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Water sports
 Sailing is a well organized and recognized sport. There is a broad variety of kinds of races and sailboats used for racing. Much racing is done around buoys or similar marks in protected waters, while some longer offshore races cross open water. All kinds of boats are used for racing, including small dinghies, catamarans, boats designed primarily for cruising, and purpose-built raceboats. The Racing Rules of Sailing govern the conduct of yacht racing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, model boat racing, dinghy racing and virtually any other form of racing around a course with more than one vessel while powered by the wind. 
The Olympic sailing classes were used in the sport of Sailing/Yachting during the Olympic Summer Games since 1896. Since then, 46 different classes have been used. Over a period of more than 112 years, in a sport that uses complex technical equipment, it goes without saying that classes will be discontinued for use at the Olympics. Reasons for discontinuation of a class did vary from economical, logistical and technological to emotional and even political. Some of the discontinued classes remain very strong International - or National classes. Others filled a niche in a specific area like sailing schools or local club racing. Some faded away. The “Former Olympic Sailing Classes”, together with their crews form an important and significant part of the history of sailing in general and Olympic Sailing in particular. These tables give an overview of the classes and when they were used for Olympic sailing.  The Finn dinghy is the men's single-handed, cat-rigged Olympic class for sailing. It was designed by Swedish canoe designer, Rickard Sarby, in 1949 for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Since the 1952 debut of the boat, the design has been in every summer Olympics, making it one of the most prolific Olympic sailboats. Although the Finn hull has changed little since 1949, there have been developments to the rig. The original spars were made of wood until the late 60’s and early 70’s when there was a slow change to Aluminum masts. Aluminum is significantly more flexible and gives more control over sail shape. It became common place after the 1972 Summer Olympics in Kiel when they were first supplied to Olympic sailors. Recently, carbon fiber masts have become common place in competitive Finn fleets. The sails too have gone through revolution and are now commonly made of Kevlar.
Born and raised in Santander, Fernando's family moved to Pontevedra, Galicia when he was five due to his father medical practice as surgeon chief in the Montecelo Hospital. He has two brothers (Carlos and Javier) and one younger sister (Beatriz). In 1992, at age 20, the International Sailing Federation chose the Laser (dinghy) as the new one-person dinghy to be competed in Atlanta 1996. At that time, Fernando had joined the Spanish military draft Servicio Militar in the Ejército de Tierra de España. It was in Spring 1993 that Fernando successfully passed the trials to become a member in the Spanish Pre-Olympic Sailing Team Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, a position he held from 1992 to 1996. During these years he was second in the nationals in 1995 and 1996, but missed the final cut to represent Spain in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. Although extremely competitive in light and mid air, his performance in windy conditions was not competitive enough. In order to enhance his competitiveness, he raced with a weighted jacket, but, as result, he developed a chronic back injury. A damage that although partially cured, still persist to this day. Brazilian Torben Grael is the only Olympic sailor with five Olympic medals. The most successful sailor is Paul Elvström with four gold medals.
Throughout history sailing has been instrumental in the development of civilization, affording mankind greater mobility than travel over land, whether for trade, transport or warfare, and the capacity for fishing. The earliest representation of a ship under sail appears on a painted disc found in Kuwait dating to the late 5th millennium BC. Advances in sailing technology from the Middle Ages onward enabled Arab, Chinese, Indian and European explorers to make longer voyages into regions with extreme weather and climatic conditions. There were improvements in sails, masts and rigging; navigation equipment improved. From the 15th century onwards, European ships went further north, stayed longer on the Grand Banks and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and eventually began to explore the Pacific Northwest and the Western Arctic.
The ISAF officially includes the following seven categories of sailing classes.
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