Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Five yachting events were held at the 1948 Olympics, all in mixed classes. The monotype event was raced in the Firefly class for the only time at the Olympics. The Star and 6-metre classes were again on the Olympic Program, with two new classes – the Swallow, a two-person keelboat, and the Dragon, a three-person keelboat. The yachting events were held in the English Channel, off the coast of Torbay, on the southwestern English coast, in an east-facing natural harbour called Tor Bay. The courses were laid out and patrolled by Royal Navy vessels.

All classes had seven races. The scoring system was new and would be the standard at the Olympics through 1964, with points awarded in each race based on placement in the race and the number of boats racing. The worst of a boat’s seven scores were eliminated, thus using the best six of seven scores for the final total. Nine nations won medals and four nations won gold medals, led by the United States with two golds and four medals, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden, with two medals each.