Sailing News Links Sailing.org - news from ISAF Yachts and Yachting - news from Yachts and Yachting magazine Daily Sail - Subscription site with news and features on all aspects of the sport Skandia team GBR for news and features about the British sailing team Event News Links Event website All results 49er Results About What’s new in 2007? This year is the first time as Breitling Regatta. Besides introducing a new name, we will also be the first event that will be part of the ISAF World Cup series. As a pre-Olympic year it will be an exciting and high performance year. Breitling Regatta since 1985 Since 2005 the name of this sailing event is Holland Regatta. In 2004 we said goodbye to our twenty year long main sponsor SPA, who had given the name SPA Regatta. The first Dutch regatta took place in 1985, and through the years became one of world's best Olympic Sailing regatta's with over 1.100 participants from more than 50 countries. Some highlights After twenty successful editions of the SPA Regatta, there are many highlights to look back on. The Breitling Regatta is well-known for various introduced innovations that were subsequently adopted by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF, formally known as the IYRU). Examples are: separate classes for women (470 and Mistral); prize money; shorter courses that resulted in more races; coloured spots to identify leading competitors. Historical facts 1985 In the first edition of the SPA Regatta the surfboard class Division II (M) was introduced as an Olympic class. The Division II (M) succeeded the Wind glider, the first surfboard to make its debut on the 1984 Olympics. The Soling Class could not compete in the first SPA Regatta, due to the European Championships which took place in the same weekend. 1986 The 1986 SPA Regatta introduced separate fleets for men and women in the 470 class. 1987 In 1987, the SPA Regatta Organisation introduced separate fleets for men and woman in the surfboard class Division II. The ISAF and IOC adopted the decision of SPA Regatta Organisation in the 1992 Olympics, when they too separated the fleets into men and women. 1988 In 1998, the ISAF appointed the Lechner (Surfboard Class) as the next Olympic Surfboard. 1989 The Europe made its debut at the 1989 SPA Regatta. It wasn't until the 1992 Olympics, that the ISAF decided to enter, the Europe Class as a new sailing discipline. 1993 The Lechner surfboard class was replaced by the Mistral One Design (Men and Women). The Flying Dutchman would not participate in the SPA Regatta 1993, because the ISAF no longer perceive it as an Olympic class. 1997 In 1997, the 49-er (High Performance Skiff) was introduced to the SPA Regatta program. Three years later, in 2000, the 49-er would experience its first Olympic challenge. The Star (Double Handed Keelboat) was excluded from the SPA Regatta program after the ISAF had decided in 1996, that it no longer had the classification of an Olympic class. The ISAF recalled that decision after this SPA Regatta and reinstated the Start to the status of Olympic Class. It is the oldest Olympic Class and has been in the Olympic programme since 1932. 1998 In 1998, the Star class returned to the SPA Regatta program. 2000 Because it was an Olympic year, there weren't any significant changes in SPA Regatta of 2000. However the SPA Regatta 2000 will remain a memorable year due to the terrible Dutch weather during the event! 2001 In 2001, matchracing and Soling were no longer part of the SPA Regatta program. Instead, a brand new class was introduced: the Yngling! Also, the Tornado became more spectacular, with double trapeze and more sail surface. 2002 Co-sponsor Armada Security introduced a tracking & tracing system to Olympic sailing. The Yngling was the first Olympic class ever that could be followed on television screens on shore and on the computer, through the internet. Also, a sms-system was introduced. People could subscribe on the SPA Regatta website and receive a sms with the latest results. 2003 Due to the success of the evening race for 'Champions Trophy', it remained in the programme. 2004 After twenty years, SPA decided to sail a different course in their marketing strategy. After the prize-giving ceremony on Sunday 30 May 2004, Henri G C van der Aat, Chairman of Organising Committee, thanked Spadel for their long-time commitment. 2005 This year was the first time as Holland Regatta. Besides introducing a new name we continued with innovation of the world of sailing. For several classes as 49-er, Tornado, 470 Men and 470 Women there were top six finals on Sunday. All classes concentrated around the International Sailing Center. In 2005, in accordance with the ISAF, The Holland Regatta was the first Regatta to test an electronic system that can identify early starters. 2006 After the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, the ISAF Council decided to revote the Mistral-classes (men and women) from the list of Olympic classes and introduced the the Neil Pryde RS:X. What’s new in 2007? This year is the first time as Breitling Regatta. Besides introducing a new name, we will also be the first event that will be part of the ISAF World Cup series. As a pre-Olympic year it will be an exciting and high performance year.

About The Racing Event Format and the course There are up to 16 races in a 49er competition each race is approximately 5 miles long with a ‘target time’ of 30 minutes the length of the course is adjusted to suit the wind strength. The course is shaped like a sausage, inflatable marks are used to define the course, the rules state that boats are not allowed to hit these marks. There are three marks. After the start boats travel ‘upwind’ to the first mark. After rounding this mark they hoist spinnakers to go ‘downwind’ towards a choice of two marks. These two marks are set about 30 – 50 meters apart, boats must pass between these two marks, they form what is known as a ‘gate’. This creates a big tactical choice and many places can be won or lost at this point. The manouveres that boats must perform at this point are at there most difficult,in every sense it is a very challenging part of the course. Then it is back ‘upwind’ to the first mark and then a quick sprint to the finish. Three or four races will typically be run each day with the regatta being spread over 5 – 6 days. The exception to this is the Olympics were the event runs over an extended period up to 12 days. The Olympics are slightly different as there is just one entry per nation and a restriction of 20 nations. There are often 60 - 100 entrys and these are split into smaller fleets of 25 boats. The competition consists of what are known as ‘series’ The first half of the regatta is known as the qualification series where the the comeptitors are seeded into seperate fleets. Initially competitors are split in to fleets on the basis of their world rankings. After each subsequent day of racing the fleets are re split to try and get an even spread of competitors racing against each other. After 12 races or 3 days the overall standings are used to split the competitors into the final fleets. The top 25 will go into the Gold fleet, the second 25 into the Silver fleet and the remainder into the Bronze fleet. The second half is then known as the ‘final series’ which consist of a further 11 races. After the 11th race the fleet is again split. This time the top ten go forward to the ‘Grand Final’. The Grand Final is the last race where the top ten boats fight it out for the overall places. There is greater emphasis on this race as it is scored with double points ( see scoring ) This final is used in the Olympics as well. Scoring Each race result is scored and the overall places are decided on the accumulated points from these races. Low point scoring is used were 1st place is scored one point, 2nd two points, 3rd three points and so on. However the worst two results can be excluded from the accumulated points score. This is called the discard one can be excluded from the qualification series and one from the final series. This continues until the Grand final. The score in the Grand Final must be included in the points score. It also counts for double points so that 1st place gets 2 points, 2nd four points, 3rd six points and so on. This means that the grand final can quite significanly effect the overall results.