# Sailing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in two designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong province, from September 8 to September 13.
Competitors had a wide range of physical disabilities including degenerative nerve disease, blindness, missing limbs, and polio.
Boats were prepared and launched from the docks of the Qingdao International Sailing Centre, which also included the accessible Qingdao Paralympic Village, a 5-star hotel which previously housed the Olympic Sailing athletes.

## Events

Three sailing events were held. All were mixed events, meaning that men and women could compete together.
International disability classification in sailing is done by a committee, which gives each competitor a number score with lower numbers corresponding to more severe disability. Sailors were classified under the IFDS Functional Classification System 2005 (FCS 2005). To take part in Paralympic sailing, an athlete must have a score of 7 or less. Functional Classification System full details:
| Event | Boat | Classifications |
| Single-Person Keelboat | 2.4mR | All sailors are required to have a minimal disability or a higher level of disability as defined in the FCS 2005. |
| Two-Person Keelboat | SKUD 18 | Crew shall include a female and one severely disabled sailor with a 1-point classification. |
| Three-Person Keelboat | Sonar | The total Sonar crew points shall not exceed 14 points. |
The 2-person keelboat (SKUD18) made its official début in the Paralympics. The only Paralympic class keelboat with a spinnaker, emblazoned with the national flag of each country. Of the 11 countries competing in the SKUD event, 7 had female crew.

## Results

Eighty athletes represented twenty-five countries in the three event classes. Qualification full details

### Medal table

This ranking sorts countries by the number of gold medals earned by their sailors (in this context a country is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals (5 entries) | Totals (5 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |

### Medallists

In the 2-person keelboat event, all three of the medal-winning teams were composed of one man and one woman. Those three women were the first women to win Paralympic medals in sailing. Sailing competition athletes and full results.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1-person keelboat 2.4mR | Paul Tingley Canada | Damien Seguin France | John Ruf United States |
| 2-person keelboat SKUD 18 | United States (USA) Nick Scandone Maureen McKinnon-Tucker | Australia (AUS) Daniel Fitzgibbon Rachael Cox | Canada (CAN) John McRoberts Stacie Louttit |
| 3-person keelboat Sonar | Germany (GER) Jens Kroker Robert Prem Siegmund Mainka | France (FRA) Bruno Jourdren Herve Larhant Nicolas Vimont-Vicary | Australia (AUS) Colin Harrison Russell Boaden Graeme Martin |

### One Person Keelboat - 2.4 Metre

| Rank | Athlete | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Points | Points |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Tot | Net |
| | Paul Tingley (CAN) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | (9) | (9) | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 39 | 21 |
| | Damien Seguin (FRA) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | (17) OCS | (11) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 21 |
| | John Ruf (USA) | 2 | 6 | 1 | (9) | 1 | 7 | (10) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 47 | 28 |
| 4 | Heiko Kröger (GER) | 3 | 2 | (11) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | (11) | 2 | 7 | 50 | 28 |
| 5 | Thierry Schmitter (NED) | 5 | 3 | 2 | (10) | 7 | 1 | 5 | (12) | 6 | 3 | 54 | 32 |
| 6 | Jens Als Andersen (DEN) | (9) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | (9) | 9 | 57 | 39 |
| 7 | Helena Lucas (GBR) | (10) | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | (12) | 2 | 8 | 5 | 63 | 41 |
| 8 | Bjørnar Erikstad (NOR) | 6 | 8 | (16) | (13) | 8 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 93 | 64 |
| 9 | Julio Reguero (PUR) | 7 | (17) OCS | 13 | 5 | 5 | 8 | (15) | 7 | 7 | 13 | 97 | 65 |
| 10 | Fabrizio Olmi (ITA) | 8 | 9 | 8 | (16) | 12 | 11 | 13 | (16) | 3 | 6 | 102 | 70 |
| 11 | Qi Mingxue (CHN) | 11 | 11 | 4 | (15) | (15) | 5 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 102 | 72 |
| 12 | Aaron Hill (AUS) | (12) | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | (13) | 6 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 98 | 73 |
| 13 | George Delikouras (GRE) | (15) | 13 | 9 | 3 | 13 | (14) | 7 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 106 | 79 |
| 14 | Zoltán Pegan (HUN) | 13 | (15) | 12 | 11 | 14 | (15) | 8 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 123 | 93 |
| 15 | Emilio Fernandez (ESP) | 14 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | (16) | 9 | (16) | 5 | 130 | 98 |
| 16 | Juhani Mattila (FIN) | (16) | 14 | 14 | 14 | (16) | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 146 | 114 |

### Two Person Keelboat - SKUD 18

| Rank | Nation (skipper first) | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Points | Points |
| Rank | Nation (skipper first) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 Cancelled | Tot | Net |
| | Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (USA) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (3) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | (12) DNS | | 26 | 11 |
| | Dan Fitzgibbon and Rachel Cox (AUS) | (4) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | (9) | 3 | 1 | 2 | | 31 | 18 |
| | John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit (CAN) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | (8) | (4) | 3 | | 33 | 21 |
| 4 | Hailiang Jia and Xiujuan Yang (CHN) | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | (8) | 4 | (8) | 1 | | 51 | 35 |
| 5 | Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) | 5 | 5 | (8) | (8) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | | 53 | 37 |
| 6 | Al Mustakim Matrin and Nurul Amilin Balawi (MAS) | (10) | 6 | (12) DSQ | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | | 61 | 39 |
| 7 | Carl-Gustad Fresk and Birgitta Jacobsson Nilen (SWE) | 6 | (9) | 4 | 4 | 7 | (12) RAF | 3 | 5 | 9 | 7 | | 66 | 45 |
| 8 | Wei Qiang Jovin Tan and Kok Liang Desiree Lim (SIN) | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | (8) | 7 | 7 | (11) | 5 | 5 | | 68 | 49 |
| 9 | Bento Amaral and Luisa Silvano (POR) | 8 | 8 | 6 | (9) | (9) | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | | 73 | 55 |
| 10 | Amy Kelehan and John Twomey (IRL) | 9 | (10) | 9 | (10) | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | | 95 | 75 |
| 11 | Pedro Sollique and Cherry Pinpin (PHI) | (11) | (11) | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | | 106 | 84 |

### Open Three-Person Keelboat - Sonar

| Rank | Nation (skipper first) | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Points | Points |
| Rank | Nation (skipper first) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Tot | Net |
| | Jens Kroker, Robert Prem and Siegmund Mainka (GER) | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | (11) | 5 | 2 | (9) | 4 | 5 | 55 | 35 |
| | Bruno Jourdren, Herve Larhant and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary (FRA) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | (10) | 5 | 8 | 7 | (15) DNF | 61 | 36 |
| | Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Graeme Martin (AUS) | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | (10) | (15) OCS | 5 | 7 | 61 | 36 |
| 4 | Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR) | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 1 | (15) OCS | (9) | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 61 | 37 |
| 5 | Dor Cohen, Amon Efrati and Benny Vexler (ISR) | 3 | (15) DSQ | 4 | (15) DSQ | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 69 | 38 |
| 6 | John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas (GBR) | (9) | 3 | 6 | (9) | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 59 | 41 |
| 7 | Vasilis Christoforou, Thodoris Alexas and Nikolaos Paterakis (GRE) | | | | | | | | | | | | 58 | 41 |
| 8 | Rick Doerr, Tim Angle and Bill Donohue (USA) | | | | | | | | | | | | 69 | 47 |
| 9 | Paul Ryan and Martin Richard Whealey (IRL) | | | | | | | | | | | | 96 | 72 |
| 10 | Li Ke, Tao Wang and Jungkun Xu (CHN) | | | | | | | | | | | | 101 | 75 |
| 11 | Ken Kelly, Don Terlson and Marc Shaw (CAN) | | | | | | | | | | | | 114 | 86 |
| 12 | Marco Collinetti, Massimo Veturini and Antonio Squizzato (ITA) | | | | | | | | | | | | 115 | 87 |
| 13 | Edmund Rath, Sven Reiger and Helmut Seewald (AUT) | | | | | | | | | | | | 117 | 88 |
| 14 | Luiz César Faria, Rossano Leitão and Darke Mattos (BRA) | | | | | | | | | | | | 125 | 99 |