Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens 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 1964 consisted of a total of five sailing classes. For each class, seven races were scheduled; these took place from 12 to 23 October 1964 off the coast of Enoshima in Sagami Bay. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Enoshima (江の島) is a small offshore island, about 4 km (2.5 mi) in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to the Katase section of that city by a 389-metre-long (1,276 ft) bridge. Home to some of the closest sandy beaches to Tokyo and Yokohama, the island and adjacent coastline are the hub of a local resort area.