Sailing

Eligible impairment types:

Impaired muscle power
Impaired passive range of movement
Limb deficiency
Athetosis
Hypertonia
Ataxia
Visual impairment

Sport classes

The sport classes are different for the different competition formats in sailing. The sailors either compete on their own or in crews of two or three.

The sailors are classified with a sport class from one to seven, with seven indicating the least severe and one indicating the most severe eligible impairment. The following are the benchmark profiles of athletes in each sports class

Sport class one

Athletes in sport class one may have complete Quadriplegia, a double through shoulder amputation or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types

Sport class two

Athletes in sport class two may have a double above elbow amputation, single above elbow amputation and single below elbow amputation or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types.

Sport class three

Athletes in sport class three may have a single above knee amputation and single above elbow amputation, double below elbow amputation or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types. These athletes may also have a visual impairment equivalent to B1 as described here.

Sport class four

Athletes in sport class four may have a single through shoulder amputation, double above knee amputation, double below knee amputation without prostheses, single above knee and single below knee amputation without prostheses or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types.

Sport class five

Athletes in sport class five may have a single above elbow amputation, single above knee amputation and single below knee amputation with prostheses or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types. These athletes may also have a visual impairment equivalent to B2 as described here.

Sport class six

Athletes in sport class six may have a double below knee amputation with prostheses, single below elbow amputation or have an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types.

Sport class seven

Athletes in sport class seven may have a single above knee amputation, single below knee amputation without prosthesis (excluding Symes amputation or equivalent) or an equivalent activity limitation in sailing caused by the other eligible impairment types. These athletes may also have a visual impairment equivalent to B3 as described here.

Events

Three-person keelboat

To make sure that no crew has an advantage or disadvantage in competition due to impairment, each crew is only allowed a maximum of 14 points.

Two-person keelboat

One sailor has to be allocated the sport class “TPA” and the other one has to be allocated the sport class “TPB.” One of the crew members must be female.

The sport class TPA includes athletes with more severe impairments, which are equivalent to a sport class one or two. Athletes with complete tetraplegia or a double above-the-elbow amputation could, for example, compete in the TPA sport class.

The sport class TPB means that an athlete only has to meet the minimum impairment criteria for sailing. Therefore, athletes of all seven sport classes could compete in the TPB sport class, including athletes with visual impairment.

Single-person keelboat

To sail on the single-person keelboat athletes only have to pass the minimum impairment criteria.