Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

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Sailing
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Sailing pictogram.svg
Venues Port Phillip Bay
DatesFirst race: 26 November 1956 (1956-11-26)
Last race: 5 December 1956 (1956-12-05)
Competitors154 from 28 nations
Boats71
  1952
1960  

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. [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

Port Phillip Bay a natural bay of about 725 square miles (1,900 km2) of water, free of reefs a mere 8 miles (13 km) 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 18 knots (33 km/h), 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 6 nautical miles (11 km) was used. For the 12 square metres and Star the length was set to about 10 nautical miles (19 km). The Dragon and 5.5 Metre were using a course length of 14 nautical miles (26 km).

Competition

Overview

ContinentsCountriesClassesBoatsMaleFemale
5295711540

Continents

Countries

Countries that participated in the Sailing event of the 1956 Olympic Games.
Blue: Water
Gray: Never participated in OG
Dark Gray: Participated in earlier OG
Green: Country participated for the first time
Dark Blue: Country participated also on previous games
Red: Country boycotted the sailing event of the OG Sailingmap OG 1956.png
Countries that participated in the Sailing event of the 1956 Olympic Games.
Blue: Water
Gray: Never participated in OG
Dark Gray: Participated in earlier OG
Green: Country participated for the first time
Dark Blue: Country participated also on previous games
Red: Country boycotted the sailing event of the OG
Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina  (ARG)Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)Flag of Austria.svg  Austria  (AUT)
Flag of the Bahamas (1953-1964).svg  Bahamas  (BAH)Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium  (BEL)Flag of Bermuda (1910-1999).svg  Bermuda  (BER)
Flag of Burma (1948-1974).svg  Burma  (BIR)Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil  (BRA)Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada  (CAN)
Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba  (CUB)Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark  (DEN)Flag of Fiji (1924-1970).svg  Fiji  (FIJ)
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland  (FIN)Flag of France.svg  France  (FRA)Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)
Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany  (EUA)Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece  (GRE)Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland  (IRL)
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA)Flag of Norway.svg  Norway  (NOR)Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand  (NZL)
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal  (POR)Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa  (RSA)Flag of Singapore (1946-1959).svg  Singapore  (SIN)
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden  (SWE)Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand  (THA)Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union  (URS)
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)

Classes (equipment)

ClassTypeEventSailorsTrapezeMainsailJib/GenoaSpinnakerFirst OGOlympics so far
Finn Dinghy Cercle noir 100%25.svg 10+19522
12m2 Sharpie Dinghy Cercle noir 100%25.svg 20++19561
Star Keelboat Cercle noir 100%25.svg 20++19325
Dragon Keelboat Cercle noir 100%25.svg 30+++19483
5.5 Metre Keelboat Cercle noir 100%25.svg 30+++19522
Legend: Mars symbol.svg = Male, Venus symbol.svg = Female, Cercle noir 100%25.svg = Open

Medal summary

EventGoldSilverBronze
Finn insigna.png

1956: Finn
details

Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark  (DEN)
Paul Elvstrøm
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium  (BEL)
André Nelis
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)
John Marvin
12m2 Sharpie insigna.png

1956: 12 m2 Sharpie
details

Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand  (NZL)
Peter Mander
Jack Cropp
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
Rolland Tasker
John Scott
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain  (GBR)
Jasper Blackall
Terence Smith
NO Class insigna.png

1956: Star
details

US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)
Herbert Williams
Lawrence Low
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA)
Agostino Straulino
Nicolò Rode
Flag of the Bahamas (1953-1964).png  Bahamas  (BAH)
Durward Knowles
Sloane Farrington
Dragon insigna.png

1956: Dragon
details

Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden  (SWE)
Folke Bohlin
Bengt Palmquist
Leif Wikström
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark  (DEN)
Ole Berntsen
Cyril Andresen
Christian von Bülow
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain  (GBR)
Graham Mann
Ronald Backus
Jonathan Janson
5.5 Metre insigna blue.svg

1956: 5.5 Metre
details

Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden  (SWE)
Lars Thörn
Hjalmar Karlsson
Sture Stork
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain  (GBR)
Robert Perry
David Bowker
John Dillon
Neil Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
Jock Sturrock
Douglas Buxton
Devereaux Mytton

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden  (SWE)2002
2Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark  (DEN)1102
3US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)1012
4Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand  (NZL)1001
5Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)0123
6Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)0112
7Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium  (BEL)0101
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA)0101
9Flag of the Bahamas (1953-1964).svg  Bahamas  (BAH)0011
Totals (9 entries)55515

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

Sailors

During the sailing regattas at the 1956 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

Notes

  1. "Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 June 2020.

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References