Sailing (also known as yachting until 2000) 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-World War II 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.
Summary
GamesYear EventsBest Nation1 1896 colspan="2"2 1900 13 (1)34 1908 4 (1)5 1912 4 (1)67 1920 14 (2)8 1924 3 (3)9 1928 3 (4)10 1932 4 (1)11 1936 4 (1)121314 1948 5 (2)15 1952 5 (3)16 1956 5 (1)17 1960 5 (1)18 1964 5 (1)19 1968 5 (4)20 1972 6 (1)21 1976 6 (1)22 1980 6 (1)23 1984 7 (5)24 1988 8 (2)25 1992 10 (1)26 1996 10 (2)27 2000 11 (2)28 2004 11 (3)29 2008 11 (4)30 2012 10 (2)31 2016 10 (5)32 2020 10 (6)33 2024 10 (1)34 2028 10
Timeline
1896: A regatta of sailing boats was on the program for in Athens. However this event had to be given up since there were no boats available from Greece and no foreign entries. 1900: Two venues were used to host the 1900 Sailing events. One in Meulan till for the inshore races on the river Seine. And one in Le Havre till for the Offshore races on the English Channel. In Meulan six classes were used over several days. About 55 boats and a little less than 150 sailors are documented, included the first female gold medalist Hélène de Pourtalès. In Le Havre two classes were used for the offshore event. About 10 boats made the competition. Crewmembers were not documented, just the owners and/or helmsmen. 1904: Sailing was not a part of the Olympic program. 1908: At the 1907 The Hague Conference of the IOC Ryde at the Isle of Wight was appointed to host the sailing regattas, for all classes, of the games of the IVth Olympiad. However, when there were only two British entries for the 12 Metre matches, and both yachts were located at the Firth of Clyde, the decision was made to use Hunters Quay as a second venue. In 1906 international meetings were organized to solve the problem of the differences in the performance of the different yachts. Finally in Paris, October 1907 the first International Rule was ratified. During the meeting in 1907 the IOC made the decision to use the International Rule classes for the Olympic regattas (6, 7, 8 and 12 Metre). 1912: When Sweden was assigned to host the 1912 Olympic Games two cities wanted to be the venue for the sailing program. Gothenburg and Stockholm. Gothenburg claimed that it was a much shorter passage for the overseas entries (about less) than it was to Stockholm. Stockholm however got the sailing program because of then all Olympic events should be in the same vicinity. As specific location Nynäshamn, about from Stockholm was chosen. Also the decision was made to use the International Rule classes again for the Olympic regattas (6, 8, 10 and 12 Metre). 1920: When Antwerp was assigned to host the 1920 Olympic Games, Ostend was appointed for the sailing contests. Ostend – "The Queen of the Belgian sea-side resorts" – offers fair condition for sailing on the North Sea. Although there are tidal conditions the current is reasonable predictable. Local knowledge does not have too much influence on the races. The wind conditions are also good for sailing. In the case of the 1920 Summer Olympic regatta's the prevailing breeze did not show. Most races had to be sailed under light air conditions. The competition was open for a total of sixteen classes. Two classes had a "No show". 1924: After the massive number of classes used four years earlier only three classes were selected for the 1924 Olympics. Again there was a one design class. The two other classes were construction classes of the International Metre type. Two locations were used: Meulan was the venue for the Olympic regatta's in the French National Monotype. The host club for the 1924 Olympic Sailing at Meulan was the Cercle de la Voile de Paris. The race conditions at Meulan during the Olympic regatta were not ideal. The light breeze during the first elimination series could hardly make the sailing interesting. Le Havre was the venue for the Olympic regattas for the 6 and 8 Metre. The host club for the 1924 Olympic Sailing at Le Havre was the Société des Régates du Havre. Due to the Easterly winds the courses at Le Havre were mostly reaches. Sailing a windward leg was not really tested. This however was more or less custom for that era. Furthermore, this was the first Olympic regatta were just one competing team per class per country was allowed. 1928: Like in the 1924 Olympics only three classes were chosen. There was the revival of the 12' Dinghy from the 1920 Olympics and again the proven 6 and 8 Metre classes. This Olympic sailing regatta can be considered as the first Olympic regatta with a high quality of racing since there were: Well selected classes that represented sailing; Sufficient competitors per class and good and fair sailing conditions. The only disadvantage was the daily passing of the Oranje Locks.
Olympic Classes & Events Over the years the classes used in the Olympic Sailing Program were replaced from time to time. This table shows this development:
Class Gender 96It is unclear in what classes the races were scheduled. 00In 1900 two races were held in the ½-ton, 1-2 Ton and 2-3 Ton classes. After each race, trophies were handed out, in addition to the ultimate winners receiving their Olympic medals. 04Sailing was not included in the 1904 Olympic program. 08 12 16It is not known in what classes the races were scheduled. 20 24 28 32 36 40Program Tokio announced. 44No program created. 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 Sailed Events Boats of the Royal Navy Fleet Male (●) 0 0-½ ton Fleet Open x2 2 ½-1 ton Fleet Open x2 2 1-2 ton Fleet Open x2 2 2-3 ton Fleet Open x2 2 3-10 ton Fleet Open x2 2 10-20 ton Fleet Open ● 1 20+ ton Fleet Open ● 1 Open class Fleet Open ● 1 6 Metre (1907 Rule) Fleet Open ●● ● 10 6 Metre (1919 Rule) Fleet Open ●●●● 6 Metre (1933 Rule) Fleet Open ●(●) ● 6 Metre (1933 Rule) Fleet Male ● 6.5 Metre Fleet Open ● 1 7 Metre Fleet Open ● ● 2 8 Metre (1907 Rule) Fleet Open ●● ● 8 8 Metre (1919 Rule) Fleet Open ●●●● 8 Metre (1933 Rule) Fleet Open ● 8.5 Metre Fleet Open (●) 0 9 Metre Fleet Open (●) 0 10 Metre (1907 Rule) Fleet Open ● ● 3 10 Metre (1919 Rule) Fleet Open ● 12 Metre (1907 Rule) Fleet Open ●● ● 4 12 Metre (1919 Rule) Fleet Open ● 15 Metre (1907 Rule) Fleet Open (●) 0 12 foot dinghy Fleet Open ● ● (●) 2 18 foot dinghy Fleet Open ● 1 30m2 class Fleet Open ● 1 40m2 class Fleet Open ● 1 French National Monotype 1924 Fleet Open ● 1 Snowbird Fleet Open ● 1 Star Fleet Open ●●(●) ●●●●●● ●●●●●● 18Fleet Male ● ●●● O-Jolle Fleet Open ● 1 Dragon Fleet Open ●●●●●● 7 Fleet Male ● Swallow Fleet Male ● 1 Firefly Fleet Male ● 1 Finn Fleet Open ●●●●●●●●● ● 18 Fleet Male ●●●●● ●●● 5,5 Metre Fleet Open ●●●●● 5 Sharpie 12m2 Fleet Open ● 1 Flying Dutchman Fleet Open ●●●●●●●●● 9 Soling Fleet Open ●●●●● 8 Fleet/Match Open ●●● Tempest Fleet Open ●● 2 Tornado Fleet Open ●●●●●●●●● 9 470 Fleet Open ●●● 23Fleet Male ●●●●●●●●● Fleet Female ●●●●●●●●● Fleet Mixed ● ● WindgliderFleet Open ● 1 Division IIFleet Open ● 1 LechnerFleet Male ● 2Fleet Female ● Europe Fleet Female ●●●● 4 Mistral Fleet Open ●●● 6 Fleet Female ●●● ILCA 7 (Laser) Fleet Open ●●● 9 Fleet Male ●●●●●● ILCA 6 (Laser Radial)Fleet Female ●●●●●● 6 49er Fleet Open ●● 8Fleet Male ●●●●●● 49er FX Fleet Female ●●●● 4 Yngling Fleet Female ●● 2 RS:X Fleet Male ●●●● 8 Fleet Female ●●●● Elliott 6m Match Female ● 1 Nacra 17 Fleet Mixed ●●●● 4 iQFoil Fleet Male ●● 4 Fleet Female ●● Formula Kite Fleet Male ●● 4 Fleet Female ●●Total (1)1304(5)4 14(16)3344(3) 5555556667810101111111010101010 215 Class 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 Sailed Events
Gender Criteria: Open events have no gender requirements where as mixed events require male and female competitors Events Notes: Events in "()" Brackets were scheduled but did not take place and therefore not included in the totals
Boat types
Boat type 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 Sailed EventsDinghy / Centreboard ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●● 27Skiff (dinghy type) ● ● ● ● ●● ●● 6Keelboats ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 21Yachts / Sail cruisers● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 11Multihull (dinghy-sized) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●● 11Sailboard (windsurfing) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●● 12Kiteboard (kitesurfing) ●● 2One-Design / Monotype ? ● ? ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●●●●●●●●● 25Construction classDevelopment class? ? ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 14
Race types
Race type 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 Editions Fleet●● ●● ●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● 31 Match ●W 1 Combined ● ● ● 3 Relay 0
Olympic sailing venues
Pictures will be replaced by more relevant photos.