Ferdinand "Fred" Helmuth Imhoff (born 15 February 1942 in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
) is a sailor from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, who represented his country at the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
, Germany as helmsman in the
Flying Dutchman
The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...
''Brave Henderik IV'' (H-230). With crew
Simon Korver they took the 10th place. Imhoff was the substitute for the
Dragon during the
1968 Olympics.
During the 1970s Imhoff led the Dutch Yellow Joker Sailing Team, a group of sailors who sailed many Dutch National Classes, like the
Solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
as well as Flying Dutchman and
Yngling
The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in '' Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...
. Later Imhoff specialized in keelboat classes in general and belonged to the world top in the
Dragon between 1986 and 2006. Imhoff nowadays sails the
2.4 Metre.
Controversy
During the selection for the
Dutch Olympic Sailing Team
The Dutch were in most of the Olympic sailing competitions represented by the Dutch Olympic Sailing Team. The selection of the members of the team was done by the Koninklijk Nederlands Watersport Verbond (KNWV) or its predecessor. With the except ...
for the
1976 Olympics a controversy emerged between twelve sailors and the
selection committee chaired by
André du Pon. This discussion focussed on the role of
Frieda Vollebergt who did the communication for the sailing team. As mother of
Erik Vollebregt,
Sjoerd Vollebregt
Sjoerd Steven Vollebregt (born 10 December 1954, in Leiden) is a sailor from the Netherlands who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Kingston, Ontario. With twin brother Erik Vollebregt as helmsman, Vollebregt finished ...
and
Peter Vollebregt – All three candidates for the 1976 Olympic sailing event – she was accused for having a
bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...
towards het children in the communication. In the end Fred Imhoff and
Heike Blok lost the
lawsuit and were removed from the 1976 selection.
Professional life
Imhoff owned a specialized enterprise in sailing equipment, and was one of the first overseas dealers for
Harken
Harken, Inc. is an international manufacturer specializing in performance sailing hardware, headquartered in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The company was founded in a 60-foot trailer in 1967 by brothers Peter Harken and Olaf Harken. Orig ...
fittings. Also Imhoff developed the brand 'Imhoff' for sailing clothes. Furthermore, he developed during the 1970s and 1980s: Spars (Imhoff) and Sails (Gaastra Imhoff Goldlabel Sails).
Books
Fred Imhoff published (some of them in cooperation with
Lex Pranger) several books on sailing that were translated in many languages. Some of the Dutch titles are:
* Dit is snel zeilen (1975)
* Dit is getrained zeilen (1978)
* Winnen is geen geluk (2014)
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imhoff, Fred
Living people
1942 births
Sportspeople from The Hague
Dutch male sailors (sport)
2.4 Metre class sailors
Solo class sailors
Yngling class sailors
Star class sailors
Dragon class sailors
Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman
Olympic sailors for the Netherlands