Sailing in the London Olympics 2012

The waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour will play host to 10 exhilarating Sailing events during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Key Sailing facts

Venue: Weymouth and Portland
Dates: Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August
Medal events: 10
Athletes: 380 (237 men, 143 women)

Mastery over ever-changing conditions on open water requires skill and nerve.

Both will be essential for competitors in the Sailing events at London 2012, 14 days of competition that should offer plenty of excitement and drama in the beautiful but testing waters of Weymouth Bay, on the south coast of England.

Interesting Sailing & Olympics Vignettes

Crown Prince Olav of Norway won Gold in the Six-metre Sailing class at the Amsterdam 1928 Games.

The most successful Olympic sailor is Denmark’s Paul Elvstrom. He won the first of his four gold medals at consecutive Games in 1948, and was still competing in 1988 at the age of 60.

Great Britain was the most successful nation in the Sailing competitions at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

The sport’s name was changed from ‘Yachting’ to ‘Sailing’ at the Sydney 2000 Games.

Interesting Sailing Facts

The basics
At London 2012, the 10 different Olympic Sailing events (six for men, four for women) will feature a variety of craft, from dinghies and keelboats to windsurfing boards.
Each event consists of a series of races. Points in each race are awarded according to position: the winner gets one point, the second-placed finisher scores two, and so on. The final race is called the medal race, for which points are doubled. Following the medal race, the individual or crew with the fewest total points will be declared the winner.

Olympic Sailing, past and present

Sailing made its Olympic debut in 1900; with the exception of 1904, the sport has appeared at every Olympic Games since then.

Led by triple gold medal-winner Ben Ainslie CBE, Team GB has topped the Sailing medals table at the last three Olympic Games.

British sailors will be hoping to repeat the feat at London 2012, battling their rivals in Weymouth Bay. London 2012 is considering making Sailing a ticketed event.

Jargon buster

Fleet race: Three or more competitors racing against each other.
Match race: Two competitors racing head to head, with slightly different racing rules that allow aggressive tactics.
Port: When looking forwards, the left-hand side of the craft.
Starboard: When looking forwards, the right-hand side of the craft.
Tacking: When a boat passes through the eye of the wind in order to change direction. Because it is impossible to sail directly into the wind, sailing boats must zig-zag.

Information on the London Olympics & Paralympics 2012