## 1 Introduction  
Athletes, coaches, and sports scientists are interested in the structure and function of the human body, especially in relation to athletic performance. The physical and physiological characteristics of elite athletes are very different between different sports, sports disciplines, and specific sports positions. Certain physiques are found more often in some high-performance sports (or disciplines) and specific sports positions than others. In this context, anthropometry is important and is often included as a tool to aid understanding of the relationship between body structure and performance [1]. Olympic sailing is a multifaceted sport where numerous factors, such as boat handling, technical and tactical skills, and physical and physiological characteristics, determine performance. Sailing has a long Olympic history (since 1900, except for 1904), and the importance of physical and physiological characteristics for this sport has increased due to a higher international competition level, but also as a consequence of the changes in sailing classes and racing format made by World Sailing after each Olympic cycle [2; 3]. Sailing at the Paris 2024 Olympics consisted of 10 events, covering six yacht classes (single- or double-handed crew; gender) and comprising a total of 10 sailor positions/functions, each requiring specific physical and physiological characteristics. A sailor's anthropometric profile is one of the criteria employed in selecting a sailing class, since optimal anthropometric requirements differ between yacht classes [4]. Some studies have shown that a high level of performance in Olympic sailing is generally associated with greater body mass, stature, and femur length [5; 6; 7]. When sailing, the sailor uses their body as a lever to control the boat and to increase an up-righting moment, as sideways wind forces acting on the sails cause a leeward tilting moment on the boat [2; 7]. Sailors may perform this technical gesture for up to 94% of their total sailing time [8]. The ILCA 7 dinghy is one of the Olympic yacht classes, making its Olympic debut as a monohull in Atlanta 1996. It is considered one of the most physically and mentally demanding single-handed classes in the world. Dinghy sailors need to carefully control the balance of the boat in continuously varying wind and wave conditions. The technique involving ILCA 7 sailors sitting on the deck and leaning over the side to create an up-righting moment through a windward displacement of the ensemble center of gravity of the boat and sailor is a characteristic movement, known as hiking [9]. Based on the sailor-to-yacht weight ratio, a classification system for Olympic sailors was introduced to simplify monitoring of physical requirements [2]. ILCA 7 sailors are identified as dynamic side deck hikers because they hike in a very dynamic way due to a high sailor-to-yacht weight ratio [2]. The righting moment that is generated while hiking is a function of the sailor's body weight and their position relative to the centerline of the boat (i.e., body height). In this context, anthropometric characteristics, body composition, and the somatotype of an ILCA 7 sailor are very important determinants of ILCA 7 sailing success. Size is only an advantage if extra weight does not add more to the resistance of the yacht than it contributes to the propulsive forces of the dinghy. The changes that occur in the context of sports give rise to a constant evolution of ideal anthropometric characteristics. It is therefore essential that the reference databases are kept up to date. The relationship between sports performance and anthropometric characteristics, including body composition and somatotype, has been the subject of study in a number of different sports disciplines [10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16]. Regarding the ILCA 7 sailing class, previous studies provide only limited information about the anthropometric characteristics of elite sailors [11; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21].