The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will see an impressive venue for the sailing races. The Brazilian government is investing R$1.1 billion to clean and reduce the amount of pollution that reaches Guanabara Bay.

The large sailing regatta field is incredible, but still has many environmental problems. Sewage treatment rates will be improved to 16,000 liters per second and all regional dump sites will be closed.

The 2016 Olympic Sailing venue has a problem of garbage being leaking into the bay from nearby garbage dumps. More than 10 million citizens live in the Guanabara Bay region, so the investments are large and lengthy in time.

The Guanabara Bay is home to the Marina da Gloria, which will host the sailing events for the world's greatest sporting event. It is the second largest bay in Brazil, at 412 square kilometres (159 square miles), with a perimeter of 143 kilometres (89 miles).

Guanabara Bay is 31 kilometres (19 mi) long and 28 kilometres (17 miles) wide at its maximum. Its 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide mouth is flanked at the eastern tip by the Pico do Papagaio and the western tip by Pão de Açúcar.

Strong winds are not common in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic event will be held during the Brazilian winter, in August, so northern offshore winds may be expected. Sea breezes are often unstable and the average wind speed is of seven knots.

Guanabara Bay was first encountered by Portuguese ocean explorers, on January 1st, 1502. The sailing classes set for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are:

Men's Board - RS:X
Women's Board - RS:X
Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser
Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Men's 2nd One Person Dinghy - Finn
Men's Skiff - 49er
Women's Skiff - 49erFX
Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470
Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470
Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17