Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkeley represented Great Britain at the 2004 Gamesin Athens. They sail a Tornado Catamaran, which is the fastest of the 11 sailing disciplines.

Mark Bulkeley.

Leigh McMillan.

With two hulls, one often clear of the water, they are capable of reaching speeds in excess of 30 mph while they race against 60 other boats in international regattas around the world.

At 23 and 24, Leigh and Mark are the youngest competitors at the top end of the fleet - they started sailing together three years ago, and have since progressed rapidly, moving up from a world ranking of 34 to a current career high of 4th.

This has been achieved through performances at international regattas where results have improved steadily, culminating in winning SPA Regatta in Holland and then a Silver medal at the 2003 World Championships, and subsequent selection to the Olympic Team.

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Tornado Racing – an overview
Tornado racing is a combination of outright speed, tactics, and strategy. 60 boats line up on a start line, jockeying for the best position aiming to hit the line when the starters gun goes at full speed. It is then a race to break clear of the pack as you position the boat to take advantage of the best wind on the course.

A typical race would last about an hour and would be raced around a 2 km course, normally 3 laps. During this time the boats are travelling at speeds of up to 30 mph pushing as hard as they can to gain every position. Up to 3 races are sailed a day and an event consists of 5 days of racing.

As a result of this winners need to be consistent in their results, as the team with the lowest score at the end of the event is the winner.