Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens  Greece). With the exception of 1904 and possible 1916 sailing was always a part of the Olympic program. The Sailing program of 1928 consisted of a total of three sailing classes (disciplines). For each class races were scheduled from 2–9 August 1928 on the Buiten Y near Amsterdam and on the Zuiderzee of the coast of Muiden.

Venue

As venue for the Amsterdam Olympics the South Westerly part of the Zuiderzee was chosen. The Olympic harbor was just five kilometers outside the city center near the village of Durgerdam. For the 12' Dinghy courses could be used just outside the Olympic harbor on the Buiten Y. For the 6 and 8 Metre courses were used about 5 nm out of the harbor, East of the Isle of Marken.

At that time the Zuiderzee had an open connection with the North Sea. The sea water was salt or at best brackish. Waves could be steep and short due to the shallow waters.

In 1932 a dam was built between the North Sea and the Zuiderzee and the Zuiderzee was called IJsselmeer. As result of this the lake contains fresh water. Inside the lake new land was reclaimed. At this moment the center of the 1928 6 and 8 Metre course is located in the city of Almere. Also the city of Amsterdam reclaimed land from the sea and moved towards the lake. When the sailors from the 1928 Summer Olympics could return to their venue they would hardly recognize it.

Competition

Overview

Continents

• Africa
• Europe
• North America
• South America

Countries

Classes (equipment)

= Male,  = Female,  = Open

Medal summary

Medal tables

Sailing 1928

Sailing 1896–1928

Remarks

• Sailing was since 1924 on course! The One Design classes turned out to be a success. So was the reduction of classes since 1920. The advice for 1932 was to add a double handed one design to the selection of Olympic classes.
• The weather conditions of the 1928 races are not documented. Reading from the results, we can assume that on day 2 – 4 there were windy conditions. Hence, the number of retired boats, capsized Dinghies and a broken mast of one of the 8 Metres. Also the official pictures give evidence to support the assumption.
• That Olympic sailing did not had the status it has now, we can deduct from the fact that since the Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at the same time as Cowes week many British Metre sailors stayed at home despite the personal effort of the president of the Royal Dutch Yachting Union: P.L. Lucassen.

Sailors

During the Sailing regatta's at the 1928 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

•  Norway (NOR), Crown Prince of Norway, H.R.H. Crown Prince Olav in the 6 Metre
•  France (FRA), First full time yachtwoman, Virginie Hériot in the 8 Metre
•  United States (USA), United States yachting legend and inventor of the Swimfin, Owen Churchill in the 6 Metre
•  Norway (NOR), Owner of Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Norway, Wilhelm Wilhelmsen Jr. in the 8 Metre
•  Netherlands (NED), Yacht designer and boat builder, Netherlands, Willem de Vries Lentsch in the 12' Dinghy

Notes

References

• (ed.) G. van Rossum (1928) (PDF). The Ninth Olympiad Amsterdam 1928:Officiel Report. Amsterdam: The Netherlands Olympic Committee. http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1928/1928.pdf. 
• "Amsterdam 1928". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Amsterdam-1928.