Sailing at the 1976 Summer Olympics

As in 1972 there were six yachting classes, but there were some changes to the program. In 1972 there were two three-person keelboat events, the Dragon and Soling, but the Dragon, an Olympic event since 1948, was eliminated for 1976, while the Soling was retained. A new multi-hull class, the Tornado, was added to the Olympic Program for the first time, and the Tornado would remain an Olympic event through 2008. The Star class, which had been on the Olympic Program since 1932, was eliminated in 1976, although it would return in 1980, and would remain a mainstay of the Olympic yachting / sailing events through 2008. The Tempest class, a two-person keelboat, was held again, as in 1972, but these were the only two times this class was contested at the Olympics. All classes were mixed in 1972 and there were seven races in each class.

The 1976 yachting events were held at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour on Lake Ontario off the coast of Kingston, Ontario. The harbour was constructed in 1969 and was re-built in 1974 in preparation for the 1976 Olympics.

The scoring system was the Olympic standard that had been introduced in 1968, and which was used through the 1992 Olympics. The system was a modified point-for-place scoring system in each race, with the best six of seven race scores to count towards the final total. To break ties, the total of all seven race scores were used. 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, or the highest score possible.

West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany, won two of the six events, and also won the most medals, with three, although equalled by the United States. Ten (10) nations won medals in 1976 Olympic yachting, with Australia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Great Britain, and the Soviet Union all winning two medals.