Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Sailing at the Games of the V Olympiad
Yachting Bookmark in the Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912
Venues	Nynäshamn
Dates	First race: 19 July 1912 (1912-07-19) Last race: 22 July 1912 (1912-07-22)
Sailors	118 from 6 countries
Boats	26
Top ranked countries
Norway: 2   0   0     Sweden: 1   1   1     France: 1   0   0

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 possible 1916 sailing was always a part of the Olympic program. The Sailing program of 1912 consisted of a total of four sailing classes (disciplines). For each class two races were scheduled from 19 July 1912 to 22 July 1912 off the coast of Nynäshamn at the Baltic Sea.

Venue

Royal Swedish Yacht Club
Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet
Burgee of Royal Swedish Yacht Club
General information
Type	Olympic harbor
Town or city	Nynäshamn
Country	Sweden
Coordinates
Elevation	Sealevel

When Sweden was assigned to host the 1912 Olympic Games two cities wanted to be the venue for the sailing program. Gothenburg and Stockholm. Gothenburg claimed that it was a much shorter passage for the oversees entries (about 525 nautical miles (972 km)) than it was to Stockholm. Stockholm however got the sailing program because of then all Olympic events should be in the same vicinity. As specific location Nynäshamn, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Stockholm was chosen.

The Royal Swedish Yacht Club was requested to organize the sailing event. Discussions took place whether the races would take place at the same time period of the other Olympic events. Finally the decision was taken to held them just after the other Olympic events. Also several other races were organized in conjunction of the Olympic races.

Course area

A inner and an outer course was created of the coast of Nynäshamn:

1912 Olympic Course Area & courses

Course A was used for the 10 and the 12 Metre, Course B for the 6 and 8 Metre.

Competition

Overview

Continents	Countries	Classes	Entries	Male	Female
1	6	4	26	118	0

A maximum of 2 boats per country per class was allowed.

Continents

Map of Participating Sailing Continents at the 1912 Summer Olympics ● Green = Participating for the first time ● Blue = Participating ● Light Blue = Have previously participated

● Europe

Countries

Map of Participating Sailing Countries at the 1912 Summer Olympics ● Green = Participating for the first time ● Blue = Participating ● Light Blue = Have previously participated

Denmark (DEN)  Finland (FIN)  France (FRA)  Norway (NOR) Russia Russia (RUS)  Sweden (SWE)

Classes (equipment)

Although one of the oldest organized sporting activities, sailing in the early first part of the 20th century was not uniformly organized. This had a lot to do with national traditions as well as with the fact that there were no standardized boat types with uniform building instructions and measurements. Also a lot of development was done in the area of boat design and boat building. The shape of a boat, specifically its length, its weight and its sail area, are major parameters that determine the boat's speed. Several initiatives were started to create a formula that made it possible to have boats race each other without having to calculate the final result. But the different countries initially could not agree on an international system. At the Olympics of 1900 it was clear that sailing was not ready for international competition, and something had to be done.

In 1906 international meetings were organize to solve the problem. Finally in Paris, October 1907 the first International Rule was ratified. Delegates from this meeting went on to form the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU), the precursor to the present International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The agreed formula gives a result in meters (Metre). During the meeting in 1907 the IOC made the decision to open the 1908 Summer Olympics for the following Metre classes:

Class	Type	Venue	Event	Sailors	First OG	Olympics so far
6 Metre	Keelboat	Nynäshamn		3	1908	2
8 Metre	Keelboat	Nynäshamn		5	1908	2
10 Metre	Keelboat	Nynäshamn		8	1912	1
12 Metre	Keelboat	Nynäshamn		10	1908	2
Legend: = Mixed gender event
The 1912 Olympic Classes in action 6 Metre  8 Metre  10 Metre  12 Metre

Race schedule

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Opening ceremony

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Event competitions

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Tie breakers

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Closing ceremony

Date	July
	19 Fri	20 Sat	21 Sun	22 Mon	23 Tue	24 Wed	25 Thu	26 Fri	27 Sat
Sailing		● ● ● ●	● ● ● ●	● ● ● ●		International races
Total gold medals
Ceremonies	●								●

Medal summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1912: 6 Metre	France (FRA) Gaston Thubé Amédée Thubé Jacques Thubé	Denmark (DEN) Hans Meulengracht-Madsen Steen Herschend Sven Thomsen	Sweden (SWE) Eric Sandberg Otto Aust Harald Sandberg
1912: 8 Metre	Norway (NOR) Thoralf Glad Thomas Aas Andreas Brecke Torleiv Corneliussen Christian Jebe	Sweden (SWE) Bengt Heyman Emil Henriques Alvar Thiel Herbert Westermark Nils Westermark	Finland (FIN) Bertil Tallberg Arthur Ahnger Emil Lindh Gunnar Tallberg Georg Westling
1912: 10 Metre	Sweden (SWE) Filip Ericsson Carl Hellström Paul Isberg Humbert Lundén Herman Nyberg Harry Rosenswärd Erik Wallerius Harald Wallin	Finland (FIN) Harry Wahl Waldemar Björkstén Jacob Björnström Bror Brenner Allan Franck Erik Lindh Juho Aarne Pekkalainen	Russia (RUS) Esper Beloselsky Ernest Brashe Karl Lindholm Nikolay Pushnitsky Aleksandr Rodionov Iosif Shomaker Philip Strauch
1912: 12 Metre	Norway (NOR) Johan Anker Nils Bertelsen Eilert Falch-Lund Halfdan Hansen Arnfinn Heje Magnus Konow Alfred Larsen Petter Larsen Christian Staib Carl Thaulow	Sweden (SWE) Nils Persson Per Bergman Dick Bergström Kurt Bergström Hugo Clason Folke Johnson Sigurd Kander Ivan Lamby Erik Lindqvist Hugo Sällström	Finland (FIN) Ernst Krogius Ferdinand Alfthan Pekka Hartvall Jarl Hulldén Sigurd Juslén Eino Sandelin Johan Silén

Medal tables

Sailing 1912 (1912 rule)

In order to determine the ranking of the countries a different rule was used in 1912 than now.

Rank	Country	Gold		Silver		Bronze		Total
		Medals	Points	Medals	Points	Medals	Points	Medals	Points
1	Sweden (SWE)	1	3	2	4	1	1	4	8
2	Norway (NOR)	2	6	0	0	0	0	2	6
3	Finland (FIN)	0	0	1	2	2	2	3	4
4	France (FRA)	1	3	0	0	0	0	1	3
5	Denmark (DEN)	0	0	1	2	0	0	1	2
6	Russia Russia (RUS)	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
Total		4		4		4		12

Sailing 1912 (actual rule)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway (NOR)	2	0	0	2
2	Sweden (SWE)	1	2	1	4
3	France (FRA)	1	0	0	1
4	Finland (FIN)	0	1	2	3
5	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
6	Russia Russia (RUS)	0	0	1	1
Total		4	4	4	12

Medal table 1896 – 1912

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain (GBR)	8	2	2	12
2	France (FRA)	6	9	11	26
3	Norway (NOR)	2	0	0	2
	Mixed team (ZZX)	2	0	0	2
5	Sweden (SWE)	1	3	1	5
6	Switzerland (SUI)	1	1	0	2
	Germany (GER)	1	1	0	2
8	Finland (FIN)	0	1	2	3
9	Belgium (BEL)	0	1	0	1
	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
12	United States (USA)	0	0	2	2
13	Russia (RUS)	0	0	1	1
Total	13	21	20	19	60

Ranking of the countries over the years

Graphic that showed the changes in the standing of the countries over the years.

Other information

• This Olympic sailing event was gender independent, but turned out to be a Men only event.
• 6 Metre owner Dan Broström became Swedish Naval Minister from 1914 to 1917.
• The 12 Metre Heatherbell was the first 12-Metre built in the UK under the new First International Rule. She was designed by Thomas Glen-Coats, and built by Alexander Robertson and Sons Ltd (Yachtbuilders), Sandbank Scotland, in 1907.
• The Swedish 8 Metre K.S.S.S. is often referred to as the lottery boat. Obvious this boat was built from lottery funds.

Sailors

During the Sailing regatta's at the 1912 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

•  Norway (NOR), Johan Anker, Multiple Olympic competitor and designer of many Metre yachts as well as the 1948 Olympic Dragon, in the 12 Metre
•  Sweden (SWE), Dan Broström, Swedish Naval Minister from 1914 to 1917

Sailors at the 1912 Olympic Games
Danish team at the opening ceremony  Swedish team at the opening ceremony  Dan Broström: Owner of the 6 Metre Kirsten  In 12 Metre: Halfdan Hansen  In 12 Metre: Johan Anker