SAILING
Technical details
The different crafts used for sailing at the Olympic Games can be grouped into
four main types:
1) Mistral - The Mistral is a type of windsurfer, consisting of a board with a
mast and sail. The sailor controls the mast and sail with arms and steers with
body weight, moving in a standing position.
2) Dinghy - Finn, Europe, Laser, 49er and 470 classes are dinghies,
characterised by a lifting centreboard and have either a single sail (una) rig,
for the Finn, Europe and Laser; or two-sail (sloop) rig for the 470 class. 470s
and the high-performance 49ers also have an additional downwind sail called a
spinnaker.
Dinghies are steered by a rudder, and the crew use their body weight as
leverage to counterbalance forces developed by the rig. At the Olympic Games,
the Finn is used only in men's events and the Europe only in women's events. The
470 is a men's and women's event; the Laser and 49ers are open events.
3) Keel boats - The Soling and Star classes are both keel boats. Keel boats
have a ballasted fin fixed below the hull (keel), and the Soling has a
spinnaker. Soling and Star are both open events at the Games. The medals in the
sailing class are decided by a match-racing knockout competition.
4) Catamarans - Catamarans are twin-hulled craft with a centre board and
rudder on each hull and a sloop rig and a fully-battened mainsail. The only
catamaran event at the Olympic Games is the Tornado, which is an open event.
The different classes of boats require sailors of differing physique for
optimum performance. For example the Finn class is likely to have tall, heavy
men competing - while the 470 sailors tend to be lighter.
Lengths of boats vary from 3.35m Europe to the 8.2m Soling.
The Tornado is the fastest class, with the Catamarans reaching speeds of more
than 20 knots.
The Windsurfer, Laser, Europe and Finn are all single-handed events. The 470,
Star, 49er and Tornado are double-handed events - with the Soling the only
triple-handed event.
Five facts:
1) The sport of sailing evolved from the initial use of boats for transport
and fishing.
2) Over the years, boats have changed considerably - from the massive yachts
prior to World War II to the windsurfing (Mistral class) introduced to the
Olympic Games in 1984.
3) Sailing or Olympic Yachting, as it was called, was scheduled for the first
Modern Olympic Games in 1896 but was cancelled due to the weather.
4) British sailors have won 32 medals in the Olympics.
5) The most recent British medal success came at the 2000 Games in Sydney
where Shirley Robertson, Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy all claimed gold.
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us