The Equipment - The everyman boat of competitive racing, the 470 is sailed by young or old, experienced or beginning sailor. In 1963, French architect Andre Cornu designed the two-handed centerboard boat as a modern high performance fiberglass planing dinghy which could be sailed by anyone. And the craft so influenced European sailing that the 470 is directly credited with drawing new sailors to the sport during the 1960s and '70s.  It has been an Olympic class boat since 1976. 

A light and narrow boat (length 15'6" and beam 5'6" with a weight of 264 lbs.), the 470 responds easily and immediately to body movement. Thus, the sailors' teamwork and tactics complement one another. The skipper is smaller and lighter (5'5" to 5'10" and 125-140 lbs.), and the crew is long and light (5'10" to 6'2" yet only 135-150 lbs.). The crew's build lets him or her hang far out on the trapeze to keep the boat level in all conditions.

The Entrants – There will be a total of 30 entries for the Men’s Doublehanded Dinghy (470) event.  Qualified to date are the following countries:  ARG, AUS, BRA, CRO, DEN, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, IRL, ISR, ITA, JPN, KOR, NED, NZL, POR, RUS, SLO, SUI, SWE, UKR, USA.  The remaining six countries will be determined at the final qualifying event:  470 World Championship, scheduled for May 4-16, 2004 in Croatia.

The Competition - Notable foreign competition will include Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (AUS), the number one ranked 470 Men’s team as of the 14 April ISAF Rankings, who were second overall at the 2003 470 Men’s World Championship; 2003 470 Men’s World Champions Gabrio Zandona and Andrea Trani (IRA); and 2000 470 Men’s Olympic Bronze Medallists Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente (ARG).

The Schedule -