Skiff (49er), Open

From 1900-1980 all Olympic sailing (yachting) events had been mixed. From 1984-2008 some of the events were mixed, but in 2012 all events would be fully segregated by gender, although the Nacra 17 class at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is scheduled to be a mixed event. There were 19 boats and 38 sailors in the 2008 Skiff event, but no women. Scheduled for 16 races, 14-15 August had no wind at all, and a full day of racing, consisting of three races, was skipped, giving the event only 13 races, including the medal race.

Denmark’s Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp led entering the medal race, but broke their mast shortly before the start. They were able to borrow a boat from the Croatians, who had finished 17th and were not in the medal race. Denmark placed seventh in the medal race, which was sailed in strong winds and heavy rain, but that was enough for them to claim the gold medal. They could only claim it, however, as the Spanish and Italian officials lodged protests and the final result was not announced for 24 hours, but no protests were upheld and Denmark had the gold. Spain’s Iker Martínez and Xabier Fernández had won the gold medal in this class in 2004.