Yachting Australia

For this, ISAF’s fourth class preview before the Olympic Games, we have grouped the 470 fleet together. One of the most technical classes in the Olympic Sailing Competition, it is used both for the men and women’s double-handed dinghy events.

The men’s fleet is 27 boats large, with 54 of the world’s best 470 sailors, 26 of whom will be attending their first Olympic Games, set to be on the startline for the first race in Athens.

The class is known for being highly competitive, highly technical, and fiercely close and this Olympic Sailing Competition will be no different in either the men’s or women’s fleet. The class has been included in the Olympic Games since 1976 when it was sailed as an open event and it was the first dinghy of the modern Olympic era that could be sailed equally by men and women. Cathy FOSTER in 1984 competed in the open event in the class in Los Angeles, and the first to win a race in an open event.

On to the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition, and current leaders of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, Nathan WILMOT and Malcolm PAGE (AUS) are representative of the current southern hemisphere domination of the double-handed classes. Coached by Victor KOVALENKO, the pair are reigning 470 World Champions and look good going into Athens. Although they are going to their first Olympic Games, Wilmot was only just beaten into second spot in their national trials before Sydney 2000, by the team that went on to take the Gold medal in their home waters, Tom KING and Mark TURNBALL.

The Australian duo will be pushed though. Without that utter dominance that has been seen in past Olympic Games in the class, when the likes of Jordi CALAFAT and Francisco SANCHEZ (ESP) won Gold in Barcelona, the form guide is more like the situation in Savannah in 1996 when the late John MERRICKS, sailing with Ian WALKER (GBR) went into the regatta with a string of results behind them, and only just walked away with the silver medal.

There is a plethora of teams willing to challenge the Aussies in the pressured environment of an Olympic Games, not least the British pair of Nick ROGERS and Joe GLANFIELD. Denied a medal on the last leg of the last race of the Olympics in Sydney, the British duo are returning to Olympic Sailing Competition with a clear aim to do better, and with knowledge and experience of what it takes to do that in the Olympic arena, they will be in there with a chance.

Class veterans, Kevin BURNHAM and Paul FORSTER (USA) already have two medals and three Olympic Games between them and despite being the oldest athletes in the fleet they have the tactical nous, experience and ability to challenge the youngsters for the top spot in Athens.

Javier CONTE and Juan De La FUENTE (ARG) won a bronze medal in Sydney and are returning to Athens with but one thing on their mind. Ranked eighth in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, the pair suffers logistically with travelling to major graded events. The events they have been to though have resulted in a strong showing, including top ten victories in the Worlds, Europeans and Kiel Week recently.

2003 World Champions Gabrio ZANDONA and Andreas TRANI (ITA) may have peaked a little early in their victory in Cadiz last year, a result that has contributed to their current position of second in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, but could still mount a strong challenge to the medal positions.

There are two past ISAF Youth Sailing World Champions in the fleet, out of four who have represented their nation at the world’s pinnacle Youth event. Nick ROGERS (sailing with Pom GREEN) won the event in Bermuda in 1995 and Gildas PHILLIPPE (FRA) won the event in 1991 in Largs.

Another experienced team will be the Ukraine pair of Eugene BRASTLIVETS and Igor MATVIYENKO (UKR). The Gold medallists in Savannah in 1996 come to Athens after finishing sixth in Sydney. Big performers on the stage that matters, they cannot be counted out when it comes to looking at who may or may not be on the medal podium in a little over two weeks time.

The women’s fleet was hit by a bit of a bombshell earlier this year when multiple World Champions, ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year in 2002 and clear Olympic favourites Sofia BEKATOUROU and Emilia TSOULFA (GRE) pulled out of the World Championships in Zadar, Croatia, due to a back injury suffered by Sofia.

Now back to fitness, Greece have recently confirmed their entry to the event and Sofia and Emilia will be given the chance to provide Greece with the Gold medal.

Theirs will not be an easy task though. Ingrid PETITJEAN and Nadege DOROUX (FRA) are strong medal contenders having topped the ISAF World Sailing Rankings since October 2003. The pair finished second and fifth at the last two World Championships.  From Menton near the French Italian border on the Cote D’azur, the duo have also dominated a number of events this year, winning Sail Melbourne and Semaine Olympique Francais.

They are not the only challenge to the podium places, the 20 boat fleet has traditionally been very close, and with returning Gold medallists Jenny ARMSTRONG and Belinda STOWELL coached by the very same Victor KOVALENKO as their team mates in the men’s fleet, big things are expected of them. They are currently ranked second in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings and their victory at the last ISAF Grade 1 event before Athens, Kiel Week, will have been a huge confidence boost, not that their typical Aussie self-belief requires it. Having finished fourth at the ISAF World Championships in Cadiz in 2003 and then again in Croatia in 2004, they have concentrated on upping their game in the final build up before Athens and will be fighting hard to retain their Olympic Gold Medal. If so, they will become the first Australian Women to win two Gold medals in a row.

Swedish representatives Therese TORGESSEN and Vendela ZACHRISSON completed a male female Swedish double when they won the 2004 World Championship. In their first Olympic Games they seem to be peaking at the right time after not really being a huge presence on the International scene. Their World Championship win was followed by an eighth place at the Europeans this year. They could perform in Athens if the conditions are right.

Also making an Olympic appearance is famous Dutch Sailor Lisa WESTERHOF who has teamed up with double Olympic medallist and past ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award winner Margriet MATTHIJSSE in a quest for an Olympic medal in the double-handed class. A relatively new pair, the team had a disappointing World Championship that was immediately followed by a victory at the ISAF Grade 1 SPA Regatta in the class. They are currently ranked 10 in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings and could surprise a few people when the medals come to be handed out for the event on 21 August at the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre.

Of the 20-boat fleet in Athens, nine athletes have already had the Olympic experience, four of them have recently moved from the Europe class and there is a plethora of World Champions in the depth of the fleet.

Racing starts for the 470 fleet on 14 August.