Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Termed Olympic yachting from 1900-96, the sport was now re-named sailing, in an attempt to make it seem less elitist, as if changing the name would help. The number of events was increased to 11 in Sydney. There were again three men’s and three women’s events, but a fifth mixed event, the skiff, was added. Most of the events were held at Rushcutters Bay Marina, in Rose Bay, just off the east coast of Sydney. In 1908 Rushcutters Bay had been the site of a world professional heavyweight title fight, as Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the first African-American to win that title. The Soling match races were held in Farm Cove, in front of the Sydney Opera House.

The scoring system was the pure point-for-place scoring system in each race that had been introduced in 1996, with the two worst race scores thrown out. If a boat did not finish, was disqualified, or did not start a race, it was awarded points equal to the number of boats entered in the event, plus one, or the highest score possible. Most classes had 11 races, while the skiff had 16. Soling was again contested as fleet races, qualifying for a series of head-to-head match races.

Only seven nations won the 11 events, with Great Britain winning three, and Australia and Austria two each. Great Britain won the most medals with five, while Australia and the United States won four, and Argentina and Germany three each.