Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Venues	Port Phillip Bay
Dates	First race: 26 November 1956 (1956-11-26) Last race: 5 December 1956 (1956-12-05)
Competitors	154 from 28 nations
Boats	71
← 1952 1960 →

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Greece. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1956 consisted of a total of five sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 26 November to 5 December 1956 at Port Phillip Bay.^[1]

The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses. The start was made in the center of a set of 8 numbered marks that were places in a circle. During the starting procedure the sequence of the marks was communicated to the sailors. By picking the mark that was most upwind the start could always be made upwind. This system is, at least in certain German lakes, still in use.