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“Anyone who has ever raced or dreamed of multihull ocean racing remembers the image of Mike Birch,” race organizers said.

It gets extra credit because it’s the only multihull boat and only mixed-gender boat used in Tokyo.

The RS:X is a sailboard, the Laser and Finn are one-person dinghies, the 470 is a two-person dinghy, the 49er is a skiff, and the Nacra 17 is a multihull catamaran.

This year’s races are being contested by 75-foot monohulls; the last three America’s Cups had been raced with multihull boats.

He also won the International Yacht Racing Union trials to select a two-man trapeze catamaran with his Brightlingsea friend Reg White, which led to the Tornado being chosen as the first Olympic multihull class.