Sailing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Sailing at the XIII Paralympic Games
Paralympic Sailing
Venue	Hillcrest Park
Dates	8–13 September 2008
Competitors	80 from 25 nations
«2004	2012»

Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in 2 designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong province, from September 8 to September 13.

Competitors had a wide range of physical disabilities including degenerative nerve disease, blindness, missing limbs and polio.

Boats were prepared and launched from the docks of the Qingdao International Sailing Centre, which also included the accessible Qingdao Paralympic Village, a 5-star hotel which previously housed the Olympic Sailing athletes.

Events

Three sailing events were held. All were mixed events, meaning that men and women could compete together.

International disability classification in sailing is done by a committee, which gives each competitor a number score with lower numbers corresponding to more severe disability. Sailors were classified under the IFDS Functional Classification System 2005 (FCS 2005). To take part in Paralympic sailing, an athlete must have a score of 7 or less. Functional Classification System full details: [1]

Event	Boat	Classifications
Single-Person Keelboat	2.4mR	All sailors are required to have a minimal disability or a higher level of disability as defined in the FCS 2005.
Two-Person Keelboat	SKUD 18	Crew shall include a female and one severely disabled sailor with a 1 point classification.
Three-Person Keelboat	Sonar	The total Sonar crew points shall not exceed 14 points.

The 2-person keelboat (SKUD18) made its official début in the Paralympics. The only Paralympic class keelboat with a spinnaker, emblazoned with the national flag of each country. Of the 11 countries competing in the SKUD event, 7 had female crew.

Results

Eighty athletes represented twenty-five countries in the three event classes. Qualification full details

Medal table

This ranking sorts countries by the number of gold medals earned by their sailors (in this context a country is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada (CAN)	1	0	1	2
1	United States (USA)	1	0	1	2
3	Germany (GER)	1	0	0	1
4	France (FRA)	0	2	0	2
5	Australia (AUS)	0	1	1	2
Total		3	3	3	9

Medallists

In the 2-person keelboat event, all three of the medal-winning teams were composed of one man and one woman. Those three women were the first women to win Paralympic medals in sailing. Sailing competition athletes and full results.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1-person keelboat 2.4mR	Paul Tingley Canada (CAN)	Damien Seguin France (FRA)	John Ruf United States (USA)
2-person keelboat SKUD 18	United States (USA) Nick Scandone Maureen McKinnon-Tucker	Australia (AUS) Daniel Fitzgibbon Rachael Cox	Canada (CAN) John McRoberts Stacie Louttit
3-person keelboat Sonar	Germany (GER) Jens Kroker Robert Prem Siegmund Mainka	France (FRA) Bruno Jourdren Herve Larhant Nicolas Vimont-Vicary	Australia (AUS) Colin Harrison Russell Boaden Graeme Martin

External links

• 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition, Qingdao
• Official site of the 2008 Summer Paralympics
• IFDS/ International Association for Disabled Sailing
• ISAF/ International Sailing Federation