Olympic sailing classes

The eight Olympic classes scheduled in London 2012.

The Olympic sailing classes have been used in the sport of Sailing/Yachting during the Olympic Summer Games since 1896. Since then, 46 different classes have been used.

History

Over a period of more than 112 years, in a sport that uses complex technical equipment, classes will be discontinued for use at the Olympics. Reasons for discontinuation of a class varied from economical, logistical and technological to emotional and even political. Some of the discontinued classes remain very strong International - or National classes. Others filled a niche in a specific area like sailing schools or local club racing. Some faded away.

The “Former Olympic Sailing Classes”, together with their crews form an important and significant part of the history of sailing in general and Olympic Sailing in particular. These tables give an overview of the classes and when they were used for Olympic sailing.

Current Olympic poodx Classes

Category	Class	1932	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016
Dinghy	Finn				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	H	H	H	•H	HM	HM	HM
	470										•	•	•	M&F	M&F	M&F	M&F	M&F	M&F	M&F	M&F
	49er																P	P	P	P	M
	49erFX																				F
	Laser															M	M	M	M	M	M
	Laser Radial																	F	F	F	F
Multihull	Nacra 17																				Mix
Sailboard	RS:X																		M&F	M&F	M&F

Discontinued Olympic Classes

Pre-WWII games (1900–1936)

Category	Class	1900	1904	1908	1912	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936
Ton classes	½ Ton	•
	½–1 Ton	•
	1–2 Ton	•
	2–3 Ton	•
	3–10 Ton	•
	10–20 Ton	•
	Open	•
Square Meter Skerry Cruiser classes	30m2					•
	40m2					•
Jauge chemin de fer classes	6.5 Metre					•
	8.5 Metre					•
Metre classes	6 Metre			•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	7 Metre			•		•
	8 Metre			•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	9 Metre					•
	10 Metre				•	•
	12 Metre			•	•	•
	15 Metre					•
Monotype classes	12’ Dinghy					•		•
	18’ Dinghy					•
	French National Monotype 1924						•
	Snowbird								•
	O-Jolle									•
Keelboat	Star								•	•

Post-WWII games (1948—2012)

Category	Class	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012
Dinghy	Firefly	•
	12m2 Sharpie			•
	Flying Dutchman				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	Europe												F	F	F	F
Keelboat	6 Metre	•
	Swallow	•
	5.5 Metre		•	•	•	•	•
	Dragon	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	Elliott 6																	Fm
	Soling							•	•	•	•	•	C	C	C
	Star	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	M	M	M
	Tempest							•	•
	Yngling															F	F
Multihull	Tornado								•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Sailboard	Windglider										M
	Division II											M
	Lechner A–390												M+F
	Mistral One Design Class													M+F	M+F	M+F
	RS:X																M+F	M+F

Legend

• ( • ) Open Class event (Male and Female)
• ( M ) Male event
• ( F ) Female event
• ( Fm ) Female Matchrace event
• ( Of ) Open with a minimum of one female
• ( C ) Combined open event (Fleetrace and Matchrace)
• ( Mix ) Mixed (e.g. One Male & One Female Crew)
• ( H ) Heavyweight Dinghy event
• ( P ) High Performance Dinghy event
• ( VIP ) Vintage Inter Pares event (sailoff between the winners of each Vintage Yachting event)

See also

• Sailing at the Summer Olympics
• Sailboarding at the Olympics
• ISAF Sailing World Championships
• International Sailing Federation
• Vintage Yachting Games

References

• International Sailing Federation
• ISBN 978-90-78440-23-9