| Event: | Sailing |
| Games: | 1996 Summer |
| Dates: | First race: Last race: |
| Competitors: | 458 |
| Teams: | 312 |
| Team Descriptor: | Boats |
| Nations: | 78 |
| Next: | 2000 |
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 possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1996 consisted of a total of ten sailing classes (disciplines). For each class, with the exception of the Soling, eleven races were scheduled from 22 July to 2 August 1996 off the coast of Savannah at the Wassaw Sound (an area of the Atlantic Ocean). For the Soling ten fleetraces were scheduled followed by a series of matchraces for the top 6 boats of the fleetrace result.[1]
| Day Marina | |
| Coordinates: | 31.9336°N -80.9497°W |
According to the IOC statutes the contests in all sport disciplines must be held either in, or as close as possible to the city which the IOC has chosen. An exception was made for the Olympic yachting events, which customarily must be staged on the open sea. On account of this principle, the city of Savannah was chosen for the organization of the sailing events. Spectators were given the opportunity to board boats that will sail out to the courses to provide a close look at the competition. About 1000 spectators per day made use of the opportunity.
The sailing events were held off the coast of Savannah at the Wassaw Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. The venue used three locations:
Separate course areas were used for the following pairs of classes:
| width=50 | Continents | width=50 | Countries | width=50 | Classes | width=50 | Boats | width=50 | Male | width=50 | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 78 | 10 | 312 | 358 | 100 | ||||||
| Class | Type | Event | Sailors | First OG | Olympics so far | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1996 | 1 | |||
| 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1996 | 1 | |||
| 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1992 | 2 | |||
| Dinghy | 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1996 | 1 | ||
| Dinghy | 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1952 | 12 | ||
| Dinghy | 2 | 1 | + | + | + | 1988 | 3 | ||
| Dinghy | 2 | 1 | + | + | + | 1976 | 6 | ||
| 2 | 1 | + | + | – | 1976 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 0 | + | + | – | 1932 | 14 | |||
| Keelboat | 3 | 0 | + | + | + | 1972 | 7 | ||
After the qualification was finished the following sailors were granted a wildcard:
The winds on a typical day in Savannah begin is as follows:
Olympic weather reports were provided by the National Weather Service from the locations Atlanta and Savannah. Doppler weather radar was used from Charleston, South Carolina. From Jacksonville, Florida the weather above the offshore courses was observed.
During the Sailing regattas at the 1996 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes: