Sailing factbox for Athens 2004

ATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) -- Factbox on sailing at the August 13-29 Athens Olympics:

HISTORY

Sailing as a sport can be traced back to the Netherlands in the 17th century. It was introduced to England by King Charles II around 1660 and spread to the American colonies.

The first known international competition was the Hundred Guineas Cup which was held in 1851 off southern England. It became known as the America's Cup after the first winning boat, America.

Sailing first featured in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris when there were three classes of boat. It made its next Olympic appearance in 1908 and has featured in every Games since, with the classes changing to reflect developments in boat construction and a trend for smaller crews. Until 2000, the sport was officially known as yachting.

Windsurfing joined the Olympic programme at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Women have always been able to compete in Olympic sailing with men but separate women's events were introduced in 1984.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF), originally known as the International Yacht Racing Union, was founded in 1906.

EVENTS

Eleven events:

Men: Windsurfer (Mistral), single-handed dinghy (Finn), double-handed dinghy (470), keelboat (Star)

Women: Windsurfer (Mistral), single-handed dinghy (Europe), double-handed dinghy (470), keelboat (Yngling)

Open: Single-handed dinghy (Laser), double-handed dinghy (49er), multihull (Tornado).

2000 CHAMPIONS

Men

Mistral: Christoph Sieber (Austria)

470: Tom King/Mark Turnbull (Australia)

Finn: Iain Percy (Britain)

Women

Mistral: Alessandra Sensini (Italy)

470: Jenny Armstrong/Belinda Stowell (Australia)

Europe: Shirley Robertson (Britain)

Open

Tornado: Roman Hagara/Hans Peter Steinacher (Austria)

49er: Thomas Johanson/Jyrki Jarvi (Finland)

Laser: Ben Ainslie (Britain)

Star: Mark Reynolds/Magnus Liljedahl (U.S.)

Soling: Denmark (Jesper Bank, Henrik Blakskjaer, Thomas

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OLYMPIC PROGRAMME

August 14-20: Preliminary races

August 21: Men's double-handed dinghy 470 final race

Men's single-handed dinghy Finn final race

Women's keelboat yngling final race

Women's double-handed dinghy 470 final race

August 22: Open single-handed dinghy Laser final race

Women's single-handed dinghy Europe final race

August 25: Men's windsurfer Mistral final race

Women's windsurfer Mistral final race

August 26: Open double-handed dinghy 49er final race

August 28: Open multihull Tornado final race

Men's keelboat star final race

VENUE

Agio Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre on the coast of southern

Attica. Facilities for 3,000 spectators.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.sailing.org

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.