Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Long Beach Olympic Harbour
Long Beach Olympic Harbour
	Coordinates: 33°45′35″N118°11′2″W / 33.75972°N 118.18389°W

Sailing
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Sailing ; at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
	Special stamp Germany, Olympic Windsurfing 1984
Venues	Long Beach
Dates	First race: 31 July 1984; Last race: 8 August 1984
Competitors	300 from 60 nations
Boats and Boards	172
	← 1980 1988 →

Last updated July 29, 2025

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 possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. sailing was always a part of the Olympic program. The Sailing program of 1984 consisted of a total of seven sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 31 July 1984 to 8 August 1984 of the coast of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California at the Pacific Ocean. Los Angeles hosted the Olympic sailing competitions for the second time, having previously done so during the 1932 Summer Olympics. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.^[1]

Venue

According to the IOC statutes the contests in all sport disciplines must be held either in, or as close as possible to the city which the IOC has chosen. The sailing conditions off the coast of Los Angeles are very suitable for Olympic sailing. A total of four race areas were created in the Pacific off the coast of Long Beach.

For the media a number of 40 boats was reserved. All boats were fully booked.

Competition

Overview

Continents	Countries	Classes	Boats	Male	Female
5	60	7	152	298	2

Continents

Africa
Asia
Oceania
Europe
Americas

Countries

Antigua and Barbuda (ANT)	Argentina (ARG)	Australia (AUS)
Austria (AUT)	Bahamas (BAH)	Barbados (BAR)
Belgium (BEL)	Bermuda (BER)	Botswana (BOT)
Brazil (BRA)	Canada (CAN)	Cayman Islands (CAY)
Chile (CHI)	China (CHN)	Denmark (DEN)
Dominican Republic (DOM)	Egypt (EGY)	Spain (ESP)
Fiji (FIJ)	Finland (FIN)	France (FRA)
West Germany (FRG)	Great Britain (GBR)	Greece (GRE)
Guatemala (GUA)	Hong Kong (HKG)	India (IND)
Ireland (IRL)	Iceland (ISL)	Israel (ISR)
Virgin Islands (ISV)	Italy (ITA)	British Virgin Islands (IVB)
Japan (JPN)	South Korea (KOR)	Mexico (MEX)
Malta (MLT)	Netherlands (NED)	Norway (NOR)
New Zealand (NZL)	Oman (OMA)	Pakistan (PAK)
Philippines (PHI)	Portugal (POR)	Puerto Rico (PUR)
Senegal (SEN)	Singapore (SIN)	San Marino (SMR)
Sri Lanka (SRI)	Switzerland (SUI)	Sweden (SWE)
Thailand (THA)	Chinese Taipei (TPE)	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)
Turkey (TUR)	Uruguay (URU)	United States (USA)
Venezuela (VEN)	Yugoslavia (YUG)	Zimbabwe (ZIM)

1984 Olympic Boycott

The Los Angeles boycott by the Soviet Union and its satellites influenced some sailing events. In the Soling the silver and bronze medalists of the 1984 worlds were missing (SR33, Boris Budnikov, Gennadi Strakh and Oleg Miron and DDR4, Helmar Nauck, Norbert Helriegel and Sven Diedering).^[2] In the Flying Dutchman the Soviet team of Sergey Borodinov and Vladyslav Akimenko were absent.

Classes (equipment)

Class	Type	Discipline	Gender	Sailors	Trapeze	Mainsail	Jib/Genoa	Spinnaker	First OG	Olympics so far
Windglider	Surfboard	Fleet	Open	1	0	+	–	–	1984	1
Finn	Dinghy	Fleet	Open	1	0	+	–	–	1952	9
470	Dinghy	Fleet	Open	2	1	+	+	+	1976	3
Flying Dutchman	Dinghy	Fleet	Open	2	1	+	+	+	1960	7
Tornado	Catamaran	Fleet	Open	2	1	+	+	–	1976	3
Star	Keelboat	Fleet	Open	2	0	+	+	–	1932	11
Soling	Keelboat	Fleet	Open	3	0	+	+	+	1972	4

1984 Olympic Classes designs

Medal summary

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1984: Windglider details	Netherlands (NED) Stephan van den Berg	United States (USA) Scott Steele	New Zealand (NZL) Bruce Kendall
1984: Finn details	New Zealand (NZL) Russell Coutts	United States (USA) John Bertrand	Canada (CAN) Terry Neilson
1984: 470 details	Spain (ESP) Luis Doreste Roberto Molina	United States (USA) Steve Benjamin Chris Steinfeld	France (FRA) Thierry Peponnet Luc Pillot
1984: Flying Dutchman details	United States (USA) Jonathan McKee William Carl Buchan	Canada (CAN) Terry McLaughlin Evert Bastet	Great Britain (GBR) Jonathan Richards Peter Allam
1984: Tornado details	New Zealand (NZL) Rex Sellers Chris Timms	United States (USA) Randy Smyth Jay Glaser	Australia (AUS) Christopher Cairns Scott Anderson
1984: Star details	United States (USA) William Earl Buchan Steven Erickson	West Germany (FRG) Joachim Griese Michael Marcour	Italy (ITA) Giorgio Gorla Alfio Peraboni
1984: Soling details	United States (USA) Robbie Haines Rod Davis Ed Trevalyan	Brazil (BRA) Torben Grael Daniel Adler Ronaldo Senfft	Canada (CAN) Hans Fogh Stephen Calder John Kerr

Medal table


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	3	4	0	7
2	New Zealand (NZL)	2	0	1	3
3	Netherlands (NED)	1	0	0	1
3	Spain (ESP)	1	0	0	1
5	Canada (CAN)	0	1	2	3
6	Brazil (BRA)	0	1	0	1
6	West Germany (FRG)	0	1	0	1
8	Australia (AUS)	0	0	1	1
	France (FRA)	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain (GBR)	0	0	1	1
	Italy (ITA)	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		7	7	7	21

Remarks

Demonstration events

The Windglider event was held for men and women. The women's event was the first women-only sailing event in Olympic history. Karen Morch of Canada won the gold medal. In the men's event, the gold medal was won by the Australian Bruce Wylie.^[3]

Sailors

During the sailing regattas at the 1984 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

Fiji (FIJ), Tony Philp The youngest competitor:(15 years, 48 days)
Denmark (DEN), Paul Elvstrøm The oldest participant: (56 years, 158 days)
New Zealand (NZL), Russell Coutts

Sailors at the 1984 Olympic Games

On Windglider:
Tony Philp
On Windglider:
Bruce Kendall.

Notes

↑ "Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
↑ ":::::: REGATTA RESULT :::::: - ISA - International Soling Class -".
↑ "Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

References

Richard B. Perelman, ed. (1985). Official Report Los Angeles 1984,Volume 1: Organization and Planning. Los Angeles: 1984 Olympic Organizing Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
Richard B. Perelman, ed. (1985). Official Report Los Angeles 1984,Volume 2: Competition and Summary and Results. Los Angeles: 1984 Olympic Organizing Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
Hugh Drake & Paul Henderson (2009). Canada's Olympic Sailing Legacy, Paris 1924 – Beijing 2008. Toronto: CYA.
"Los Angeles 1984". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.

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[1] "Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 June 2020.

[2] ":::::: REGATTA RESULT :::::: - ISA - International Soling Class -".

[3] "Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

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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