There are 10 events on the Olympic program:

                           Men                                                                             Women

Boat Type                                         Boat Model                Boat Type                 Boat Model
    
Windsurfer                                         RS: X                          Windsurfer                 RS:X

One Person Dinghy                             Laser                           One Person Dinghy     Laser Radial        

One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight)        Finn                            Two Person Dinghy      470

Skiff                                                   49er                           Match Racing              Elliott 6m

Keelboat                                             Star
    
Events are more commonly referred to by the boat models, however when looking back at past Games it is easier to do so by boat type as the models used in competition have changed over the years.

There are a few notable changes to the program for London 2012:

No more open (mixed gender) events as the Finn and 49ers become men-only events.

• The Tornado multihull has been dropped from the program for London.
• The women's keelboat fleet race (Yngling) has been replaced by the women's keelboat match race (Elliott 6m), marking the Olympic debut of women's match racing.

All sailing events will be held at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in Dorset County on England's south coast.

London 2012 Storylines:
Several sailors have the opportunity to match the all-time Olympic record of five career medals - the host country favourite Ben Ainslie in the Finn class, Brazil's Robert Scheidt in the Star and Italy's Alessandra Sensini in the women's RS:X.  

Canada's Outlook:
Canada has won nine Olympic sailing medals, but none of them gold.  The most recent was the silver by Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs in the Star class in Athens 2004.

Zac Plavsic had a strong World Cup season in the men's RS:X in 2011, which included winning a silver medal for his best World Cup result ever.  Gordon Cook skipped his 49er with crewmate Hunter Lowden to a pair of top-six finishes in 2011 World Cup competition.  In the Star, Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn earned a World Cup bronze in the second event of the 2011 season.  The pair officially punched their Olympic ticket at the ISAF Sailing Championships in Perth, Australia.  David Wright is the top Canadian man in the Laser, having finished sixth at the 2009 World Championships and officially earning a berth to London at the Miami Olympic Class Regatta.

Canadian women to watch include Nikola Girke in the RS:X, who has cracked the top-10 in World Cup competition several times in the last few years, and Isabella Bertold who will represent Canada at London 2012 in the Laser Radial class.

Other International Athletes to Follow:

MEN

Ben Ainslie – Great Britain (Finn)

• The two-time defending Olympic Champion in the Finn is looking for his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, having also won gold in Sydney 2000 in the Laser
• A fifth career Olympic medal (he also won Laser silver in Atlanta 1996) would tie him for the most sailing medals in Olympic history; a fourth gold medal would also match the best ever total
• Was disqualified at the 2011 World Championships after angrily confronting a television crew covering the event

Tom Slingsby – Australia (Laser)

• The four-time world champion (2007-08, 2010-11) will be looking to avenge a poor performance in Beijing 2008, which he entered as the reigning world champion but struggled with the light wind conditions and finished 22nd
• In 2010 became the first Australian to be named ISAF World Sailor of the Year

Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada – Brazil (Star)

• Won the 2008 Olympic silver medal together in the Star
• Won gold at 2011 World Championships in the Star
• Scheidt has also won two gold and a silver in Olympic Laser competition, so a fifth career medal in London 2012 would tie him for the most sailing medals in Olympic history

WOMEN

Alessandra Sensini – Italy (RS:X)

• The only female sailor to win four Olympic medals, having won gold in Sydney 2000, silver in Beijing 2008 along with bronze in Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004
• Will be 42-years-old in London 2012, her sixth Olympic appearance

Marit Bouwmeester – Netherlands (Laser Radial)

• Won the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships after finishing second in 2010
• Will make her Olympic debut in London 2012

Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout – Netherlands (470)

• After becoming crewmates in 2009, won back-to-back World titles in 2009 and 2010
• Berkhout won the 2008 Olympic silver medal and three World titles with a different skipper; her five career World titles make her the most successful 470 sailor in history