The International 470, designed in 1963 by 505 sailor André Cornu, is a high-performance planing dinghy for both men and women. Responsive to weight placement, this two-person one-design is tactically demanding and requires fluid coordination between the skipper and crew. The 470 is easy to sail, but racing and learning to fly the spinnaker from the trapeze provides additional challenges for sailors. The 470 made its Olympic debut in 1976, and in 1988 was selected for the Games’ first women’s sailing event.
"Many 470 teams fit out their own boats and personalize their systems, so there’s a variety of deck layouts. In general, Carbos are the blocks of choice: 40 mm (2650) on the boom for the mainsheet, 40 mm (or even 29 mm) blocks on the stern, and 57 mm (sometimes 40 mm) ratchets for spinnaker sheets. The 57 mm cheek ratchets (2137) are popular for jib sheets. Harken’s line of ratchets and Ratchamatics® gives sailors a wide range of equipment choices for main, spinnaker and jib systems."—Mitja Margon - Managing Director Harken Slovenia; Olympic classes specialist.
spinnaker system
This system is all about speed. A 2:1 reverse purchase on the halyard quickly hoists the spinnaker while a 5:1 shock-cord halyard-retrieval system automatically manages accumulating line during the rapid chute deployment. A control in the cockpit drops
the sail.
Two-Car Mainsheet
This fast-tacking two-car system halves the distance a single car would travel. The bridle and the 2:1 side-to-side traveler controls raise and lower the floating mainsheet block for perfect mainsail twist. Mainsheet tension tightens the leech and reduces twist.
