How it Works
For all Olympic and Paralympic classes, except Women’s Match Racing , the sailors compete in fleet racing, where all boats in the same class race at the same time.
PARALYMPIC CLASSES
Sailing is a multi-disability sport where athletes from the amputee,
cerebral palsy, visually impaired, wheelchair and les autres groups can
compete together.
There are slight modifications in equipment in order to suit an
athlete’s ability.The boats used as Paralympic classes have keels,
mainly because this design provides greater stability. These keelboats
have open cockpits to allow more room for the sailors.
Competition in Paralympic classes is run under the ISAF Racing Rules
of Sailing and according to the IFDS Race Management and the IFDS
Functional Classification System.
Competitors are ranked according to a points system from one to
seven, where low points are given to the severely disabled and high
points for the less disabled.
Sonar - Each crew of three is allowed a maximum of 14 points between them.
Skud 18 - one sailor has a more severe level of disability
(equivalent to a class one or two) while the other must have a minimum
level of disability that prevents them competing on equal terms with
able-bodied sailors. One crew member must be female.
2.4mR - Single-handed sailors must have a minimum level of disability.
The sailors compete in fleet racing, where all boats in the same class
race at the same time.
Each class completes a series of 11 races but
with no double points medal race.
For the whole series, the sailors accrue points depending on where
they finish in a race (ie: 1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 etc). The boat with
the lowest overall score at the end of the series will win the event.
One race is required to constitute a regatta. Once five or more races
have been completed, the sailors can discard their worst score from
their series scores – the score a boat discards often changes as the
regatta progresses.
Two races per day are scheduled for each class from 1 to 5 September,
with one race for each class on the final scheduled day (6 September).
Racing is scheduled to start at 11am each day. No race will start later than 6pm.
OLYMPIC CLASSES (excluding Women’s Match Racing):
Complete a series of 10 races (15 for 49ers). At the end of that
series the top 10 boats go through to the medal race when points are
worth double and the medals are decided.
Scoring:
For the opening series, the sailors accrue points depending on where they finish in a race (ie: 1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 etc).
One race is required to constitute a regatta. Six races are required to be completed to constitute an opening series.
Once five or more opening series races have been completed, the
sailors can discard their worst score from their series score (excluding
the medal race).
At London 2012, six races are required for the series to go to a
medal race. If six races are not completed, the winner will be the
sailor with the lowest overall score from the completed races.
The medal race is a shorter, non-discardable race which counts as
double points (ie: 1st = 2 points, 2nd = 4 points etc). The final points
from the medal race are added to each sailor's running score and the
sailor with the lowest overall score will win the event.
The medal race is officiated by on-the-water umpires with sailors
required to make any protests during the race. If two boats have the
same overall score at the end of the medal race, the final overall
placings will be determined by which boat finished furthest up the field
in the medal race.
During the opening series, the 49ers are scheduled to race three
times a day while all other classes are scheduled to race twice.
Racing is scheduled to start at 12pm each day. No race will start later than 6pm.
WOMEN'S MATCH RACING
This new discipline for London 2012 takes place in Elliott 6m boats.
Match racing sees two identical boats racing against each other in a
series of one-on-duels. As a result, match racing heavily focuses mainly
on strategy and tactics.
STAGE 1: Opening round robin series – all 12 boats race against each other once. The first 8 teams qualify for the Quarter Finals.
STAGE 2: Quarter Finals – the 8 qualified teams sail a
knock-out series. The pairings are determined by where a boat finished
in the round robin (ie 1st v 8th, 2nd v 7th etc).
The winner of all knockout rounds will be the first boat to score three points.
The quarter final winners qualify for the semi-finals, the losers go through to the 5-8 sail off.
STAGE 3: Sail-offs – the four teams sail a mini knock-out series to determine 5th to 8th place.
STAGE 4: Semi-finals – the four qualified teams sail a knock
out series. The winners of each semi qualify for the gold medal match
and the losers qualify for the bronze medal match.
STAGE 5: Medal matches (Final & Petit Final) – the
winner of each pair will be the first team to score at least three
points. The results will determine the medal positions plus 4th place.