Olympic Sailing Background
August 26th, 2007 by Alice
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- The Olympic Classes
- There are eleven classes of sailing in the Olympics, utilizing nine different types of boats. Four of the classes are women only: 470 Women (double-handed), Laser Radial (single-handed), Yngling (3-person keelboat), and NeilPryde Women (windsurfing). Four of the classes are men only: 470 Men (double-handed), Laser (single-handed), Star (2-person keelboat), and NeilPryde Men (windsurfing). The remaining three classes are open to men and women: Finn (single-handed), 49er (double-handed), and Tornado (multi-hull).
- “One-Design”
- All nine of the Olympic classes are “one-design”, meaning the equipment is manufactured using strict standards for materials, dimensions, and methods used in construction. While in theory all boats in a one-design class are identical, there are actually variations between boats and sails within the design limits. High-level sailors attempt to utilize these variations to gain a competitive advantage. Testing sail, hull and rig configurations is one of the most important elements of a successful Olympic campaign.
- Country Qualification
- Because of capacity constraints, there is a limit on the number of countries that are allowed to compete in each of the eleven classes in the Olympics. The countries invited to compete in each class are determined by the results of the designated qualifying events in the years prior to the games. The host country is given an automatic birth. For 2008, 75% of the country births will be determined by the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championship in Cascais, Portugal and 25% will be determined by the 2008 470 World Championship in Melbourne, Australia. The total number of births for each of the classes in Beijing has not yet been finalized. In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the women’s 470 class had 20 births.
- Competitor Qualification
- A country that has secured a birth at the Olympic games is free to send any representative it chooses, and doesn’t necessarily have to send the competitor who qualified the country for its birth. The US uses a single-event system to determine its Olympic sailing representatives. The winner of each class’s Olympic trials regatta (16 races over 8 sailing days) earns the right to represent the US at the Olympics.
- Courses
- Most of our races take place on trapezoid courses. The diagrams below show an outer trapezoid course (left) and an inner trapezoid course (right). The windward legs are typically 1/2 mile to 1 mile, depending on wind conditions, and races take 45-60 minutes, on average.