Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the Games of the IX Olympiad
Sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics on a Dutch stamp
Venues	Six Harbor[1] ● Buiten Y ● Zuiderzee
Dates	First race: 2 August 1928 (1928-08-02) Last race: 9 August 1928 (1928-08-09)
Competitors	124 Male and 2 Female from 23 nations
Boats	41
← 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.

Source:^[1]

Six Harbor
Sixhaven
Emblem of the KVNWV
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Olympic harbor
Address	Sixhavenweg 15
Town or city	1021 HG Amsterdam
Country	Netherlands
Coordinates	52°22′54″N 4°54′23″E / 52.38167°N 4.90639°E / 52.38167; 4.90639
Elevation	Sealevel
Completed	1920
Client	Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeil- & Roeivereeniging
Owner	Watersportvereniging Dok- en Scheepsbouw

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.

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.

Source:^[1]

● Africa ● Europe ● North America ● South America

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)

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 12' Dinghy 6 Metre 8 Metre

Source:^[1]

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

Source:^[3]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway (NOR)	1	1	0	2
2	Sweden (SWE)	1	0	1	2
3	France (FRA)	1	0	0	1
4	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
6	Estonia (EST)	0	0	1	1
	Finland (FIN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (7 entries)		3	3	3	9

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

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]

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

•  Norway (NOR), Crown Prince of Norway, 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 8 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

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