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The supply of equipment and the equipment draw is one of many tasks the International Sailing Federation will undertake in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition in Weymouth and Portland as part of its role "to assume the responsibility for the technical control and direction of their sports at the Olympic Games," as defined by the Olympic Charter.

The draw for supplied equipment allocates the individual items of equipment (the boat, the sails and the spars) to each nation competing at the Olympic Sailing Competition. The draw is completely random.

Of the 10 sailing events at the 2012 Olympic Games, five will be contested in supplied equipment, meaning the competitor is allocated their boats, sails, spars etc. upon arrival at the event instead of bringing his or her own equipment to the event. The supplied equipment consists of the RS:X windsurfer used for both the Men's and Women's Windsurfer events, the Laser and Laser Radial dinghies used for the Men's One Person Dinghy and Women's One Person Dinghy events respectively and the Elliott 6m used for the Women's Match Racing event.

In these five events, the equipment given to the athletes is all made to the same specification and tolerances at the same factory. In the other five sailing events, the equipment belongs to the athletes themselves.

One of the big differences between the Olympic Sailing Competition and other regattas is the look of the boats themselves. Each qualified nation can have only one boat representing them in each event and from 2000 onwards ISAF introduced a policy of each boat carrying the flag of its nation on its sail, firstly making the identification of each boat far simpler than spotting a sail number and secondly creating a spectacular sight on the water.

More information on the equipment and classes to be used at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition can be found here.