Abstract The paper presents a framework for optimising a sailing yacht rig using Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms and for filtering obtained solutions by means of a Multi-criteria Decision Making method. A Bermuda sloop with discontinuous rig is taken under consideration as a model rig configuration. It has been decomposed into its elements and described by a set of control parameters to form a responsive model which can be used for optimisation purposes. Considering the contradictory nature of real optimisation objectives, a multi-objective approach has been chosen to address this issue. Once the optimisation process is over, a Multi-criteria Decision Making method based on a w-dominance relation is applied for filtering out the most interesting solutions from the obtained Pareto set. The proposed method has been implemented, and selected results are provided and discussed.