Singlehanded sailing at the Olympics

Sailing was among the sports in the first Olympic Games, with Paris 2024 as the 33rd competition. There have now been 59 boats used since the 1896 competition, and this shifting of equipment has slowly gotten further away from active recreational activity.

Of the ten events in 2024, six equipment types will be used, with the ILCA and 470 are the remaining historic boats. For the ILCA, the singlehander was introduced at the 1996 Games, and its continued use has less to do with the 1969 design and more to do with its prevalence around the world to insure participation among poorer nations.

The Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy events will have nearly double the entrants as the next largest Sailing event, and as country count is a significant metric for Sailing to retain its position as an Olympic sport, any newer singlehanded dinghy has a lot of work to do to bump the ILCA 7 and 6 from the Olympic podium.

For a report from the Class on its Paris 2024 inclusion, click here.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 28-August 9

Details:
• Paris website: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/
• World Sailing microsite: https://paris2024.sailing.org/