In 1998, the ISAF World Sailing Championships were held in Dubai.

The ISAF Sailing World Championships was held in Cádiz in 2003, followed by Cascais in 2007 and Perth in 2011.

[1] In 2014, Santander hosted the 4th ISAF Sailing World Championships attracting more than 1,100 competitors, which distributed half of qualifications for the 2016 Summer Olympics sailing event.

[1] The 2018 edition, in Aarhus, Denmark, saw the introduction of Formula Kite classes.

[2] The 2023 event, orginially scheduled for 2002, took place in The Hague, the Netherlands.