Sailing at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Events were top of the agenda again with Kiteboarding, Windsurfing, Keelboats, Match Racing and Offshore Racing all looking for inclusion in the games. Sailing took the approach of introducing a number of new mixed events to maintain gender balance and showcase as many disciplines as possible. The two person boats of the 470 Nacra 17 and yet to be chosen Offshore were going to be mixed. In addition and more controversially the single person Kiteboards was going to be two person mixed gender event.

However the IOC had concerns over Mixed Offshore, this was a bold format involving competition taking place over days something not done in Olympics before. France is also very much the leading nation for short handed offshore sailing with the Solitaire du Figaro and Vendee Globe so were keen to have the event.

When the IOC put World Sailing events up for review rather than accepting their recommendation, they choose to carry on backing their initial choice stating "The Mixed Offshore Event was democratically selected by our members and remains our first-choice event for Paris 2024; we have made this clear to the IOC and will continue to do so."[6]

It then after direction that it was likely not to get it's choice took the unusual step of proposing alternative events should the IOC not endorse its recommendation.[7]

The number of sailors competing across ten different classes has been reduced from 350 to 330, with an equal distribution between men and women. Aiming for vast gender equality and diversity among the nations, the World Sailing has ratified several amendments to the qualifying process.[2]

The qualification period commences at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, where 107 places, about forty percent of the total quota, will be awarded to the highest-ranked NOCs across ten different sailing classes. Seven places will be distributed to sailors representing the highest-finishing, not previously qualified NOCs at each of the 2024 Men's ILCA 7 and Women's ILCA 6 World Championships. Each ILCA continental qualification event will award two quota places with the exception of Asia, which will award one quota place at the 2023 Asian Games in China and two quota places at the Asian Olympic qualifier event in Thailand.[2]

The remainder of the total quota will be attributed to the eligible sailors through the 2024 Last Chance Regatta in Hyères, France (39 boats in total) and as part of the World Sailing Emerging Nations Program (two boats per gender each in windsurfing and dinghy). Four quota places (two per gender) are entitled to the NOCs competing in the men's ILCA 7 and women's ILCA 6 under the Tripartite Commission.[8]

As the host country, France reserves one quota place in each of the ten sailing classes.[2]

  *   Host nation (France)