Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the Olympics

Sailing
at the Games of the IX Olympiad
Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics on a Dutch stamp
VenuesSix Harbor[1]
● Buiten Y
● Zuiderzee
DatesFirst race: 2 August 1928 (1928-08-02)
Last race: 9 August 1928 (1928-08-09)
Competitors124 Male and 2 Female from 23 nations
Boats41
← 1924
1932 →

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1928 consisted of a total of three sailing classes.[2] For each class races were scheduled from 2–9 August 1928 on the Buiten Y near Amsterdam and on the Zuiderzee. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Venue

Source:[1]

Six Harbor
Sixhaven
Emblem of the KVNWV
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeOlympic harbor
AddressSixhavenweg 15
Town or city1021 HG Amsterdam
Country Netherlands
Coordinates52°22′54″N 4°54′23″E / 52.38167°N 4.90639°E / 52.38167; 4.90639
ElevationSealevel
Completed1920
ClientKoninklijke Nederlandsche Zeil- & Roeivereeniging
OwnerWatersportvereniging Dok- en Scheepsbouw

Six Harbor

As venue for the Amsterdam Olympics the Zuiderzee near Amsterdam was chosen. The organizing committee of the sailing event was the Koninklijk Verbond Nederlandsche Watersport Vereniging. The Olympic harbor Six Harbor was on the North shore of the Y just opposite of the Amsterdam Centraal railway station. The boats were moored in the so-called 'kinderkamer' of the harbor. The Six Harbor was in that time the location of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeil- & Roeivereeniging. This resulted that all competing yachts had to go through the Oranje Locks to enter the Buiten Y and Zuiderzee. Some of the former buildings of the Six Harbor were demolished during the construction of the Amsterdam Metro North–south line.

Course areas

A total of two race areas were used for sailing at the Amsterdam Olympics:

  • The courses of the 12' Dinghy were just outside the locks on the buiten Y in front of Durgerdam.
  • For the 6 and 8 Metre the used courses were about 5 nm out of the locks, East of the Isle of Marken on the Zuiderzee.

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.[1]

1928 Olympic Course Areas
Course area and course for the 12' Dinghy
Course area and courses for the 6 Metre and 8 Metre

In 1932 a dam was built between the North Sea and the Zuiderzee and the Zuiderzee was renamed IJsselmeer. As result of this the lake now 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

Source:[1]

Overview

Continents Countries Classes Boats Male Female
4 23 3 41 124 2

Continents

Map of Participating Sailing Continents at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Green = Participating for the first time
Blue = Participating
Light Blue = Have previously participated
● Africa
● Europe
● North America
● South America

Countries

Map of Participating Sailing Countries at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Green = Participating for the first time
Blue = Participating
Light Blue = Have previously participated
 Argentina (ARG)  Austria (AUT)  Belgium (BEL)  Denmark (DEN)
 Spain (ESP)  Estonia (EST)  Finland (FIN)  France (FRA)
 Great Britain (GBR)  Germany (GER)  Hungary (HUN)  Italy (ITA)
 Latvia (LAT)  Monaco (MON)  Netherlands (NED)  Norway (NOR)
 Poland (POL)  Portugal (POR)  South Africa (RSA)  Switzerland (SUI)
 Sweden (SWE)  Czechoslovakia (TCH)  United States (USA)

Classes (equipment)

The 1928 Olympic classes
Class Type Venue Event Sailors First OG Olympics so far
12' Dinghy Dinghy IJmeer 1 1920 2
6 Metre Keelboat Zuiderzee 3 1908 5
8 Metre Keelboat Zuiderzee 6 1908 5
Legend: = Mixed gender event
The 1928 Olympic Classes in action

Race schedule

Source:[1]

 ●  Opening ceremony  ●  Event competitions  ●  Event finals  ●  Closing ceremony
Date July August
26th
Thu
27th
Fri
28th
Sat
29th
Sun
30th
Mon
31st
Tue
1st
Wed
2nd
Thu
3rd
Fri
4th
Sat
5th
Sun
6th
Mon
7th
Tue
8th
Wed
9th
Thu
10th
Fri
11th
Sat
12th
Sun
Sailing Spare
day
Total gold medals 1 2
Ceremonies

Medal summary

Source:[3]

Event Gold Silver Bronze

1928: 12' Dinghy
details

 Sweden (SWE)
Sven Thorell
 Norway (NOR)
Henrik Robert
 Finland (FIN)
Bertil Broman

1928: 6 Metre
details

 Norway (NOR)
Johan Anker
Erik Anker
Håkon Bryhn
Crown Prince Olav
 Denmark (DEN)
Vilhelm Vett
Aage Høy-Petersen
Niels Otto Møller
Peter Schlütter
 Estonia (EST)
Nikolai Vekšin
Andreas Faehlmann
Georg Faehlmann
Eberhard Vogdt
William von Wirén

1928: 8 Metre
details

 France (FRA)
Donatien Bouché
André Derrien
Virginie Hériot
André Lesauvage
Jean Lesieur
Carl de la Sablière
 Netherlands (NED)
Johannes van Hoolwerff
Lambertus Doedes
Hendrik Kersken
Cornelis van Staveren
Gerard de Vries Lentsch
Maarten de Wit
 Sweden (SWE)
Clarence Hammar
Tore Holm
Carl Sandblom
John Sandblom
Philip Sandblom
Wilhelm Törsleff

Medal table

Source:[3]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Norway (NOR)1102
2 Sweden (SWE)1012
3 France (FRA)1001
4 Denmark (DEN)0101
 Netherlands (NED)0101
6 Estonia (EST)0011
 Finland (FIN)0011
Totals (7 entries)3339

Notes

Quality of racing

This Olympic sailing regatta can be considered as the first Olympic regatta with a high quality of racing since there were:

  • Well selected classes that represented sailing
  • Sufficient competitors per class
  • Good and fair sailing conditions

Amateurism as defined by the National Authority in The Netherlands

An amateur is he who fulfils the minimum requirements as laid down by the International Olympic Committee.
The contestants must be members of a recognized Yacht Club. Officers and Reserve Officers of the Navy or the Mercantile Marine are regarded as amateurs.

— Koninklijke Verbonden Nederlandsche Watersportvereenigingen, The Ninth Olympiad Amsterdam 1928:Official Report[1]

Other information

Sailing

During the sailing regattas at the 1928 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

Sailors at the 1928 Olympic Games

Further reading

  • "Digital Library Collection (Official Olympic Reports 1896 - 2008)". Digital Library Collection at la84.org. la84foundation. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f G. van Rossum, ed. (1928). The Ninth Olympiad Amsterdam 1928:Official Report (PDF). Amsterdam: The Netherlands Olympic Committee.
  2. ^ Sailing at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games. sports-reference.com
  3. ^ a b "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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