Created in France in the 1960s by Andre Cornu, the 470 is a small, fast boat, its name deriving from its length.
It is a highly technical class, with the ability to ‘plane’ (skim the waves like a powerboat) in a high wind. It is sailed by two people and has three sails (mainsail, jib and spinnaker) as well as a trapeze, which allows the crew to lean out of the craft.
The 470, first recognised as an Olympic class in 1976, was also the first women’s class, accepted into the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul.
SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 4.7m (15ft 5in)
Breadth: 1.68m (5ft 6in)
Weight: 120kg (265lb)
Type: Dinghy
Crew: 2
Designer: Andre Cornu
Year: 1963
Beijing 2008 Olympic Results
Women:
Gold: Elise Rechichi / Tessa Parkinson - Australia
Silver: Marcelien De Koning / Lobke Berkhout - Holland
Bronze: Fernanda Oliveira / Isabel Swan - Brazil
Men:
Gold: Nathan Wilmot / Malcolm Page - Australia
Silver: Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield – Great Britain
Bronze: Nicolas Charbonnier / Olivier Bausset - France
Athens 2004 Olympic Results
Women:
Gold: Sofia Bekatorou / Emilia Tsoulfa - Greece
Silver: Natalia Via-Dufresne / Sandra Azon - Spain
Bronze: Therese Torgersson / Vendela Zachrisson - Sweden
Men:
Gold: Paul Foerster / Kevin Burnham - USA
Silver: Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield – Great Britain
Bronze: Kazuto Seki and Kenjiro Todoroki - Japan
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