Olympic Sailing | 470 Class
2008
470 Team USA is the partnership of Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar, campaigning to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. They first joined forces in 2006. Their talent, fierce competitive drive, and determined training has won three medals at World Cup events over the last two years, Gold at 2008 World Championships, and a first place ranking on the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics two years in a row. With your support, they are eager to take on the best teams in the world and bring home gold in London 2012!
Latest Updates
- July 16th, 2010 - World Championships Days 4 & 5: 4th, 19th, 20th and 14th put us in 10th overall
- July 14th, 2010 - World Championships Day 3: a 5th and 10th move us into 3rd overall!
- July 13th, 2010 - World Championships Day 2: a 1, 1 puts us in FIRST overall!
- July 13th, 2010 - World Championships Day 2 Press Release
ERIN MAXWELL
Position: Helm
Erin Maxwell grew up sailing in Stonington,CT, representing Ram Island Yacht Club, The Mystic River Mudheads, and the Wadawanuck Club. Today she also sails for Stonington Harbor YC. In high school she competed on the Williams School sailing team where she led her team to placing well at several national championships. Erin went on to Dartmouth College where she finished her college sailing career as a four-time Women’s All-American skipper. She was also named a Co-ed All-American skipper in 2001, an honor rarely awarded to women.
After college sailing she transitioned into sailing 470s. She placed a remarkable 14th in her first world championship 2001. This was followed by winning the 470 Nationals in 2002. In the winter of 2003 Erin began sailing full time in 470’s training towards the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. She placed 3rd at the Olympic Trials and did not qualify for the Olympics, but Erin immediately refocused on her Olympic goals for Beijing in 2008. Jumping right back into competition, Erin dominated the 2004 US 470 Nationals with all first place finishes. This was followed by finishing as the top US Women’s Team at the US Nationals in 2005, making it the 4th time Erin finished as the top US women’s team at the 470 US Nationals.
In July 2006, Erin joined forces with Isabelle Kinsolving, 2004 470 Olympian. Their chemistry as a team was obvious. In 2007 they medaled at their first European grade one event, receiving bronze medals at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. After just one year together, the end of their 2007 European season culminated with a tenth place finish at the World Championships in Cascais, Portugal, qualifying the US for a spot in the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, only a few months later in the fall of 2007, they fell short at the US Olympic Trials, placing 2nd, and missing out on their dream of going to the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
In January of 2008 the team headed to Melbourne Australia where they bounced back from their Trials loss with style. They won the Sail Melbourne Asia Pacific Regatta and followed it up by winning the World Championships two weeks later. All the top teams in the world were in attendance at the two events, only seven months prior to the start of the Olympic Games. Erin and Isabelle returned home to the US high on their achievements, only to watch the Games on TV in the coming months. Now they are more determined than ever to not only be at the Games in 2012 but be on the podium with Gold around their necks.
In her free time outside of work and sailing she competed in the New York Marathon in 2002. She also has hobbies of skiing and snowboarding, gardening, cooking, painting and drawing. Erin holds a BS in Economics and a BA in Studio Art from Dartmouth College. After graduating from Dartmouth in 2001 she worked at Lehman Brothers, Inc. in their Prime Brokerage Group until the Fall of 2002. Between the 2003 Olympic Trials and 2007 Olympic Trials, Erin worked as an investment banker for 3 years in the Asset-backed Finance division of RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut. After finishing the 2007 Trials and 2008 Worlds in January of 2008, Erin began working as a commodities trader for Louis Dreyfus Commodities in Wilton, CT, where she still works full-time today. Erin fits in sailing as often as she can!
Erin’s Top Sailing Accomplishments:
- US Sailing Team Member, 2000, 2001, 2003-2010, ranked 1st 2009-10
- 10th, 2009 Women’s 470 World Championship
- 1st, 2009 US 470 Atlantic Coast Championship
- 3rd, 2009 Delta Lloyd Olympic Classes Regatta, Women’s 470
- 2nd, 2009 US Sailing’s Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta
- 2008, Shortlisted for the US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award
- 1st, 2008 Women’s 470 World Championship
- 1st, 2008 Sail Melbourne Asia Pacific Regatta, Women’s 470
- 2nd, 2007 US Women’s 470 Olympic Trials
- 10th, 2007 Women’s 470 World Championship
- 3rd, 2007 Princess Sofia Trophy, Women’s 470
- 1st, Silver Fleet 2006 Women’s 470 World Championship
- 1st, 2005 St. Francis Olympic Classes Regatta (Coed 470)
- 2nd, 2005 US 470 Women’s Nationals (Top American)
- 2nd, 2005 Rolex Miami OCR, Women’s 470
- 1st, 2004 US 470 Nationals (Coed)
- 3rd, 2003 US Women’s 470 Olympic Trials
- 1st, 2003 US Women’s 470 Nationals
- 1st, 2003 Travemunde Race Week (Coed 470)
- 1st, 2002 US 470 Nationals (Coed)
- 14th, 2001 Women’s 470 World Championship
- 1st, 2000 Intercollegiate Women’s Championships
- 5th, 1999 US Women’s 470 Olympic Trials
- 2nd, 1998, 1999, and 2001 Intercollegiate Women’s Championship
- Intercollegiate All-American, 2001
- Intercollegiate Women’s All-American 1998-2001
- 1st, 1998 and 1999 Club 420 North American Championships
- 1st, 1996 and 1997 Ida Lewis Trophy (US Jr. Women’s Doublehanded Championship, Club 420’s)
ISABELLE KINSOLVING FARRAR
Position: Crew
A 2008 World Champion and a 2004 Olympian, Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar grew up in New York City, sailing out of Fishers Island Yacht Club right across the sound from Erin Maxwell. Isabelle succeeded in junior sailing on a club and local level in Optimists, Blue Jays and Club 420’s. Isabelle graduated high school from Groton School in Massachusetts, where she was co-captain of the Girls’ Ice Hockey Team and a member of the New England Champion rowing team. As an undergraduate at Yale University, Isabelle played Women’s Varsity Ice Hockey for two years before concentrating on sailing. She skippered for both the Women’s and Varsity Sailing Teams, captained the Varsity Team in 2000, and lead the Women’s Team to a New England Championship in 2002, her senior year.
While in college, Isabelle started sailing 470’s in 2001, crewing for Katie McDowell. Isabelle won the 2004 470 US Olympic Trials, earning the right to represent the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In 2004, Isabelle finished 3rd in the 2004 European Championships and 8th at the World Championships, before placing 5th at the Olympics. Competing in the 2004 Olympics only made Isabelle’s desire for Olympic Gold grew in intensity.
Isabelle and Erin joined forces in July 2006, after having competed against each other for all of their sailing careers. Together they have achieved tremendously, winning the 2008 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Since then the two have finished in the top 10 in every regatta they have competed in. With Erin, Isabelle is determined to get to the top of the Olympic podium in London in 2012.
A Political Science and Economics double-major at Yale University, Isabelle will be graduating from New York University School of Law in May 2011. Isabelle is a member of the Fishers Island, New York, and Stonington Harbor Yacht Clubs.
Isabelle’s Top Sailing Accomplishments:
US Sailing Team Member, 2001-2010
- 7th, 2010 US Sailing’s Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, Women’s 470
- 10th, 2009 470 World Championships
- 3rd, 2009 Delta Lloyd Regatta, Women’s 470
- 2nd, 2009 US Sailing’s Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, Women’s 470
- 2008, Shortlisted for the US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award
- 1st, 2008 470 World Championships
- 1st, 2008 Sail Melbourne Asia Pacific Regatta
- 2nd, 2007 US Women’s 470 Olympic Trials
- 10th, 2007 470 World Championships
- 3rd, 2007 Princess Sofia Regatta, Women’s 470
- 17th, 2005 470 World Championships
- 2004, Shortlisted for the US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award
- 5th, 2004 Summer Olympics, Women’s 470
- 8th, 2004 470 World Championships
- 7th, 2004 Kiel Week, Women’s 470
- 3rd, 2004 470 European Championships
- 1st, 2003 US Women’s 470 Olympic Trials
- 1st, 2003 US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, 470 Women
- 5th, 2003 Pre-Olympics, Women’s 470
- 1st, 2002 US Women’s 470 Pre-Trials
- 1st, 2002 ICSA Women’s New England College Championships (2nd A Div.)
- 2000 Captain Yale Sailing Team
OLYMPIC SAILING IN THE 470 CLASS
The 470 is one of nine one-design boats used in the Olympics. It was designed in 1963 in France as a modern fiberglass planing dinghy. By 1969 the class was given international status and it has been an Olympic class since 1976. In 1988 the first Olympic women’s event was sailed in the 470. The United States won the first gold medal in the Women’s 470 class.
Key Statistics:
- Length Overall 4.7 m
- Length Waterline 4.4 m
- Beam 1.68 m
- Draft .5 m
- Draft (CB down) 1.5 m
- Weight 120 kg
- Mast 6.78 m
- Jib 3.58 sq.m
- Main 9.12 sq.m
- Spinnaker 13 sq.m
- Total Sail Area 12.7 sq.m
The 470 is equipped with a spinnaker and a trapeze, and is quite fast, especially when the breeze is up. Tactically, the boat is demanding, as speed differences are small and fleets are usually big. The competitive crew weight is 275-320 lbs, which makes it ideal for both women and men. World and Continental Championships are organized every year with separate starts for women and men/mixed teams. In the World Championships there have been more than 30 countries represented. There are 65 member nations in the International Class Association and more than 40,000 boats have been built in 20 countries on all continents.
Schedule
Upcoming Regattas
March 29 – April 2 Princess Sofia Regatta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
July 12 – 18 470 World Championships, The Hague, Netherlands
August 9 – 14 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, Weymouth, United Kingdom
July 27 – August 12 2012 Summer Olympics!
Past Results
2010
- January: US Sailing’s Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, 7th / 26
2009
- August:
- 470 World Championships, Copenhagen, Denmark, 10th / 57
Atlantic Coast Championships, Stonington, CT, 1st / 6
May: Delta Lloyd Regatta, Medemblik, Netherlands, 3rd / 32
January: US Sailing’s Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, 2nd / 9
2008
- January:
- 2008 World Championships, Melbourne, Australia, 1st / 58
Sail Melbourne Regatta, Melbourne, Australia, 1st / 48
Latest Photo Galleries
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Support 470 Team USA
THANK YOU!
- The Maxwell & Kinsolving Families
- The Bischoff Family
- Skip Whyte
- Pease Glaser
- Paul Foerster
- Joe Walsh, Polly Barry & the rest of our Greenwich Capital supporters
- Jay & Amy Kehoe
- Peter & Stu Egeli
- Craig Westlin & Brandon Flack from Samson Rope
- Bruce Lockwood
- Don Jesberg
- Bill Goggins from Harkin