We are now well into the swing of the Paris Olympics 2024 and Team GB are off to a flying start.

The first gold medal for Great Britain at the Olympics was claimed on day three in the team eventing competition for mountain biking and equestrian. 

Today the sailing event will take place with the men's and women's skiff along with the men's and women's windsurfing taking place.

But how much do you know about the sailing event? 

How will Olympic sailing work at Paris 2024?

Sailing has featured in every Olympics since 1908 and no nation has been more successful than Team GB since.

The sport was pencilled in for the first Olympics back in 1896 but was cancelled due to high winds. Now there are 330 athletes competing across 10 events and eight boat classes.

The incomparable Ben Ainslie helped usher in a new era for British sailing and he remains the most decorated sailor in Olympic history, while Hannah Mills holds that honour among female athletes.

What are the Olympic sailing classes?

  • Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL - new
  • Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL - new
  • Men’s Kite – Formula Kite - new
  • Women’s Kite – Formula Kite - new
  • Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7
  • Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
  • Men’s Skiff – 49er
  • Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
  • Mixed Dinghy – 470 - new
  • Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

What is iQFoil?

The iQFoil class is the new Olympic windsurf class set to take off on and off the water.

Replacing the RS:X class, a foil is used instead of a daggerboard which means that instead of floating, the board appears to fly as hydrofoils lift the board completely out the water.

It’s set to be fast, gripping and test athlete know-how and technique like never before.

What is Formula Kite?

Capable of speeds up to 40 knots (46mph), those competing in the formula kite events will become the fastest athletes in the history of Olympic sailing.

New for Paris 2024, the event sees athletes using a hand-controlled kite to navigate across the water on a board.

Both men and women will sail the Formula Kite in Paris 2024.

What is ILCA 6?

A small single-handed dinghy, ILCA 6 and 7 are two of the most popular boats in the world due to their simplicity and broad accessibility.

The ILCA 6, sailed by women at Paris 2024, uses a more flexible and slightly shorter lower mast than the ILCA 7 and was first introduced as an Olympic discipline at Beijing 2008.

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What is ILCA 7?

The ILCA 7 is the original rig, with the largest sail area of all variations, and has been used at the Olympic Games since 1996.

Ben Ainslie won his first two Olympic medals in this boat before soaring to the three golds on the discontinued finn.

The ILCA 6 and 7 tend to be among the slower Olympic boat classes.

What is the 49er and 49erFx?

The 49er, named after its hull length of 4.99 metres, is a two-handed skiff.

Since first appearing in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, six different crews from six different countries have won gold, with Great Britain’s Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell topping the rostrum in Tokyo.

The two sailors on board take different roles; the helm generally makes the tactical decisions and steers the boat, while the crew undertakes more of the physical work and controls the sails.

The 49erFX was introduced as a women’s skiff from Rio 2016 onwards.

What is 470?

The 470, named after the overall length of the boat at 4.70m, is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy.

It has been an Olympic class since the Montreal 1976 event when it was open to men and women. In 1988, it was divided into separate men’s and women’s classes and for Paris 2024, it will be contested only as a mixed event.

What is the Nacra 17?

The Nacra 17 gets its name from, you guessed it, being 17 feet long.

It was first added to the Olympic programme at Rio 2016 as a mixed event. Strong and sturdy but light at the same time, the Catamaran offers excellent handling but remains challenging to sail.

What is the scoring process in Olympic sailing?

Sailing at Paris 2024 will adopt a fleet racing format, meaning all competitors and crews take to the course at the same time in a straight race to the finish.

After the opening series races, the ten boats ranked highest and competed in the medal race.

Points are awarded based on how well a boat finishes in each race. First place receives one point, second receives two points, and so on, while the points from the worst race performance for each crew are discarded.

The remaining points are then added together and used to determine the rankings. So the lower the total score, the better the ranking.

The top 10 boats will then compete in a medal race in which the points for each placement are doubled.

The boat with the lowest total score (including the opening series) will be crowned Olympic champion.

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Where is the Paris 2024 Olympic sailing course?

Sailing at the 2024 Olympic Games will take place on the waters of the Marseille Marina, some 660km from the French capital.

Olympic sailing courses vary slightly depending on the class, but will generally follow a 'trapezoid', 'windward-leeward' or 'slalom' format, aiming to test each point of sail.

Boats are usually sent upwind for the first leg of the course, with the finish usually being downwind.