Single trapeze Olympians

We take a look at the Men's 470 class as Qingdao approaches

Designed in 1964 by Frenchman Andre Cornu the 470 was a pioneering boat in its day, one of the first specifically created to be built in GRP. The class did particularly well in its’ spiritual home of Europe before being selected as the men’s doublehander for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. While it was male-dominated, the 470 was initially a mixed class, the best mixed result being Pete Newlands and Cathy Foster’s seventh place at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. However for 1988, the 470 was divided into separate men’s and women’s classes, the same situation as remains today. It is now the longest running ‘dual’ Class in the Olympic Games. In recent years the boat has been doing very well in some of the less developed countries and Asia due to its requirement for smaller sailors and its relative cheap price.

Technical

As is the case for many single trapeze classes, the helm is always the lightest of the two sailors. In the 470 most top helms weigh in at around the 55-65kg mark. Even the crew in the 470 needs to be fairly light with the ideal being around 70kg. This need to remain light is the reason why the class has developed a very strong following in Asian countries. Previously, when courses where significantly longer helms were lighter still and crews tended to be the lightest tall person you could find. However, the gradual change to short course racing over the years has seen sailors putting on more muscle (and so weight) so as to work the boat harder in this sprint style of sailing.

Despite there being numerous builders, two manufacturers currently dominate the market in 470 hulls. Mackays from New Zealand had outstanding success in the Athens Olympics with all three Men’s medals going to people sailing their boats. Zeiglemayer (GER), however have also seen great success over recent years having four out of the top five competitors at the 2004 Men’s Worlds sailing their boats. These two manufacturers have remained dominant over the last three or four years with Mackay, perhaps, still holding the edge. Both Dave MacKay and Sebastian Zeigelmayer are renowned for the high quality of their builds, but in reality, due to the tight class rules, the difference between the two hulls is very slight. More than a speed difference, most sailors say the boats ‘feel’ slightly different and choose the hull they are most comfortable with. Over the last cycle Nautivela have been making a big effort to reach the upper echelons of the class, most recently bringing out their DSM 470 with modified construction and engineering. This boat is supposedly going to be used by the Dutch men, Sven and Calle Coster, in Qingdao and will be an interesting one to watch.

Sail and rig development has stayed relatively slow for this Olympic cycle. Currently most teams are using the Superspar M7 mast which is a ‘soft’ section giving lots of bend in the gusts. Much like the weight of sailors the Superspar, with its auto-depower bend characteristics, is popular now in part due to short course racing. With the racing being fast and furious and more of it taking place in a day it is important for the rig to do as much as possible and take the strain of the sailors out on the water. Though the Superspar mast is most widely used, a few sailors use the Proctor Cumulus section which has very similar characteristics.

In terms of sail, there have been a number of major developments in the class over the last six years or so. Prior to Athens, Olimpic Sails were the most popular choice. They continue to be fairly widely used, but have mostly been overtaken now by Norths. In particular, Japanese Norths are fast radial cut sails and are now the widest used. Interestingly the UK Norths loft also produce fast 470 sails that are not radial cut. Nic Asher uses these and insists that he can see no real speed difference between the two. The Spanish Quantum rig – the most popular choice at Athens – still has a strong following too, so expect to see all four of these sail options in Qingdao.

Finally some of the biggest differences in equipment could well remain unseen for much of the Olympics. Although most teams are using a fairly standard rudder, the centreboard has evidently been tweaked by a number of teams. With little room for shape changing under the 470 rules it seems likely these differences will come in stiffness. Unfortunately it is hard to get a grasp on exactly who has made what differences to their main foil due to them being underwater most of the time or up in the centre plate case. We suspect much of the talk around centerboards is just talk though.
The 470 is clearly going to be very competitive this summer in China. Of the 29 entries nine sailed in Athens at the Olympics and a significant number competed at the previous Olympics in Sydney. We know if a team has already attended an Olympics they are statistically more likely to win a medal which should make this one of the toughest classes. However, though the class is a mature one there are signs of a new breed of sailor coming through.

One feature on the 470 which should provide interest is the race officer’s use of the yellow flag. When this is flown (in eight knots and above) rule 42 (pumping and body kinetics) no longer exists and it is a free-for-all. A number of teams are particularly good at this with Australians, Wilmot and Page, perhaps able to give the best body movement demonstration. This also means in anything over eight knots the boat becomes very physical and requires very fit helms and crews to go fast. Of course this is all assuming the wind gets up above eight knots in Qingdao, of course.

Contenders:



Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS):

Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page are currently ranked as number one in the world. They have won the World Championships twice this Olympic cycle in both 2005 and 2007 – the other team to have won twice this cycle are Britain’s Asher and Willis who will not be attending. Clearly with their past results they are one of the hot favorites going into Qingdao this summer.

In 2004 Wilmot and Page won the 470 World Championships just before the Athens Games and went into those Olympics as firm favorites to take the title. However, they had a disastrous regatta and finished up in 12th position overall. There was much talk at the time of the two Aussies not mixing well with Viktor Kovalenko, their Ukrainian born coach and also discussion of the pairs’ temper fraying when things are not going their way. Clearly over the last four years they have matured more and are the better sailors for it. Two World Championships wins is no mean feat and the team has also proven themselves in Qingdao by winning the 2007 Test Event there.



Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (GBR):

Winners of the 2006 Olympic Test Event, Rogers and Glanfield are an extremely experienced 470 team. These Brits will head into the Olympics determined to prove they were the correct boat for selection over team mates and training partners, Asher and Willis.

Qingdao will represent their third Olympic Games, so they will understand how this special regatta works. However, in this very experienced fleet this might not be a huge advantage. At their first Games in 2000 Rogers and Glanfield ended up in fourth place and went two better to take Silver in Athens after having led for much of the week.

The team is not without their flaws and has never won a 470 World Championship despite finishing third on three separate occasions. In addition to this the last three years has seen the team finish in tenth, eighth and ninth at the World Championships. In spite of this though it is clear they remain very focused on their ultimate goal of a gold medal and are likely to be at the top in Qingdao.

Gideon Kliger and Udi Gal (ISR):

Kliger and Gal have been the epitome of consistency having taken third at the last three World Championships. In addition to this they were fifth at the two World Championships leading up to the Athens Olympics in 2003 and 2004. A fifth and a sixth place at the last two Olympic Test events in Qingdao, proves they have put their previous reputation as heavy weather specialists behind them.

Much like Wilmot and Page, though, Kliger and Gal had a disappointing Olympics in 2004 after heading into the event as one of the favorite teams, ending up in 15th overall. In addition to this the pairing have yet to win a major event and though often in the top five can sometimes struggle to hit the podium.



Sven Coster and Kalle Coster (NED):

Sven and Calle Coster (NED) are a long standing sibling partnership. Last season they took silver at the World Championships in addition to a number of other top ten positions. They finished sixth at the Athens Olympics so clearly have no problem with high pressure events. Like Kliger and Gal wins are a little thin on the ground, a record this team will want to rectify at the Games.

They started 2008 with a disappointment at the World Championships in Australia where they ended up in 12th position overall. However, they rectified this with a third at the recent European Championships giving them a boost just before the Olympics.

The team will also be sailing in an all-new 470 made by Dutch company DSM and produced in the Nautivela factory. So far it is hard to tell whether this might give them an edge or not. (To read about their boat click here).

Gabrio Zandona and Andres Trani (ITA):

Where Kliger and Gal are the masters of consistency, Zandona and Trani are the very opposite. When they are fast they can be very fast, however they have a tendency to blow up in a spectacular fashion. In 2003 the pair won the 470 World Championships, were fourth in 2006 and sixth earlier this year. In addition to this they took fourth position at the 2007 Pre-Olympic regatta.

In spite of their impressive results Zandona and Trani have also had some shockers: they were 27th at the 2005 Worlds and 28th in 2007. Realistically in Qingdao they could well win the event but they could also be back in the middle of the fleet.



Carl Evans and Peter Burling (NZL):

In such an experienced fleet this team is considered the young outsider chance attending the event. However, many 470 sailors rank them very highly and they are clearly very talented. They have had a number of decent results including some podium positions, but their results history does not do the team justice. These youngsters have only been in the 470 together for a few years and have already come a long way. They will be fired up to perform at the Games this year and it would be a fantastic story if they were to walk away with a medal.

Entries:

Argentina - Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente
Australia - Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page
Austria - Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstadter
Belarus - Sergei Desukevich and Pavel Logunov
Brazil - Fabio Pillar and Samuel Albrecht
Canada - Stephen Locas and Oliver Bone
Croatia - Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic
Finland - Niklas Lindgren and Heikki Elomaa
France - Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset
Great Britain - Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield
Greece - Andreas Kosmatopoulos and Andreas Papadopoulos
Ireland - Gerald Owens and Philip Lawton
Israel - Gideon Kliger and Ehud Gal
Italy - Gabrio Zandona and Andres Trani
Japan - Tetsuya Matsunaga and Taro Ueno
Korea - Cheul Yoon and Hyeongtae Kim
Netherlands - Sven Coster and Kalle Coster
New Zealand - Carl Evans and Peter Burling
Poland - Patryk Piasecki and Kacper Zieminski
Portugal - Álvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes
PR China - Wang Weidong and Deng Daokun
Russia - Michael Sheremetiev and Maxim Sheremetiev
Singapore - Yuan Zhen Xu and Seng Kiat Terence Koh
Slovenia - Karlo Hmeljak and Mitja Nevecny
Spain - Onan Barreiros and Aaron Sarmiento
Sweden - Anton Dahlberg and Sebastian Ostling
Switzerland - Tobias Etter and Felix Steiger
Turkey - Deniz Cinar and Ates Cinar
USA - Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl

Past Medalists:

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Athens 2004	Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham (USA)	Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (GBR)	Kazuto Seki and Kenjiro Todoroki (JPN)
Sydney 2000	Tom king and Mark Turnbull (AUS)	Paul Foerster and Bob Merrick (USA)	Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente (ARG)
Atlanta 1996	Yevhen Braslavets and Ihor Matviyenko (UKR)	John Merricks and Ian Walker (GBR)	Victor Rocha and Nuno Barreto (POR)
Barcelona 1992	Jordi Calafat and Francisco Sanchez (ESP)	Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (USA)	Tonu Toniste and Toomas Toniste (EST)
Seoul 1988	Thierry Peponnet and Luc Pillot (FRA)	Tonu Toniste and Toomas Toniste (USR)	John Shadden and Charles McKee (USA)
Los Angeles 1984	Luis Doreste and Roberto Molina (ESP)	Steve Benjamin and Hans Steinfield (USA)	Thierry Peponnet and Luc Pillot (FRA)
Moscow 1980	Marcos Soares and Eduardo Penido (BRA)	Jorn Borowski and Egbert Swensson (GDR - East Germany)	Jouko Lindgren and Georg Tallberg (FIN)
Montreal 1976	Frank Hubner and Harro Bode (FRG - West Germany)	Antonio Gorostegui and Pedro Millet (ESP)	Ian Brown and Ian Ruff (AUS)