The two-man 470 dinghy was designed by André Cornu over 50 years ago and been an Olympic boat since 1976. At the Olympic Sailing in Paris 2024 it will be sailed by mixed pairs.

“Very complex and fine-tuned, there is no tweak the 470 hasn’t undergone!” says Heathcote. “Everyone goes through the class rules with a fine-tooth comb and strives to forge a new, faster, more effective modification for the already highly developed boat and systems.

“But what really stands true to its Olympic nature is how this obsessive search for technical perfection doesn’t tint the fierce competition on the water.

“A positive to the boat’s complexity is that a balance can be found for pretty much any size and style of team – the combinations between hull, rig, foils, sail shape, settings can create infinite combinations and somewhere in there is the perfect one for your team! Call me biased, but the 470 is a true specimen of a boat and watching them on the water makes me think there’s none better.”

Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

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Olympic 470 class stats rating

Top speed: 19 knots
LOA: 4.7m/15ft 5in
Launched: 1963
Berths: 0
Price: from £13,000
Adrenalin factor: 70%

Vita Heathcote

Vita Heathcote is the youngest member of the British Sailing Team competing at the Paris Games, aged 22. She helms the 470 with experienced crew Chris Grube. As a junior Heathcote won the Optimist Nationals and 420 World Championships, and hails from an Olympic family – uncle Nick Rogers twice won 470 silver, at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

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