The 470 is an Olympic class dinghy recognised by ISAF, sailed by both male and female teams. It was designed in 1963 by the frenchman André Cornu, as a modern fiberglass planing dinghy. In 1969 the class was given international status and it has been an olympic class since featuring at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. In 1988 the first olympic womens sailing event was sailed in the 470.

The boat is equipped with spinnaker and trapeze, which demands real teamwork. To be competitive, everything should be mastered to perfection and the 470 is often quoted as the hardest Olympic design to get to grips with. Tactically the boat is demanding as speed differences between competitors are small and fleets are usually big.

In Athens in 2004 the 470 womens class was one of ten sailing disciplines competed for and will be used again in Beijing.