Olympic sailing at Tokyo 2020: Top five things to know

Sailing is one of 33 sports at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Who are the athletes to watch? When will the competition take place and where will it be held?

Ever wanted to know about sport's Olympic history?

Look no further. Here is our guide to the top things to know about Olympic sailing.

Top Olympic sailors at Tokyo 2020

Great Britain and Australia have been the most dominant nations at recent Games, with the likes of New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Brazil also winning golds.

Hannah Mills of Team GB won silver in the 470 with Saskia Clark on home water at London 2012, before the pair went one better at Rio 2016.

At Tokyo 2020, Mills will aim to become the first woman to win two Olympic sailing golds with her new partner, Eilidh McIntyre, whose father Mike won Star gold at Seoul 1988.

Dutch windsurfing star Dorian van Rijsselberghe is bidding to complete a hat-trick of RS:X titles in Tokyo.

The 32-year-old was dominant in Rio, winning seven out of the first 11 heats as he retained his title from London 2012.

Van Rijsselberghe claimed his second world title in 2018, but he is by no means wedded to his event.

After Tokyo, he wants the RS:X replaced by foiling crafts at future Games in order to make the sport more fun and attractive to newcomers.

Six-time Olympian Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza will defend their Nacra 17 crown in Tokyo.

The 59-year-old Argentinian won his first world title in 1985 and competed in his first Olympics at Seoul 1988.

The Tornado bronze medallist from Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and had to have part of a lung removed.

But Lange made a full recovery, and he and Carranza took a popular gold medal at Rio 2016.

In the biggest change to sailing between Games, the Nacra 17 craft now has hydrofoils - like the ones championed by van Rijsselberghe above - presenting a new challenge to the Argentines and the rest of the fleet.

Olympic sailing competition format at Tokyo 2020

The 10 sailing classes being contested at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021 are:

• Men's and women's RS:X - solo windsurfer
• Men's and women's 470 - two-person dinghy
• Men's Laser - lightweight solo dinghy
• Women's Laser Radial - solo dinghy (smaller craft than the Laser)
• Men's Finn - heavyweight solo dinghy
• Men's 49er - high-performance two-person skiff boat
• Women's 49erFX - high-performance two-person skiff boat
• Mixed Nacra 17 - two-person foiling catamaran

Each event at the Games starts with either 10 or 12 heats held over the course of four or five racing days.

The winner of a heat scores one point, second place two, and so on, with each sailor or crew able to drop their worst score.

The top 10 - those with the lowest scores - go through to the medal race which carries double points and cannot be dropped from the overall total.

The placings are decided by the lowest aggregate scores after the medal race.

Olympic sailing schedule at Tokyo 2020

The Olympic sailing regatta takes place from 25 July to 4 August 2021, comprising race days and rest days for each class.

• Men's and women's RS:X, Men's 49er, Women's 49erFX, Mixed Nacra 17 - 12 heats over four days plus medal race
• Men's and women's 470, Men's Laser, Women's Laser Radial, Men's Finn - 10 heats over five days plus medal race.

Olympic sailing venue at Tokyo 2020

Sailing will be held at Enoshima Yacht Harbour in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture just over 50km south-east of Tokyo.

The venue was built for the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games and Japan's first ever harbour capable of hosting watersport competitions.

It has a capacity of 3,600 spectators.

New Zealand's reigning 49er Olympic champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, and Brazil's victorious 49erFX duo from Rio 2016, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze were among the winners at the World Cup event held there in late August 2019.

Olympic sailing history

Sailing, previously also known as yachting, was part of the first Summer Olympic Games in 1896 but the events had to be cancelled due to poor weather.

With the exception of 1904, the sport has been present at every Games.

Boat specifications have changed significantly over the years, with the Finn the current oldest class having first been contested in 1952.

Great Britain heads the all-time medal table with 28 gold, 19 silver, and 11 bronze. The United States has won more medals (60 to 58) comprising 19 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze, but their last gold came back at Beijing 2008.

Britain's Ben Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history with four golds and one silver.

Ainslie lost out in an epic duel for gold in the Laser class to Brazilian Robert Scheidt at Atlanta 1996 before turning the tables four years later in Sydney.

He then switched to the Finn where he won three consecutive titles ending with success on home water at London 2012.

Scheidt regained his Laser title at Athens 2004 before taking silver and bronze with Bruno Prada in the Star class.

The only other sailor with five Olympic medals is Scheidt's compatriot Torben 'Turbine' Grael.

His love of sailing was instilled from an early age with his Danish grandfather taking him out on a used by Denmark's 6m silver medallists at 1912.

A silver medallist on his Olympic debut at Los Angeles 1984 in the three-person Soling boat, Grael switched to the two-person Star class.

He competed in a further five Games, winning gold at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.

But the story did not end there.

Grael's daughter Martine won the world title in the 49erFX class with Kahena Kunze in 2014, before the pair took gold on home water at Rio 2016.

Italy's Alessandra Sensini is the most decorated female in Olympic sailing history with four consecutive medals from Atlanta 1996 to Beijing 2008.

The windsurfer won gold in the Mistral class at Sydney 2000 before taking her second bronze at Athens 2004 and then silver in the RS:X in Beijing.

You can get all the latest News about Tokyo 2020 on the Olympic Channel website, apps for mobile and connected tv devices, and via social media platforms.