Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in 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 1956 consisted of a total of five sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 26 November to 5 December 1956 at Port Phillip Bay.
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
Port Phillip Bay a natural bay of about of water, free of reefs a mere from the Main Stadium of the Olympics. One can enter the bay from the Southern Ocean a narrow gap of about 3 km. Therefore, the course areas are almost free of tidal streams. However, there is a 0.5 m tidal rise. The winds are ideal for sailing. The predominant southerlies generates light airs in the morning. It freshens in the afternoon to up to , and then easing and backing south-east in the evening.
Three circular courses were planned for the northern end of Port Phillip Bay, each using the 1936 system with 8 fixed buoy's with the start in the middle of the circle. At Sandringham for the Finn a course length of approximately was used. For the 12 square metres and Star the length was set to about . The Dragon and 5.5 Metre were using a course length of .
Competition
Overview ContinentsCountriesClassesBoatsMaleFemale 5 29 5 71 154 0
Continents Africa Asia Australian continent Europe Americas
Countries
Participating nations
Classes (equipment) Class Type Event Sailors Trapeze Mainsail Jib/Genoa Spinnaker First OG Olympics so far Finn Dinghy 1 0 + – – 1952 2 12m2 Sharpie Dinghy 2 0 + + – 1956 1 Star Keelboat 2 0 + + – 1932 5 Dragon Keelboat 3 0 + + + 1948 3 5.5 Metre Keelboat 3 0 + + + 1952 2 Legend: = Male, = Female, = Open
Medal summary
1956: Finn Denmark (DEN)Paul Elvstrøm Belgium (BEL)André Nelis United States (USA)John Marvin
1956: 12 m2 Sharpie New Zealand (NZL)Peter ManderJack Cropp Australia (AUS)Rolland TaskerJohn Scott Great Britain (GBR)Jasper BlackallTerence Smith
1956: Star United States (USA)Herbert WilliamsLawrence Low Italy (ITA)Agostino StraulinoNicolò Rode Bahamas (BAH)Durward KnowlesSloane Farrington
1956: Dragon Sweden (SWE)Folke BohlinBengt PalmquistLeif Wikström Denmark (DEN)Ole BerntsenCyril AndresenChristian von Bülow Great Britain (GBR)Graham MannRonald BackusJonathan Janson
1956: 5.5 Metre Sweden (SWE)Lars ThörnHjalmar KarlssonSture Stork Great Britain (GBR)Robert PerryDavid BowkerJohn DillonNeil Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick Australia (AUS)Jock SturrockDouglas BuxtonDevereaux Mytton
Medal table
Remarks
Olympic boycott 1956 was the first time in history that several countries decided to boycott the Olympics. The boycott that influenced the sailing the most was probably that of The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. They withdrew to protest against the Soviet Union invasion of Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Soviet presence at the Games. At that time The Netherlands dominated at the International competition in the 12m2 Sharpie.
Sailing This Olympic sailing event was gender independent, but turned out to be a Men-only event. This was one of the triggers to create gender specific events. This however had to wait until 1988. Classes were hosted by several local yacht clubs: Sandringham Yacht Club: Finn Elwood Sailing Club: 12m2 Sharpie Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club: Star Royal Brighton Yacht Club: Dragon Royal Yacht Club of Victoria: 5.5 Metre The Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club was also the Sailing Headquarters Thirty-five Finn boats were built by a Melbourne firm of yacht builders. Other than in Helsinki, they were cold moulded shells of Queensland maple veneer. The mast and boom were of sitka spruce. The weather, throughout the series, was fine, with moderate sea breezes and pleasant sunshine. Except on 29 November th when the races in the Finn were postponed, several 12m2 Meter Sharpies capsized, only 5 out of 13 Sharpies could finish and the 5.5 Metre's of the Soviet Union and South Africa were dismasted. The courses were set by the Royal Australian Navy. The vessels: H.M.A.S. Warramunga, H.M.A.S. Swan and H.M.A.S. Sprightly acted as starting vessels.
Sailors During the sailing regattas at the 1956 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes: , Paul Elvstrøm in the Finn won his third consecutive Gold medal , Bruce Kirby in the Finn, yacht designer of the Olympic Laser. , Peter Mander won the first New Zealand Olympic gold medal in the 12m2 Sharpie, became later president of the New Zealand Yachting Federation. , Graham Hargrave Mann helmed the dragon Bluebottle the wedding gift to Her Majesty the Queen. , Jock Sturrock in the 5.5 Metres, won Australia's first medal in Olympic sailing. Later skipper of "Gretel" and "Dame Pattie", the first two Australian challengers for the America's Cup. , Prince of Thailand, Prinz Bhanubanda Bira in the Star
Notes World Sailing 1956 Olympic Microsite
References