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