What is US Sailing?
The United States Sailing Association, known as US Sailing, is the national governing body for sailing in the United States and the country's Member National Authority within World Sailing. Founded on 30 October 1897 as the North American Yacht Racing Union, it became the United States Yacht Racing Union in 1975 and took its present name in 1991. It is based on the Roger Williams University campus in Bristol, Rhode Island.[1] [2]
What does it do?
More instructing and certifying than most NGBs. It trains and certifies instructors and race officials — the largest part of its programming, with more than 5,000 certified instructors reaching around 50,000 young people a year — issues ORR and ORC offshore rating certificates, publishes and interprets the racing rules and runs the appeals and Review Board process, and provides insurance, scoring and registration services to member clubs.[1] [3]
How does national-team selection work?
In two distinct layers, which are easy to confuse. The US Sailing Team — the funded squad — is not chosen at a trial: athletes qualify into one of seven tiers by world-ranking and results thresholds in Olympic-class equipment, with support scaled to tier, and an Olympic Development Program beneath it for sailors working toward a top-20 world ranking. Olympic berths are separate: they are decided at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, a discrete regatta per class run under selection procedures approved by the USOPC.[3] [4]
Why does it matter?
Because in a sport organised by class rather than by a single national ladder, US Sailing is what holds the American record together: the rating certificate that defines a boat, the certification that defines an instructor or race officer, the national championships, and the tiered team that defines an Olympic-track sailor.[1] [3]
References
- US Sailing — our organization. Accessed August 2026.
- US Sailing — 2026 board of directors. Accessed August 2026.
- US Sailing — Olympic selection. Accessed August 2026.
- US Sailing — Charlie Enright appointed CEO. Accessed August 2026.