Olympic sailing classes

The Olympic sailing classes were used in the sport of Sailing/Yachting during the Olympic Summer Games since 1896. Over that period 46 different classes were used so far.

History

Over a period of more than 112 years, in a sport that uses complex technical equipment, it goes without saying that classes will be discontinued for use at the Olympics. Reasons for discontinuation of a class did vary from economical, logistical and technological to emotional and 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 Classes

2012 Olympic Classes designs

Category	Class	1932	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012
Dinghy	Finn				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	H	H	H	•H	H
	470										•	•	•	M+F	M+F	M+F	M+F	M+F	M+F	M+F
	49er																P	P	P	P
	Laser															M	M	M	M	M
	Laser Radial																		F	F
Keelboat	Star	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	M	M	M
	Elliott 6																			F
Sailboard	RS:X												•	•	M+F	M+F	M+F	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									•

Post-WWII games (1948—2008)

Category	Class	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008
Dinghy	Firefly	•
	12m2 Sharpie			•
	Flying Dutchman				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	Europe												F	F	F	F
Keelboat	6 Metre	•
	Swallow	•
	5.5 Metre		•	•	•	•	•
	Dragon	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	Tempest							•	•
	Soling							•	•	•	•	•	C	C	C
	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

Vintage Yachting Classes

In 2008 a new chapter was created for the former Olympic Classes in the form of the Post-Olympic Vintage Yachting Games.

2012 Vintage Yachting Classes designs

Category	Class	2008	2012
Dinghy	Europe	F	F
	Europe	M	M
	12’ Dinghy	VIP	• + VIP
	O-Jolle	•	•
	Flying Dutchman	•	•
Keelboat	Soling	•	•
	Dragon	•	•
	Yngling		Of
	Tempest		?
	5.5 Metre		•

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)
• ( H ) Heavyweight Dinghy event
• ( P ) High Performance Dinghy event
• ( VIP ) Vintage Inter Pares event (sailoff between the winners of each Vintage Yachting event)

References

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

See also

• Sailing at the Summer Olympics
• Sailboarding at the Olympics