rio de janeiro was instrumental in the spread of the sport to brazil -  it was in the neighborhood of botafogo, in 1906, that the country's first yacht club was born - named the brazilian yacht club, it was mainly organized by european expats who lived in the city and wanted to enjoy spending their weekends practicing the sport

the yacht club moved across the guanabara bay in 1910, to gragoatá beach, in neighboring niterói - in 1913 a second yacht club was created and called the rio sailing club - in 1920, the third club of the city, the fluminense yacht club, which would change its name to the yacht club of rio de janeiro in 1942, eventually become the biggest and most prestigious yacht club in brazil.

rio de janeiro continued to be the driving force of brazilian sailing throughout the twentieth century - the first national sailing magazine came from the city, in 1947, whilst the city became the scene of many national and international competitions - the sport is now hugely popular throughout the whole country - brazilian sailors have won 17 olympic medals between 1968 and 2012.