Sailing (sport) in the context of "Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics"

A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term sailor has its etymological roots from sailing, that is a time when sailing ships were the main mode of transport at sea, it now refers to the personnel of all watercraft regardless of the type of vessel, boat or ship. It encompasses people who operate ships professionally, be it for a military (navy) or civilian (merchant navy) or for sports or recreation. In a navy, there may be further distinctions: sailor may refer to any member of the navy even if they are based on land, while seaman may refer to a specific enlisted rank. Additionally, fisherman are seen as a distinct type of sailor, that is those engaged in fishing.

Sailors have existed from the earliest periods in history as people used boats for purposes such as maritime transport. Professional sailors normally undertake training or other forms of education to develop their skills. Professional sailors are also governed by regulations, including the STCW Convention.

Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on marinas for docking, and being typically only for exclusive social leisures such as cruising, fishing trips or racing.

The term "yacht" derives from the Dutch word jacht, meaning "hunt". When yachting with sailboats, the activity is simply called sailing; and with motorboats, it is called powerboating. A boat club that only services yachting participants is known as a yacht club.

Sailing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics were held from July 28th to August 8th at Marseille Marina. The number of sailors competing across ten different events at these Games has been reduced from 350 to 330, with an equal distribution between men and women. Furthermore, several significant changes are instituted in the sailing program for Paris 2024 to reinforce gender equality and vast diversity among the nations in the qualifying process.

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 cancelled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 2008 consisted of a total of nine sailing classes (eleven disciplines). Eleven races are scheduled for each event except for the 49er class, for which 16 races are scheduled from 9 August 2008 to 21 August 2008 of the coast of the Qingdao International Sailing Centre facing the Yellow Sea. Of the 11 (16) races, 10 (15) are scheduled as opening races and one as a medal race. The sailing was done on four different types of courses.

Jacob Tullin "Tulla" Thams (7 April 1898 – 27 July 1954) was a Norwegian Olympian, who competed in ski jumping and sailing.

World Sailing is the international sports governing body for sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.