Sailing at the Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the Summer Olympics

Sailing has been one of the Olympic sports since the Games of the I Olympiad, held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Despite being scheduled in the first Olympic program, the races were canceled due to severe weather conditions. Apart from the 1904 Summer Olympics, sailing has been present in every edition of the Olympic Games.For the scoring system used for sailing events during the Olympics look at: Scoring systems for Sailing at the Summer Olympics A directory page to all Olympic sailors is given at: List of sailors at the Summer Olympics Information about the Sailing at specific Summer Olympics or the used equipment can be found using the table below: Gender - Until 1988, sailing was a gender neutral 'open' sport where male and female sailors competed together. Even in 1900, several women participated at the Olympic sailing regattas. The exception to this is the post WWII 1948 Olympics where the IOC decided the events should only be open to male sailors. In 1988, the first exclusive women's sailing event was introduced. Sailing was also one of the first sports to introduce a compulsory mixed gender events in 2016 the Mixed Multihull was introduced. Discipline - Most of the Olympic sailing competitions were done in what is called a fleet race format. At some Olympics, however, was also the match race format, or a mixed fleet/match race format. Classes - Over time, different classes of boat featured at the Olympics. Initially, the classes were specified in tons, then later in meters, feet or generic names. For the discontinued classes, the Vintage Yachting Games were introduced in 2008. Medal Tables - Great Britain leads the Olympic sailing medal ranking table.

Sailing at the 1900 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting made its first appearance as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Summer Olympics after competitions were cancelled at the 1896 Olympics. With the exception of 1904, sailing was thereafter always a part of the Olympic program. The sailing program in 1900 consisted of a total of eight sailing classes. For six classes, the races were scheduled from 20 – 27 May at the river Seine around Meulan, and a series of three races was held for the largest classes from 1–5 August on the North Atlantic off the coast of Le Havre. Approximately 150 sailors in 64 boats from 6 nations competed, including 1 woman, Hélène de Pourtalès, who won a gold medal in the 1 to 2 ton.

Sailing at the 1912 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1912 consisted of a total of four sailing classes (disciplines). For each class two races were scheduled from 19 July 1912 to 22 July 1912 off the coast of Nynäshamn at the Baltic Sea.

Sailing at the 1920 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1920 was open for a total of sixteen sailing classes (disciplines), but actually only fourteen Sailing events were contested, because of at the 8.5 metre and 9 metre classes there were no entrants. For each class three races were scheduled from 7 July 1920 to 10 July 1920 off the coast of Ostend at the North Sea.

Sailing at the 1924 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1924 consisted of a total of three sailing classes (disciplines). For each of the classes the event an elimination round, semi-finals and finals were scheduled. The French National Monotype 1924 was on the program from 10 to 13 July. The Metre classes had their races from the 21 to 26 July.

Sailing at the 1928 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1928 consisted of a total of three sailing classes. For each class races were scheduled from 2–9 August 1928 on the Buiten Y near Amsterdam and on the Zuiderzee. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1932 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1932 consisted of a total of four sailing classes (disciplines). For each class races were scheduled from 5–12 August directly off the Los Angeles Harbor on the Pacific Ocean.

Sailing at the 1936 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1936 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1936 consisted of a total of four sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 29 August 1936 to 8 September 1936 at the Firth of Kiel.

Sailing at the 1948 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1948 consisted of a total of five sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 3–12 August 1948 Torquay/Torbay, on England's south coast.

Sailing at the 1952 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of the 1952 Summer Olympics consisted of a total of five sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 20–28 July 1952 of the coast of Harmaja.

Sailing at the 1964 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens Greece. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1964 consisted of a total of five sailing classes. For each class, seven races were scheduled; these took place from 12 to 23 October 1964 off the coast of Enoshima in Sagami Bay. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1972 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1972 consisted of a total of six sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 29 August 1972 to 8 September 1972 of the coast of Kiel-Schilksee in the Bay of Kiel. Kiel hosted the Olympic sailing competitions for the second time, having previously done so during the 1936 Summer Olympics. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1976 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The sailing program of 1976 consisted of six sailing classes (disciplines). For each class, seven races were scheduled from 19 July 1976 to 27 July 1976 off the coast of Kingston, Ontario, on Lake Ontario. The sailing was done on the triangular-type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1980 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1980 consisted of a total of six sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 19 to 29 July 1980 of the coast of Tallinn, in that time an annexed part of the USSR at the Baltic Sea. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1984 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. sailing was always a part of the Olympic program. The Sailing program of 1984 consisted of a total of seven sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 31 July 1984 to 8 August 1984 of the coast of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California at the Pacific Ocean. Los Angeles hosted the Olympic sailing competitions for the second time, having previously done so during the 1932 Summer Olympics. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Sailing at the 1992 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1992 consisted of a total of ten sailing classes (disciplines). For each class races were scheduled from 27 July 1992 to 4 August 1992 of the coast of Barcelona, Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.

Sailing at the 2000 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney was held from 17–30 September 2000 at the Olympic Sailing Shore Base in the Sydney Harbour.

Sailing at the 2004 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport that has been part of the Olympic programme starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad. With the exception of 1904 and possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program in 2004 consisted of eleven disciplines divided over nine sailing classes. For each discipline multiple races were scheduled between 14 and 28 August 2004 along the coast near Athens. Athens hosted the Olympic sailing competitions for the second time, having previously done so during the 1896 Summer Olympics. However, in 1896, the sailing competition was cancelled due to heavy storms and further bad weather conditions. This time the weather conditions were good. The sailing event was executed on the several types of Olympic courses in different course areas using the 'Fleetrace' and 'Matchrace' formats.

Sailing at the 2012 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held 29 July – 11 August 2012 at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in Weymouth. The 2012 sailing program consisted of a total of ten events. Eleven fleet races were scheduled off the coast at Weymouth Bay for each event, except for the 49er and the Elliott 6m classes. For the 49er class, a total of 16 races were scheduled. Of the 11 (16) races, 10 (15) were scheduled as opening races and the last one as medal race. For the Elliott 6m a series of match races was scheduled. The sailing was done on different types of courses.

Sailing at the 2016 Summer OlympicsW
Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held from 8–18 August at Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay. The sailing classes had two changes from the 2012 Summer Olympics events. There were 10 events.

Sailboarding at the Summer OlympicsW
Sailboarding at the Summer Olympics

Windsurfing has been one of the Olympic sailing events at the Summer Olympics since 1984 for men and 1992 for women. All sailors use the same One Design boards, daggerboards, fins and sails. The equipment is chosen to allow racing in a wide range of sailing conditions, as during the Olympic Games events must take place as scheduled whether or not there is enough wind for planing.

Olympic sailing classesW
Olympic sailing classes

The Olympic sailing classes have been used in the sport of Sailing/Yachting during the Olympic Summer Games since 1896. Since then, 46 different classes have been used.

List of Olympic venues in sailingW
List of Olympic venues in sailing

For the Summer Olympics, there are 32 venues that have been or will be used for sailing. Most competitions took place for the early part of the Olympics at or near venues, but no specific yacht or sailing club was listed in the official Olympic report. In 1920, the twelve-foot dinghy event set for Ostend was moved to the Netherlands at special request of the Belgian Olympic Committee. The first specific yacht or sailing club to host the competitions took place in 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City though those competitions took place actually in Acapulco. Eight years later in Montreal, the competitions took place on the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario, marking the first and only time the sailing competitions took place in freshwater.

File:1980 Canadian Boycott party.pngW
File:1980 Canadian Boycott party.png

File:SolingDrawing.svgW
File:SolingDrawing.svg

File:Tornado Catamaran Original Rig.svgW
File:Tornado Catamaran Original Rig.svg