Sailing —Olympics: Sailing is an art of controlling a sailing ship or sail boat while in motion in water . The vessels are propelled by the force of wind on sails . Recreational sailing can be classified into categories like racing , cruising and “ day sailing ”.
Sailing in the Summer Games: Sailing was introduced to the Summer Games in 1900 . Since then, sailing has been a regular event in the Olympics ' schedule. In the Olympics , races are sailed in a fleet racing format . Depending upon the event, the duration of the races varies between 30 minutes to 75 minutes . The various categories in which sailing races are held during the Summer Games are— 470 - Two Person Dinghy Men, Laser - One Person Dinghy Men, RS:X - Windsurfer Men, Star - Keelboat Men, 470 - Two Person Dinghy Women, Laser Radial - One Person Ding Women, RS:X - Windsurfer Women, Yngling - Keelboat Women, 49er - Skiff Mixed, Finn - Heavyweight Dinghy Mixed and Tornado - Multihull Mixed .
Sailing at the 2008 Summer Games: At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing , the sailing events will be held between 9 th August and 21 st August . The sailing finals are scheduled from 16 th and 21 st August . The sailing events are going to be held at the Qingdao International Sailing Centre located in Qingdao . Total 11gold medals are in contention for the Olympic sailing competition.
Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, Austria, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and Netherlands are the leading nations in the field of sailing in the Summer Games . Some famous sailors who are the expected contenders in the Beijing Summer Games in 2008 are Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, Christina Otzen, Faustine Lucie Merret, Alessandra Sensini, Yin Jian, Gal Fridman, Nick Dempsey, Ben Ainslie and Mateusz Kusznierewicz.
