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.

In 1988, women officially entered Olympic sailing competition with the first-ever 470 Women's event. This boat is especially well-suited to women's competition because of its light weight, maneuverability and light crew weight requirement. The United States won the first 470 Women's gold medal.

The Entrants – There will be a total of 19 entries for the Women’s Doublehanded Dinghy (470) event.  Qualified to date are the following countries:  AUS, DEN, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, HUN, ISR, JPN, NED, NZL, RUS, SLO, SWE.  The remaining 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 four-time 470 Women’s World Champions Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE); and 2000 470 Women’s Olympic Gold Medallists Belinda Stowell and Jenny Armstrong (AUS).

The Schedule -