sailboats used in the olympics

What are the differences between the Olympic sailing events at Paris 2024?

Before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Olympics.com offers you an insight into the nuances of and differences that may exist between some disciplines which can seem very similar. Find out the key differences between the sailing events at Paris 2024.

Sailing has been present at every edition of the modern Olympic Games, with the exception of the Games of the I Olympiad at Athens 1896 (races were cancelled due to severe weather) and the St. Louis 1904 Olympic Summer Games.

Women competed alongside men in 1900 with the first women's only event introduced at Seoul 1988.

There have been numerous changes to the boats used over the years with the kite making its debut at Paris 2024.

For Paris 2024 , there will be two mixed boats (470 and Nacra 17) plus four boats for each gender, totalling 10 events as follows:

Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 (previously named Laser)
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 (previously named Laser radial)
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s Kite – Formula Kite Class – **new event and equipment *
Women’s Kite – Formula Kite Class – **new event and equipment *
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – **new equipment *
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – **new equipment *
Mixed Dinghy – 470 – **new event *
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17
Discover the full calendar of Olympic Games Paris 2024

The waters of the Marseille Marina will host the sailing competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 from 28 July to 8 August .

Read on to discover the differences between the sailing events at Paris 2024.

How to qualify for sailing at Paris 2024: the Olympics qualification system explained

What are the different boats used in sailing at the Olympic Games?

As you might expect, the main difference between Olympic sailing events is the type of boat used in competition. All competitors in an event use the exact same model of boat, with no differences in design.

The categories of boats, often known as "dinghies" used at the Olympic Games are as follows:

Used as the men's dinghy since Atlanta 1996, the ILCA 7 uses the Standard Laser rig with a sail area of 7.06m².

The ILCA 6 has 18% less sail area than the ILCA 7, and is slightly shorter with a more flexible mast and a radial cut sail design. It does use the same fibreglass hull as the ILCA 7, and has been used as the women's dinghy since Beijing 2008.

The 470 was first used in Olympic competition in Montreal 1976, before being divided into men's and women's events in 1988. The hull length of the dinghy is 470cm (4.7m), hence the name, and is sailed with trapeze – a wire attached to a point high on the mast, that hooks on the crew's harness. At Paris 2024, 470 will be contested as a mixed event only.

Another type of dinghy used in competition is known as a "skiff"; these are a faster and more dynamic kind of dinghy, identifiable by their flat and narrow hulls. There are two types of skiffs used at the Olympics:

Olympic equipment since Sydney 2000, the 49er gets its name from its hull, which is 4.99m in length. The 49er carries three sails: a main sail, a jib, and an asymmetrical spinnaker.

The 49erFX is used by all female athletes, and as such is a redesigned version of the 49er. It was first used for the women’s skiff for Rio 2016.

Next is the multihull, which, as the name suggests, is simply a boat with more than one hull.

The Nacra 17 is a catamaran (a boat with two hulls) that is 17-feet long, and sailed by a mixed gender crew that flies above the water on foils.

The Olympic sailing program also features four board events:

Kite , a new event for Paris 2024, features athletes using a hand-controlled kite to navigate across the water on a board. Both men and women will use the Formula Kite at the Games.

Windsurfing will use the iQFOiL, which will replace the RS:X for Paris 2024 and include three different formats of racing – slalom, course and marathon.

What are the key differences between sailing disciplines at Paris 2024?

All Olympic sailing races are contested in a "fleet race" format, which is simply a race in which a group of boats compete on the water at the same time.

Each sailor/crew must navigate a course marked by buoys, competing with one another to cross the finish line first. Each event consists of an opening series and a medal race (or medal series for windsurfing and kite).

Boats are allocated points for their finishing position in each race (first place = 1 point, second place = 2 points, etc). The lower the total score, the better the overall placement for the boat. The worst race result for each boat is discarded after the opening series (or up to three race results in windsurfing and kite).

The number of opening series races for each class is as follows:

Dinghy: 10 races

Skiff: and Multihull: 12 races

Windsurfing: 20 races

Kite: 16 races