For each class seven races were scheduled from 29 August 1972 to 8 September 1972 of the coast of Kiel-Schilksee in the Bay of Kiel.

Among others, an exception is made for the Olympic yachting events, which customarily must be staged on the open sea.

On account of this principle, immediately after it became known that the city of Munich had the intention of hosting the Games of the XXth Olympiad, the cities of Kiel and Lübeck competed for the honor to carry out the Olympic yachting regattas.

When Kiel (and the Kieler Yacht-Club) won the competition the following was decided: During the Games the number of spectators and visitors at the Olympic events in Kiel and at the Olympic Center in Kiel-Schilksee exceeded the expectations by a large margin.

Conservative estimates put the total number at about a million spectators and visitors in Kiel.