Sailing started at the first Olympics, but was rained out in 1896 and not held in 1904. Ever since then it’s been a mainstay of the Summer Olympics. Sailing was gender-neutral until 1988 when the competition was split into the men’s and women’s events we see today. The US is the all-time leader in medals with 59 and that includes 19 golds. Olympic sailing is divided into different “classes”.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of 16 athletes, seven women and nine men. Six are returning from Beijing and one is returning from Athens.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Sailing
Men:
Graham Biehl* – Men’s 470
Robert Crane – Laser
Brian Fatih – Men’s Keelboat
Stuart McNay* – Men’s 470
Mark Mendelblatt& – Men’s Keelboat
Trevor Moore – 49er
Zach Railey* – Finn
Erik Storck – 49er
Bob Willis – Men’s Windsurf

Women:
Debbie Capozzi* – Elliott 6m
Amanda Clark* – Women’s two-person dingy
Farrah Hall – Women’s Windsurf
Sarah Lihan – Women’s two-person dingy
Paige Railey – Laser Radial
Anna Tunnicliffe* – Elliott 6m
Molly Vandemoer – Elliott 6m
* – Was part of the team in Beijing
** – Was part of the team in Beijing and Athens
& – Was part of the team in Athens

Schedule:

I’ll try to explain the different events now.

All of the events save one are Fleet racing. In fleet racing there will be a set of 10 races (one event has 15) in which the first boat gets one point, the 2nd two, and so on. Your worst race is dropped and the top ten advance to the medal race. In the medal race the points are doubled and added to the previous total. The lowest total wins.

In the one match racing event, there are twelve teams entered so each team will compete against each other in the group stage. The winner gets a point, a draw is worth a half-point. The top eight move onto a knockout stage. There will be a series of races in the knockout stage with three points needed to win the matchup.

Classes:
470 Class – 4.7 meter long boat (470)
Laser – Very simple boat, small
Keelboat/Star – Designed for two
49er – Two handed, two person crew. Very advanced boat.
Windsurf/RS:X – It’s not a boat, but more of a surfboard with a sail attached.
Finn – Was designed specifically for the Olympics, single handed.
Laser Radial – Shorter mast and smaller sail than the Laser.
Elliott 6m – Better designed for the match racing.

All Times ET
Sunday July 29th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 1
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 2
8:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
8:35 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 1
9:50 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 2

Monday July 30th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 1
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 1
7:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 1
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 2
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 2
8:20 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 2
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 3
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
9:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 3
10:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 4
10:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 4

Tuesday July 31st
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 3
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 3
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 5
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 1
7:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 5
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 4
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 2
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 6
8:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 6
8:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 3
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 1
9:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 4
9:45 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 2
10:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 4

Wednesday August 1st
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 5
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 5
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
7:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 5
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 6
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4
8:15 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 6
8:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 6
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
9:45 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4

Thursday August 2nd
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 7
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 1
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 7
7:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 7
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 8
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 8
8:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 8
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 2
8:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
9:45 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4
11 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 3
11:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 4

Friday August 3rd
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 9
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 7
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 1
7:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 3
7:05 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 9
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Race 10
8:15 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 2
8:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 4
8:20 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Race 10
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 8
8:30 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 9
8:35 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 7
9:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 10
9:50 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 8
10:00 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 11

Saturday August 4th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 9
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 7
7:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 9
7:45 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 8
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Race 10
8:20 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Race 10
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 5
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 7
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Round Robin
9:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 3
9:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 8
10:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 6
10:20 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 4

Sunday August 5th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 12
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 9
7:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 13
7:45 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 10
8 AM – Men’s Sailing – Star – Medal Race
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – Finn – Medal Race
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 5
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 9
9:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Race 10
10:30 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 6

Monday August 6th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 7
8 AM – Women’s Sailing – Laser Radial – Medal Race
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 8
9 AM – Men’s Sailing – Laser – Medal Racer
10 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 14
10:45 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Race 15

Tuesday August 7th
7 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 9
7:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 7
8 AM – Men’s Sailing – RS-X – Medal Race
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 10
8:20 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 8
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – RS-X – Medal Race
10 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Quarterfinals

Wednesday August 8th
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Race 9
8 AM – Men’s Sailing – 49er – Medal Race
8:15 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Race 10
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Quarterfinals

Thursday August 9th
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Semifinals
8 AM – Men’s Sailing – 470 – Medal Race
10 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Sail Off

Friday August 10th
8 AM – Women’s Sailing – 470 – Medal Race
9 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Semifinals

Saturday August 11th
7 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Bronze Match
8:05 AM – Women’s Sailing – Elliott 6m – Gold Match

Past Results:

In Beijing Stu McNay and Graham Biehl were together in the 470, just like this time, and finished 13th. They did have some good races including two they won though. If they could keep up the pace they set from races six through 9 in Beijing (two wins, a fourth and a sixth) they would be right near the top.

Zach Railey competed in the finn event and finished a solid 2nd. He will be a real threat in that competition again in London. Amanda Clark competed on the 470 in Beijing and will be back in London, though with a different teammate. Clark finished in 12th in Beijing. Anna Tunnicliffe competed in the laser radial in Beijing and came with the gold medal, but will be in the new elliott 6m competition in London. She’ll team with Debbie Capozzi who was part of a team which finished 8th in Beijing in the kneelboat.

Mark Mendelblatt is back in the Olympics for the first time since Athens, where he finished 8th.  The US won two medals in Athens after winning four in Sydney.

At the World Championships in 2011 the US won three medals. Paige Railey won the bronze in laser radial, Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih won the bronze in star, and the team of Anna Tunnicliffe, Deborah Capozzi, and Molly Vandemoer won the gold in the elliott 6m.  Other top ten finishes came from Zach Railey in finn (9th) and Erik Storch and Trevor Moore in 49er (9th).