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The Yngling will make its debut as Olympic equipment here in Athens for the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition. The three-person keelboat that was designed by reputed Soling designer Jan LINGE has seen a transformation in fortunes since being selected for Olympic duty in November 2000.

On the startline in Athens there will be 16 female teams comprising of three athletes each. The background for each team is as diverse as the nations represented and sailors have moved into the class from either match racing, other Olympic events or via other keelboat campaigns.

 

There is a range of previous Olympians who will line up to do battle for the three podium places in Athens. Shirley ROBERTSON, on her third attempt, won a Gold medal in the Single-handed Dinghy Women event in the Europe Class at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and at that point closed the book having achieved her goal in the class. She has now teamed up with Sarah WEBB and Sarah AYTON to make assault on a second medal in 2004. Other converts from the Europe include Paula LEWIN (BER), who went to the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympic Sailing Competition in Savannah. Dorte JENSEN (DEN), medal hopeful for this year finished fifth in Barcelona and has had a break from Olympic sailing until her 2004 Campaign.

 

Sharon FERRIS (NZL) competed for many years in the Europe before finishing one place behind Robertson at the Atlanta Olympic Games and subsequently moved into the keelboat circuit with the Yngling as her new steed.

 

Other medallists come from the 470, in which Ruslana TARAN (RUS) won bronze medals in both Sydney and Atlanta. Nicky BETHWAITE and Karyn GOJNICH (AUS) represented their nation at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, finishing in fifth place.

 

This time around, now that the swings and roundabouts have settled, the pecking order in the fleet is still far from decided. There has been some rapid development in the class since it was selected for Olympic competition and every single athlete has spent the last few months and years getting to grips with sailing the small keelboat, ironing out any mistakes and developing themselves and their kit.

 

One team who seem to have faired better than most is the Danish team of Dorte JENSEN, Christina BORREGAARD OTZEN and Helle JESPERSEN. A second in the 2004 World Championship piggy backed with a third in the 2003 ISAF World Championship in Cadiz, as well as a victory at this year's ISAF Grade 1 SPA Regatta has left them in a clear lead in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings. Consistently in the top three they came through a tough national selection battle with 2004 World Champion Trine PALLUDAN. In fact, Dorte will be sailing with a member of Trine’s winning crew, Christine OTZEN. The team were also ISAF Women’s World Match Racing Champions in 2000 and 2001.

 

That trio will be expected to achieve highly Olympic Games in Athens, their competitive selection process and an undoubted skill in a variety of conditions will make them tough to beat, but the pressures of competition will have to be dealt with, and the various challenges fought off if they are to return to Denmark victorious.

 

Those challenges will come from a number of angles. The obvious ones will be those closest to Dorte in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, although many other athletes have been seen to be dramatically raising the level of their preparations.

 

Guiglia CONTE (ITA), who combines her top level Olympic Sailing Campaign with a bit of match racing on the side has come into top form over the last few months. After a top twelve finish at the 2004 World Championship in Santander, Spain, she jumped into the runner-up position at the ISAF Grade 1 SPA Regatta, to sit a mere four points behind the winner, Kristin WAGNER from Germany.

 

Kristin is sailing with Anna HOELL and Veronika LOCHBRUNNER and they are at their first Olympic Games as a team here in Athens, and over the last two years have consistently performed in amongst the top five in the world. They go into Athens ranked second in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, and with a victory at SPA, the last ISAF Grade 1 event, before the Olympic Games, will be brimming with confidence. Having also taken a third ad the 2003 Athens Regatta, the final Olympic test event before the real thing, they certainly have a good start.

 

Carol CRONIN, Liz FILTER and Nancy HABERLAND (USA) competed in what was arguably one of the toughest national selection trials for the Olympic Games. A single regatta, first past the post trials system saw the team come head to head with top keelboat skippers Sally BARKOW and Betsy ALISON. The depth of women’s keelboat sailing in the USA is so good that all three of these teams were ranked in the top ten in the world before going into the trials. Any one team could have gone but in the end that honour, and the expectations of the USA, were placed firmly on the shoulders of “Team Atkins”, the name they have called themselves after their sponsor.

 

The trials system in the USA, which loosely emulates the small fleet that will be found in Athens, may have prepared the team well for the Olympic format, and what was largely a light wind regatta at the US trials looks to prove that the team have things well in their sights when it comes to medal winning.   

 

Yngling measurement is currently underway at the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre in Athens and the first race for the event will be on 14 August. The fleet will be racing on course area Delta, the furthest north of the four course areas.