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Sailing (Olympic sport since 1900)
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History |
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Equipment |
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Glossary |
About
Sailing first became an Olympic sport in Paris in 1900, where time handicaps were used to adjudicate the race. The race format and the classes of competing boats have changed frequently since then. Olympic racing is now conducted with boats categorised into one-design classes based on similar weights and measurements.
Competition
Races are sailed in what is known as a fleet racing format, fleets of boats racing around the same course area at the same time.
The boats race around courses, which incorporate a variety of different sailing angles, upwind, downwind and reaching.
Races are scheduled to last between 30 and 75 minutes depending on the event.
Scores are awarded according to finishing positions in each race. The lowest accumulated scores throughout the competition earn the medals.
Boats are identified on the water by national flags on sails and the crew names on the mainsail.
The ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing are in force for all boats racing.
List of events
-- 470 - Two Person Dinghy Men
-- Laser - One Person Dinghy Men
-- RS:X - Windsurfer Men
-- Star - Keelboat Men
-- 470 - Two Person Dinghy Women
-- Laser Radial - One Person Ding Women
-- RS:X - Windsurfer Women
-- Yngling - Keelboat Women
-- 49er - Skiff Mixed
-- Finn - Heavyweight Dinghy Mixed
-- Tornado - Multihull Mixed
History
Discipline's origin
Sailing, also called yachting, has been practised since antiquity as a means of transport. In the modern sense, yachting probably originated in the Netherlands, and the word seems to come from the Dutch "jaght" or "jaght schip," probably a light, fast naval craft.
The sport was brought to England by King Charles II in the mid-1600s after his exile to Holland. International yacht racing began in 1851 when a syndicate of members of the New York Yacht Club built a 101-foot schooner named America. The yacht was sailed to England where it won a trophy called the Hundred Guineas Cup in a race around the Isle of Wight under the auspices of the Royal Yacht Squadron. The trophy was renamed The America's Cup, after the yacht, not after the United States, as is commonly thought. The trophy remained in the hands of the United States, and specifically New York Yacht Club, until 1983 when an Australian yacht finally broke the American stranglehold.
Olympic history
Sailing was first contested at the 1900 Olympics. It made its next Olympic appearance in 1908 and has been on every Olympic programme since that year. Sailing has had a varied programme that is usually changed every few Olympiads as the popularity of various boats waxes and wanes. The trend has been towards smaller and smaller boats, with fewer crew members. In some of the early Olympics, crews had as many a 10-12 sailors. During the 2000 Sydney Games, only one event had a three-person crew (Soling), with six events contested by lone sailors.
Equipment
Boom
A horizontal pole or spar to which the bottom of a sail is attached.
Catamaran
A boat with parallel twin hulls.
Centerboard
A movable, fin-shaped protrusion under the hull that prevents a boat from sliding sideways and is used to right capsized dinghies.
Dinghy
A small sailing boat, rowing boat or ship's tender.
Europe dinghy
A single-handed centreboard dinghy class, often called "the small Finn", which is the smallest Olympic-class boat and is used for women-only competition.
Finn
A single-handed centreboard dinghy class used for men-only competition in the Olympic Games.
49ER
A double-handed, high-performance dinghy class with a low hull and tiny wings, by skiff standards, used for open competition in the Olympic Games.
470
A double-handed dinghy class used for men's and women's competition in the Olympic Games.
Genoa
The larger triangular forward sail in a sloop-rigged yacht.
Jib
The smaller triangular forward sail in a sloop-rigged boat.
Keel
A fixed, fin-shaped protrusion on the bottom of the hull that prevents a boat from sliding sideways.
Keelboat
A sailing yacht with a fixed keel.
Kite
Colloquial for "spinnaker", a large, billowing, often colourful sail used to obtain greater boat speed during downwind sailing, usually set in front of or instead of the jib and carried by the 470, 49er and Soling Olympic classes.
Laser
A single-handed centreboard dinghy class, the most popular one-design class in the world, used for open competition in the Olympic Games.
Mainsail
The larger sail behind the mast.
Mainsheet
The rope which controls the movement of a mainsail.
Mistral
A one-person sailboard known by its brand name and used for men's and women's events in the Olympic Games.
Sailboard
A lightweight, polyurethane, surfboard-like craft with a mast, boom and sail, on which the rider stands to manoeuvre; also known as a "windsurfer".
Sheet
A rope used to control and tension the sail and rigging.
Skiff
A light, open, small sailing boat or, more broadly, a boat with an open, self-draining hull.
Sloop rig
A sail plan composed of two sails - a mainsail and a jib, or genoa.
Soling
A three-person keelboat, the longest and heaviest of the Olympic-class boats, used for open competition.
Sonar
A three-person keelboat used for open competition in the Paralympic Games.
Spar
A general term referring to a boat's mast, boom and spinnaker pole, usually of an aluminium and/or carbon-fibre composition.
Spinnaker
A large, billowing, often colourful sail used to obtain greater boat speed during downwind sailing, usually set in front of or instead of the jib and carried by the 470, 49er and Soling Olympic classes.
Star
A two-person keelboat much lighter than the Soling and used for open competition in the Olympic Games.
Stay
A strong rope, commonly made of wire, used to support a mast.
Tiller
A handle attached to the rudder and used by the skipper to control steering.
Tornado
A two-person catamaran class that ranks as the fastest Olympic-class boat and is used in open competition in the Olympic Games.
Trapeze
A harness device worn by sailors on some dinghy, skiff or catamaran classes of boats which, with a metal stay from the mast, lets them lean almost completely outboard.
2.4MR
A single-handed, deep-displacement keelboat class used for open competition in the Paralympic Games.
Windsurfer
A lightweight, polyurethane, surfboard-like craft with a mast, boom and sail, on which the rider stands to manoeuvre; also known as a "sailboard".
History
Equipment
Glossary
Women have always been allowed to compete in Olympic sailing with men, but in 1984, separate sailing events were introduced exclusively for women. The Olympic sailing programme in 2000 consisted of men's, women's and mixed events.
In effect, sailing made its Olympic debut in Sydney, as it became the first Olympic sport to make a name change. The sport had always been called yachting in the past.
Glossary
360: Meaning a "360-degree penalty turn", one complete circle sailed as a penalty for hitting a buoy.
720: Meaning a "720-degree penalty turn", two complete circles sailed as a penalty for breaching a rule.
Abandon: A ruling by the Race Committee or jury to void a race, although it may be sailed again later.
Ballast: Extra weight carried for stability, usually lodged in the keel.
Bear away: To alter course away from the wind.
Beat: The line taken to sail most directly into the wind (about 45 degrees from wind direction); also known as "work".
Buoy: A rounding mark that floats on the water, denoting the required course.
DNC: Meaning "did not compete", the ruling when a boat fails to compete in a scheduled race and is awarded the maximum number of points for the race.
DND: Meaning "disqualification not discardable", the ruling when the jury disqualifies a boat from a race and awards the maximum number of points for the race, points which may not be discarded from the overall score later.
DNF: Meaning "did not finish", the ruling when a boat fails to finish a race and is awarded the maximum number of points for the race.
DNS: Meaning "did not start", the ruling when a competing boat fails to start a race and is awarded the maximum number of points for that race.
DSQ: Meaning "disqualified", the ruling when the jury disqualifies a boat from a race and awards the maximum number of points for the race.
Fleet racing: A style of race where all the competitors sail against each other at once, the predominant form of sailing at the Olympic Games.
Forestay: The rigging that secures the mast forward.
Gybe: To shift the mainsail from one side to the other when sailing with the wind behind; also "jibe".
Headsail: The sail in front of the mast.
Jibe: To shift the mainsail from one side to the other when sailing with the wind behind; also "gybe".
Leeward: The side farthest from the wind.
Leg: A part of the course bounded by two marks or buoys.
Luffing: Altering course toward the wind.
Mark: A buoy that defines the endpoint of a leg of a race.
Mast: A vertical spar or pole to which a sail or sails attach.
Match racing: One-on-one racing between two boats, a component of the programme for the Soling class at the Olympic Games.
OCS: Meaning "on course side", a ruling where a boat is deemed to have started a race prematurely and is subsequently disqualified from the race and awarded the maximum number of points.
Open: A style of competition in which both men and women may enter.
Port: A boat's left side when looking forward.
Pre-start manoeuvres: Tactical manoeuvres in the water carried out with the intention of being in the best possible position for the starting signal.
Race committee: The on-water officials responsible for setting the course and starting and finishing the race in accordance with the race rules and regulations.
RDG: Meaning "redress", a ruling where the jury reinstates or changes a boat's score for a particular race, based on a protest hearing.
Reach: To sail across the wind, or between the extremes of beat and run.
Rudder: A vertical board hinged to the back of a boat that turns the craft.
Run: The course taken to sail most directly downwind, or with the wind.
Starboard: A boat's right side when looking forward.
Tack: To change direction relative to wind direction (usually in a zigzag manner over the duration of an upwind leg), such as changing from having the wind on the right to having the wind on the left.
Trapezoidal: A four-leg course configuration with separate starting and finish lines.
Windward: The side closest to the wind.
Windward return: A type of course configuration requiring the boats to sail into the wind to a mark, then with the wind when returning to a second mark .
Work: The course taken to sail most directly into the wind (about 45 degrees from wind direction); also known as "beat".
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