YachtPals.com Magazine

It was 1996, and the call went out to find a new Olympic trampoline skiff for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.  With the committee seeking a fast, advanced boat, several designs were considered, but after a week of trials at Lake Garda, Julian Bethwaite's 49er rose to the top of the fleet, and the new Olympic 49er Class was born.

Since 1976, the 470 has been a big part of Olympic sailing, and it is both the Men's and Women's two-person dinghy at the 2008 Olympic Games. It is chosen not only for its sailing prowess, but for its ability to highlight the two-person teamwork this boat both requires and somehow magnifies. The 470 crew have to work in perfect synchrony or lose, it's that simple, and this makes 470 sailors a special lot - like two halves of a whole.

Cowes, UK - Celebrities and All Star sailors were seen sailing some slick Open 60 yachts around the Isle of Wight yesterday in the Artemis Challenge Yacht Race. Dee Caffari, Sam Davies, Brian Thompson, Ellen MacArthur, Steve White, Mike Sanderson, and others were out sailing for charity, and of course, for fun.

Cowes UK - Though rarely disappointing, the racing of the Extreme 40 iShares Cup catamarans definitely proved EXTREME this week, as the winds never fell below 25 knots during all three days of racing. The lucky spectators at this year's Cowes Week had a real treat as they watched high speed hull-up racing, one sailboat capsize after another, and dramatic crashes these past few days, as the iShares Cup fleet and all-star sailors tested their skills sailing off the Isle of Wight. High action, top sailors and big winds - yacht racing just doesn't get much more exciting than this.

At dinghy docks, in boathouses and garages, under tarps in backyards, and of course, out on the water, the accumulated weight of all the Lasers out there (nearly 200,000 have been built) may very well affect the Earth's rotation. The reason for its popularity is clear: It's a boat simple enough for beginners, and yet so pure in its design and performance that it is the boat of choice for some of the world's best sailors.

In 1949, the Finnish Yachting Association started a design competition for the Helsinki (1952) Olympics. Rickard Sarby answered the call, designed, and then actually built the FINN - which was then rejected by the committee. Though the Association snubbed it, the design became instantly popular with sailors. More boats were built, and on the water the FINN was beating the other designs almost every time. So, appearing in