Inside The Games | Olympics | Olympic News, Events, People

SAILING

History

London in 1908 had the honour of holding the first Olympic regatta.

The races at the 1900 Games in Paris have generally been discounted as proper Olympic competitions, on the grounds that they were handicaps (the smaller the boat, the bigger the start) and there were cash prizes.

Therefore London, in 1908, has the honour of being the first Olympic regatta.

The races were actually staged in Ryde, Isle of Wight, except the 12m class which was held in the Firth of Clyde and remains the only Olympic event ever to take place in Scotland.

The most famous Olympic sailor is Paul Elvstrom, who is one of only three people ­- along with Carl Lewis in the long jump and Al Oerter in the discus - to win an individual title in four successive Games (1948-1960).

The Dane also competed in 1968 and 1972, retired, and returned in 1988 at the age of 56 to sail with his daughter Trine in the tornado class, in which they finished in fourth place.

Britain’s Rodney Pattisson could not quite match Elvstrom’s record, but he did win successive titles (1968-1972) in the now defunct Flying Dutchman class and was also second in 1976.

Pattisson’s record has been matched by Ben Ainslie, who won a silver in the laser in his first Games in 1996 and followed that with a gold medal in the same class in 2000 and a victory in the finn in 2004. Britain was the most successful sailing nation at both Sydney and Athens.

Technical

There are 11 Olympic classes: the RS:X (surfboard), for men and women; the 470 for men and women; the men’s laser and the women’s laser radial; the men’s star; the women’s yngling (pronounced ingling); and the 49er, finn and tornado.

The last three are open events (for either sex), but only one woman, from Belgium, is entered in any of the three in Beijing.

Every class has 10 races followed by a medal race (in which the points double - two for winning, four for second etc), except for the 49er, which has 15 races and a medal race.

Sailors can discard one result, except in the 49er when they can discard two.

You can not, though, discard your medal race score.

The major players

Brazil’s Robert Scheidt won the laser in Atlanta and Athens and was only prevented from winning a hat-trick by Ainslie, who out-thought him in the final race at Sydney. Scheidt goes for his third title in the star.

Beginners’ guide

Hike - to use crew weight to keep the boat flat by leaning out of the side.

Useless information

Norway’s King Olav V was, from 1957 to 1991, when he died, the only monarch in the world with an Olympic gold medal. He won it in the 6m class in 1928, when he was a mere crown prince.