Olympic Games 1996

Measurement at the Olympics

Of the 10 Olympic Event contended in Olympic Yachting, five events use equipment supplied by ACOG and for five events competitors bring their own equipment. The supplied equipment is for the Men and Women's Board (Mistral); Women's Single-handed Dinghy (Europe); Men's Single-handed Dinghy (Finn) and the Open Dinghy (Laser).

For the remaining event - Men and Women's Double-handed Dinghy (470); Two Person Keelboat (Star); Multihull (Tornado) and Fleet/Match Race Keelboat (Soling) competitors bring their own equipment.

To ensure the one-design characteristics of the boats are met, a team of International Measurers undertake the rigorous measurement checks and test on all the competitors supplied boats entered in the Olympic Regatta. This measurement commenced on 12th July 1996 and is currently in the final stages. Prior to the start of competition measurement will have certified that all boats competing comply to the respective class rules and buildings specifications, ensuring fair competition for all.

Initial measurement of boats at the Savannah Olympics has now concluded. For sailors who have never been to a world class sailing event, this is an amazing process. It just doesn't happen at the club level!

Every sailor wants an advantage over his or her competitors. In the 'perfect universe' scenario in one design racing, the only variables are wind, waves and the sailor skill. In reality, small differences in boat weight, sail shape, weight location can all make for big advantages or disadvantages on the race course. Particularly at the Olympic level where competition is so close.

The job of the measurement committee is to ensure that boats sailing in the Olympics meet strict class association measurement regulations. These vary from class to class.

This week, the Soling was in the news, for the American and Danish Solings were called into scrutiny by the measurers. An ultrasound testing of the boats showed that there might be a minimum thickness problem. Core samples were sent to a lab in Rhode Island, the results were sent back to the Measurement Committee on Friday. The US boat passed, the Danish did not. The Danish boat was built by a British company who were once before disqualified for building Solings that didn't measure up. This is the first Soling they've built for an Olympics since, and it did not adhere to class regulations. At the laboratory, when the resin was melted away from the core sample, the layers of the core were peeled off one by one, and it was discovered that one required layer was missing. For further details on this story, see: