Paris Olympics Sailing 2024: Basic Principles, Sailing Scored & More

The Basic Principles of Olympic Sailing

As sailors navigate a series of races, Olympic sailing revolves around skill, strategy, and adaptability. The sport’s fundamental principles are listed below.

• Boat control:Sailors must master boat control, adjusting sails and steering to effectively harness the wind as they navigate the course.
• Tactical racing:To gain an advantage over their rivals, sailors must make strategic decisions regarding wind shifts, currents, and course positioning.
• Adaptability to conditions:Conditions on the water can vary, from light breezes areas of strength for to and evolving flows. Mariners should adjust their tactics and sail settings to advance their exhibition no matter what the weather conditions.

Sailing Scored at The Olympics

Olympic sailing uses a low-point scoring system in which the boat with the fewest total points at the end of each series wins. For instance, the primary spot finisher gets one point, the second-place mariner gets two focuses, etc. Thus, a lower number is preferable. The total score is calculated by adding up the points won and discarding the worst finish after all qualifying races for a given event have been completed.

At the qualifying phase, the ten sailors with the lowest totals advance to the medal race. The number of points earned in the medal race is doubled and added to the total. Even if a sailor finishes last in all of their races, the medal race score cannot be subtracted from the total. The sailor with the lowest total wins gold at the conclusion of the medal race, the sailor with the second-lowest total wins silver, and the sailor with the third-lowest total wins bronze.

How does Olympic Sailing Work?

At the Olympics, there are ten sailing events, each of which is competed in a particular sailing class. There are events for both men and women, as well as events for both sexes. The Blended Two Man Dinghy occasion will make its Olympic presentation in Paris, alongside Recipe Kite and iQFoil (which replaces the RS:X class).

• Men’s One Person Dinghy (ILCA 7): Men skippered a single-handed class of dinghys.
• Women’s One Person Dinghy (ILCA 6): A class of women’s single-handed dinghy sailing
• Men’s Skiff (49er): A superior exhibition boat cruised by a two-man male team
• Women’s Skiff (49er FX): A two-person female crew in a high-performance skiff
• Men’s Windsurfing (iQFoil): A class for men who use foiling boards, which lift the board out of the water to reduce drag and increase speed, in windsurfing
• Women’s Windsurfing (iQFoil): A class for men who use foiling boards, which lift the board out of the water to reduce drag and increase speed, in windsurfing
• Men’s Kiteboarding (Formula Kite): A female-led kiteboarding class that used kiteboards and hydrofoils to sail
• Women’s Kiteboarding (Formula Kite): A female-led kiteboarding class that used kiteboards and hydrofoils to sail
• Mixed Two Person Dinghy (470): A two-person dinghy class with a crew of men and women
• Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17): A multihull class cruised by a two-man team comprising of one man and one lady

Depending on the class and the conditions, the competition typically consists of a series of races spread out over several days, each lasting 30 minutes to an hour. The format and number of races may vary from event to event, but the goal is to pick a winner overall based on the results of all races.

Qualify For Olympic Sailing

The 2023 Sailing World Championships served as the beginning of the qualification period. There, 107 quota spots were given to the NOCs who finished in the top 10 in ten different sailing classes. With the exception of the ILCA classes, which will award quota places as follows, each class awards one quota place at their respective continental championship (Africa, Asia, Central & South America, Europe, North America & Caribbean, and Oceania). Sailors representing the highest-finishing, unqualified NOCs at the ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship and the ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship were allocated seven spots.

Final Words

At the 2024 Last Chance Regatta in Hyères, France (39 boats total) and as part of the World Sailing Emerging Nations Program, the eligible NOCs will receive the remaining quota places for all classes (two boats per gender in windsurfing and dinghy). France, the host nation, reserves one boat in each of the ten sailing classes. However, the NOCs competing in the men’s and women’s ILCA 6 under the Tripartite Commission each receive four quota spots, two for each gender.