Olympic Games 1996

IYRU Olympic Update

Background History of 1996 Olympic Classes

Tornado

The International Tornado Class Catamaran was designed by Rodney March, Terry Pearce and Reg White in 1966, and it gained its Olympic Games Status from the IYRU after winning a selections regatta in Brightlingsea, England in the same year.

The Tornado Class has a world-wide fleet. Over 4500 Tornado's have been built and with 1300 Class Association Members the International Tornado Class will be competing at its sixth Olympic Games in Savannah in 1996, having been originally selected in 1972 for the 1976 Olympics.

The boats are strong, stiff and universally competitive and reflect the ability of the sailor rather than technological innovations. The International Tornado Class Association continues to grow.

Europe

The International Europe Class dinghy was designed by the Belgian, Alois Roland, in 1960 as a one design dinghy to comply with the 1960 rules of the International Moth Class. Very soon, because of its popularity in mainland Europe, particularly among sailors who wanted equal sailing opportunity in a one design rather than a development class the "europa moth" became an independent status by the IYRU. The name was changed to Europe and in March 1976 it was granted international status by the IYRU. In 1988 it was given Olympic status for the women's single-handed event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

There are currently 46 National Class Associations, and over 6500 registered owners.

Soling

The International Soling was designed and built by Jan Linge of Norway in 1964 after the announcement that trials were to be held by the IYRU in 1966 and 1967 to find a new international three-person racing keelboat. Three years later it was selected as the IYRU's three-man keelboat in the second of the two trials. Approximately 2000 boats had been built by 1972 and the class had spread to 40 nations. The Soling first participated in the Olympic Games in 1972, where Buddy Melges and Paul Elvstrom, dominant figures in the early years of the Class, met at Kiel, Germany, and Melges won the Gold Medal.

There are approximately 38 National Class Associations and over 2300 boats built.

Match racing was introduced to the Class in 1979 and since then the interest has steadily increased. With the announcement of the new Olympic match race format, Soling match racing regattas are being conducted in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

470

The 470 was designed in 1963 by Andre Cornu, FRA, as a modern fibreglass planing dinghy, and appeals to sailors of different size and age. In 1969 the class was given international status and it has been an Olympic class since 1976. In 1988 the first Olympic women's event was sailed in the 470.

World championships are organised every year for women and men/mixed teams and there is also a Juniors and Masters world championship. The 470 is used in regional championships, like the Asian, Mediterranean and PanAm games.

In the world championships there have been more than 30 countries represented. There are approximately 42 member nations and 39,000 boats have been built in 20 countries in all continents.

Star

The International Star was designed by Francis Sweisguth in 1911, being the oldest Olympic Class. It was first used in competition in 1932 and is still at the heart of competition today. Supported by a worldwide association there have been over 7,500 Stars built over its 80 year history with approximately 2000 racing actively today.

The Star is sailed by a variety of sailors of all ages and skill levels. Many of the world's top sailors have been involved in the Star Class, including a large number of America's Cup skippers.

The Star has evolved into the ideal craft for all ranges of competition and performance sailing, simple enough for a beginner yet demanding enough for those at the forefront of sailing.

Finn

The International Finn dinghy was designed by Richard Sarby in 1950. The Finn class has National Finn Associations in over 60 countries and although it is most popular in Europe it is sailed world-wide and backed by a very strong Class Association.

The Finn dinghy is highly competitive using innovative design features that allow competitors to adjust their rig to suit their size and weight. It has taken part in 12 Olympic Games and been sailed by a broad range of sailors.

The Finn Gold Cup is a major annual event for the Class. The Cup was presented to the International Finn Association by F.G. Mitchell of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Great Britain in 1956 and the first Gold Cup strongly influenced the foundation of the International Finn Association on 23 August 1956 in Loosdrecht, Netherlands.

Mistral One-Design:

IMCO International was formed as a One-Design Windsurfing Class in 1978, using the very successful `Superlight' board, the successor to the original `Windsurfer' which was designed by Hoyle Scweitzer and Jim Drake. Now the class has national organisations in 43 countries and runs five continental championships and one world championship each year which in the past has taken place in Australia, Japan, Thailand and the USA to name but a few.

By 1992, when there were approximately 10,000 examples of the current Olympic One-Design in use in the World, IMCO made a bid for Olympic Status. Over 20,000 boards are in use now, and at the last Mistral World Championship in Israel 47 nations took part, a record for any Olympic Class.

Olympic History