van Aarnholt and Annette Duetz from the Netherlands. 

RESULTS/STANDINGS: Men's Skiff | Women's Skiff

The races are fascinating to watch even with the boats sailing slowly in light wind; racing the 49erFX used in the skiff class is an intellectual and physical challenge with plenty of emotions in the mix. Our NBC Olympic broadcast features on-board cameras and microphones on all boats, so we get to listen to the sailors talk with each other about tactics, boat handling and sail trim. The tone of voice ranges from quiet one-or-two-word sentences to animated commands. There is plenty of passion. At this early stage, every sailor anticipates they have a chance to earn a medal. 

The key to winning is consistency. Big swings on the scoreboard make it hard to end up at the top when it's over. That is why the French look so strong: They don’t take big risks. They are like a tennis player that just keeps hitting the ball back over the net; eventually, the other player makes the mistake. In contrast is a crew like Canada that has won two of the six races (nice) but have also placed 19-12-21-19. The difference can be attributed to risk. A total of 17 of the 20 competitors have finished in the top five in at least one race, making the consistent performance by the French crew especially impressive.

In the first race on Monday, the race committee had to make three attempts to get a start off. The overanxious sailors kept jumping the gun, forcing a general recall (restart). On the third attempt, the race committee flew a black flag, indicating that any boat over the line at the starting signal would be disqualified from the race. Shockingly, five boats were too aggressive and were called over early: Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Norway.

Choppy waves complicated the sailing. Usually in light wind the waves are calm, but not off Marseille. Waves are created by long swells rolling and getting churned up in shallower water. It is hard accelerating through the chop. The aerial and onboard footage shows just how much body motion is required as sailors move their weight, adjusting the trim of their sails and carefully steering their boat around and through every ripple in the water. These subtle adjustments make a big difference in speed. The best sailors work with a combination of weight, trim and steering to maximize speed.

After struggling to get off the starting line yesterday, Americans Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea improved their starting position in the first two races on Monday and finished third and ninth. But in the third race they came too close to the race committee boat at the port end of the starting line and had to jibe around to avoid the obstruction in the last 20 seconds before the starting gun. They were forced to sail behind the fleet and head toward the unfavored side of the course. (The east side of the course appeared to have slightly stronger wind all day.) At one point the Americans were back in 19th. They moved up to 10th at the final turning mark only to watch four boats slip past in a dying breeze just before the finish, ending up 14th. After six races, Roble and Shea are in sixth place, 12 points out of medal contention. They need a string of good finishes over the next two days.

In the men’s skiff, New Zealand’s Issac McHardie and William McKenzie have won three of six races and lead by five points over Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove. The wind was under six knots for all three races. Americans Ian Barrows and Hans Henken are on the cusp of breaking through: So far, they stand in sixth place with an 8-7-9-9-5 record. They get to drop a 17th-place finish from yesterday, when they fouled another boat at the windward mark and had to make a costly penalty turn. The skiffs raced on a four-leg, windward-leeward course that took about 30 minutes to complete.

The highlight of the day for the U.S. sailing team was in men’s windsurfing. Noah Lyons, 23, from Clearwater, Florida, finished fifth. Only one race was sailed today, as the class is five races behind their schedule. Lyons says he gets help in a unique way: “If I have a song stuck in my head and I do well, I’ll try and keep that same song for the whole event.”

RESULTS/STANDINGS: Men's Windsurfing | Women's Windsurfing

In women’s windsurfing, the wind blew in at 8 knots for two races. Each of the three-leg slalom races took just over four minutes. Great Britain’s star windsurfer, Emma Wilson, 25, had a 1-2 to take the lead in her class. American Dominique Stater, 23, from Miami, Florida, finished 11-22 on her iQFOiL windsurfer. This board is new for the Games and will be used again in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The format for the windsurfer is a combination of slalom races, course races and marathon (one-hour) races leading to a semifinal and final series. 

NBC’s continuing coverage on Peakcock will feature both the men’s and women’s windsurfers on Tuesday. Later in the morning, coverage will move over to the women’s skiffs. Tell your friends and come join us.

There is a lot to learn from watching these races. The skillful maneuvers, positioning and acceleration off the starting line, the use of capricious winds, steering through choppy waters and handling the emotions of high-level Olympic sailing are interesting treats for every sailor to enjoy.