The Laser Radial - A History Lesson...

The Laser Radial, it’s super competitive and filled with starlets. But before we see the first Radial race of Rio 2016, which is set to commence at 13:10 on Monday 8 August, what’s the boat all about?

Previous Olympic Medallists
 
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) won the first gold medal in Laser Radial at Beijing 2008 in a solid performance that saw her top the leaderboard from the start. In 2012 Chinese sailor Lijia Xu upgraded her Beijing bronze to London gold, after a textbook performance in the dramatic final Medal Race that saw her see off Evi Van Acker (BEL), Annalise Murphy (IRL) and Marit Bouwmeester to realise her Olympic dream.
 
Recent World Champions
 
The Rio 2016 quad saw a mixture of world championship winners. Tina Miheli? (CRO) kicked off the quad with a win in Rizhao, China. Then it was the turn of the mighty Bouwmeester to take the top step, as she claimed the 2014 World Champion title as part of an incredible run of dominance. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) denied Bouwmeester a second consecutive title in Oman in 2015 but lost out herself to Alison Young (GBR) earlier this year. 
 
Life as an Olympic Event
 
The Women’s One Person Dinghy was introduced to the Olympic program for the 1992 quadrennial. The Europe was the boat of choice for four Olympiads (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) before being replaced by the Laser Radial for 2008. The event is characterized by wire-close racing, fierce rivalry, textbook tactics and supreme athleticism.
 
The Laser Radial’s low cost means it has one of the widest pool of nations competing of any Olympic Sailing Class and it’s not unusual to see sailors from nations that aren’t traditionally viewed as big sailing nations on the podium. Look out for defending gold medallist Lijia Xu (CHN), Bejing 2008 silver medallist Gintar? Volungeviciute Scheidt (LTU), and newcomer Maria Erdi (HUN) in Rio.
 
What’s it like to sail?
 
Hyper competitive. The Laser Radial fleet never fail to bring the action. Like the Laser, the Laser Radial is an easy boat to sail badly. Racing the Radial at the top level requires a very high level of core fitness in order to endure the hiking and body-torque techniques essential to get the boat moving fast. Radial sailing also requires a tactical mind as championships are some of the closest on the Olympic sailing circuit, often coming down to the very last minute.
 
Short History of the Class and Key specs
 
The Laser Radial uses exactly the same hull and most of the same parts as the Laser raced by the men. The only difference between the two is the size of the sail and lower section of the mast, ensuring competitive racing in identical boats.
 
The Laser Radial sail and mast was developed in the 1980s by Hans Fogh who developed the original Laser rig. Fogh was looking to create a rig for the Laser to suit lighter weight sailors, particularly youth and women and, after a few unsuccessful attempts, came up with the Radial rig that we use today. The rig was launched in the late eighties and was adopted as the equipment for the Laser Women’s World Championship in 1988.
 
The Laser Radial has a shorter, bendier lower mast and 5.8 m2 of sail area – about 19% less than the Laser. The Radial’s name is taken from the distinctive radial cut (stitching radiating from one corner) of its sail which gives it a more powerful sail shape.
 
Famous Faces
 
Where to start!
 
On paper the top Radial sailor of all time is Poland’s Katarzyna Szoty?ska with four world titles. In Szoty?ska’s wake; Jacqueline Ellis (AUS) and Sari Multala (FIN) with four podium finishes apiece. Then the mighty Dutch contingent; Ardis Bollweg and Marit Bouwmeester both with two world titles and two second places.
 
Bouwmeester’s climatic showdown with Van Acker, Murphy and Xu which decided the medals at London 2012 grabbed headlines worldwide and made the four sailors household names in the sailing fraternity.
 
Other big names from the class include; Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) Josefin Olsson (SWE), Marit Söderström (SWE), Petra Niemann (GER), Sophie de Turckheim (FRA), Krystal Weir (AUS), Paige Railey (USA), Gintar? Volungeviciute Scheidt (LTU) and Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR).
 
The Radial roll of honor even includes one of the first ever Olympic sailing gold medallists in a women’s only event, Lynne Jewell (USA), who was one of the sailors to dominate in the early days of the class.
 
Did you know…
 
The first attempt at a smaller rig for the Laser flopped. The Laser “M Rig” used a shorter top section instead of bottom section. This didn’t allow enough bend in the mast, which made the boat difficult to sail and de-power especially in heavier winds. Developer Hans Fogh went back to the drawing board and came up with the rig we’ll see in action in Rio in just a few days’ time.

RIO 2016 OLYMPIC SAILING COMPETITION USEFUL LINKS
World Sailing Olympic Website – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/home.php
Rio 2016 Schedule – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/about/schedule.php#.V5Yw346BLqM
Rio 2016 Olympic Sailors – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/qualification/sailors.php#.V5Yw946BLqM