Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Sailing

at the Games of the XV Olympiad

Official pin of the 1952 Summer Olympics

Venues| Harmaja
Dates| First race: 20 July 1952 (1952-07-20)
Last race: 28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)
Competitors| 227 from 29 nations
Boats| 93

<- 1948

1956 ->

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 the 1952 Summer Olympics consisted of a total of five sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 20 to 28 July 1952 of the coast of Harmaja.[1]

The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses. The start was made in the center of a set of 8 numbered marks that were places in a circle. During the starting procedure the sequence of the marks was communicated to the sailors. By picking the mark that was most upwind the start could always be made upwind. This system is, at least in certain German lakes, still in use.

## Venue

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Place

Island Lighthouse Harmaja

Coordinates: 60°6′16.88″N 24°58′26.93″E﻿ / ﻿60.1046889°N 24.9741472°E﻿ / 60.1046889; 24.9741472

Place

Liuskasaari Olympic Harbor

Coordinates: 60°9′6″N 24°56′52″E﻿ / ﻿60.15167°N 24.94778°E﻿ / 60.15167; 24.94778

Two course areas were created in front of Helsinki. One for the Finn just outside the island Liuskasaari. The Finn course was 5.4 nm long and triangular in shape. For the keelboats a course area near the Harmaja lighthouse was used. A 13.1 nm course was set for Star, Dragon, 5.5 & 6 Metre just over one nm South of the lighthouse. Specially the keelboat course was situated in an area of fair sailing conditions. No currents or tidal movements, and no obstacles around the course that could create wind shadows. On the other hand, the Finn course was set near sheltered islands and thus safe for this type of sailing. This course give the spectators also a nice view of the races.

The races were held from 20 to 23 and 26–28 July. In between the sailors could recover or made boat repairs.

Three yacht clubs were involved:

* Nyländska Jaktklubben
* Helsingfors Segelsällskap
* Merenkävijät Yachting Club (also for the prize giving ceremony)

## Competition

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### Overview

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Continents  | Countries  | Classes  | Boats  | Male  | Female

|
|
|
|
|

5 | 29 | 5 | 93 | 227 | 3

### Continents

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* Africa
* Asia
* Oceania
* Europe
* Americas

## Participating nations

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* Argentina (14)
* Australia (6)
* Austria (3)
* Bahamas (7)
* Belgium (4)
* Brazil (6)
* Canada (11)
* Cuba (3)
* Denmark (7)
* Finland (14)
* France (9)
* Germany (14)
* Great Britain (14)
* Greece (3)
* Ireland (1)
* Italy (14)
* Japan (1)
* Monaco (2)
* Netherlands (9)
* Norway (11)
* Portugal (9)
* South Africa (4)
* Soviet Union (14)
* Spain (1)
* Sweden (14)
* Switzerland (11)
* United States (18)
* Uruguay (1)
* Yugoslavia (3)

### Classes (equipment)

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The 1952 Olympic classes

Class | Type | Event | Sailors | Trapeze | Mainsail | Jib/Genoa | Spinnaker | First OG | Olympics so far
Finn | Dinghy |  | 1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1952 | 1
Star | Keelboat |  | 2 | 0 | + | + | – | 1932 | 4
Dragon | Keelboat |  | 3 | 0 | + | + | + | 1948 | 2
5.5 Metre | Keelboat |  | 3 | 0 | + | + | + | 1952 | 1
6 Metre | Keelboat |  | 5 | 0 | + | + | + | 1908 | 9
Legend: = Male,  = Female,  = Open

The 1952 Olympic Classes in action

* Finn

* Star

* 5.5 Metre

* 6 Metre

## Medal summary

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Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

1952: Finn
details

|  Denmark (DEN)
Paul Elvstrøm |  Great Britain (GBR)
Charles Currey |  Sweden (SWE)
Rickard Sarby

1952: Star
details

|  Italy (ITA)
Agostino Straulino
Nicolò Rode |  United States (USA)
John Price
John Reid |  Portugal (POR)
Joaquim Fiúza
Francisco de Andrade

1952: Dragon
details

|  Norway (NOR)
Thor Thorvaldsen
Haakon Barfod
Sigve Lie |  Sweden (SWE)
Per Gedda
Erland Almqvist
Sidney Boldt-Christmas |  Germany (GER)
Theodor Thomsen
Erich Natusch
Georg Nowka

1952: 5.5 Metre
details

|  United States (USA)
Britton Chance
Michael Schoettle
Edgar White
Sumner White |  Norway (NOR)
Peder Lunde
Vibeke Lunde
Børre Falkum-Hansen |  Sweden (SWE)
Folke Wassén
Carl-Erik Ohlson
Magnus Wassén

1952: 6 Metre
details

|  United States (USA)
Herman Whiton
Everard Endt
John Morgan
Eric Ridder
Julian Roosevelt
Emelyn Whiton |  Norway (NOR)
Finn Ferner
Tor Arneberg
Johan Ferner
Erik Heiberg
Carl Mortensen |  Finland (FIN)
Ernst Westerlund
Ragnar Jansson
Jonas Konto
Rolf Turkka
Paul Sjöberg

## Medal table

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Rank| Nation| Gold| Silver| Bronze| Total

|
|
|
|
|

1|  United States (USA)| 2| 1| 0| 3
2|  Norway (NOR)| 1| 2| 0| 3
3|  Denmark (DEN)| 1| 0| 0| 1
Italy (ITA)| 1| 0| 0| 1
5|  Sweden (SWE)| 0| 1| 2| 3
6|  Great Britain (GBR)| 0| 1| 0| 1
7|  Finland (FIN)| 0| 0| 1| 1
Germany (GER)| 0| 0| 1| 1
Portugal (POR)| 0| 0| 1| 1
Totals (9 entries)| 5| 5| 5| 15

## Remarks

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Finn dinghies under construction by Borresens Baadebygger, Denmark

* Sailors from abroad were housed in the homes of Finnish yachtsmen
* Two motor launches accommodated pressmen on the yacht race courses
* Only the Yachting officials wore a different official uniform, blue coat and grey trousers
* The Danish shipyard of Borresens Baadebygger was the builder of all Finn dinghies, since then till the beginning of the 21st century closely committed to Olympic Sailing.

### Sailors

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During the sailing regattas at the 1952 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

* Denmark (DEN), Paul Elvstrøm in the Finn won his second consecutive Gold medal
* Sweden (SWE), Finn sailor Rickard Sarby, also designer of the Finn, injured his right hand during however he took the third place
* Australia (AUS), Jock Sturrock in the Dragon. Later skipper of "Gretel" and "Dame Pattie", the first two Australian challenges for the America's Cup.

At the 1952 Olympic Games

* Crownprince Olav of Norway, member of the Jury in Helsinki, with Norwegian Dragon sailor Thor Thorvaldsen (right).

## Notes

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1. ^ "Sailing at the 1952 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 May 2020.

## References

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* Organizing Committee of the XV Olympiad Helsinki 1952 (1955). The Officiel Report of the Organizing Committee for the games of the XV Olympiad Helsinki 1952 (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2010.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
* Hugh Drake & Paul Henderson (2009). Canada's Olympic Sailing Legacy, Paris 1924 – Beijing 2008. Toronto: CYA. ISBN 978-0-9595468-0-4.
* "Helsinki 1952". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.

* v
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* e

Events at the 1952 Summer Olympics (Helsinki)

* Athletics
* Basketball
* Boxing
* Canoeing
* Cycling
* Diving
* Equestrian
* Fencing
* Field hockey
* Football
* Gymnastics
* Handball (demonstration)
* Modern pentathlon
* Pesäpallo (demonstration)
* Rowing
* Sailing
* Shooting
* Swimming
* Water polo
* Weightlifting
* Wrestling

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Sailing at the Summer Olympics

* 1896
* 1900
* 1904
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

* List of medalists
* by discipline
* by class
* List of venues
* Scoring systems
* Classes

* v
* t
* e

Olympic venues in sailing

20th century|

* 1900: Meulan, Le Havre
* 1908: Ryde, Hunters Quay
* 1912: Nynäshamn
* 1920: Ostend, Buiten Y
* 1924: Le Havre, Meulan
* 1928: Buiten Y, Zuiderzee
* 1932: Los Angeles Harbor
* 1936: Kiel Bay
* 1948: Torbay
* 1952: Harmaja, Liuskasaari
* 1956: Port Phillip
* 1960: Gulf of Naples
* 1964: Enoshima
* 1968: Club de Yates de Acapulco
* 1972: Bay of Kiel
* 1976: Portsmouth Olympic Harbour
* 1980: Olympic Regatta in Tallinn
* 1984: Long Beach Shoreline Marina
* 1988: Busan Yachting Center
* 1992: Olympic Harbour
* 1996: Wassaw Sound

21st century|

* 2000: Rushcutters Bay
* 2004: Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre
* 2008: Qingdao International Sailing Centre
* 2012: Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy
* 2016: Marina da Glória
* 2020: Enoshima
* 2024: Old Port of Marseille
* 2028: Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, Port of Los Angeles
* 2032: Alexandra Headland, Queensland, Manly, Queensland

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