Sailing/Yachting is an

Olympic sport Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing b ...

starting from the Games of the 1st

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...

( 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

and the canceled

1916 Summer Olympics The 1916 Summer Olympics (german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1916), officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be held in Berlin, German Empire, but were eventually cancelled for the first time in its 20-year history due to ...

, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1928 consisted of a total of three sailing classes.Sailing at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games
sports-reference.com For each class races were scheduled from 2–9 August 1928 on the

Buiten Y The IJ (; sometimes shown on old maps as ''Y'' or ''Ye'') is a body of water, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. Etymology The name IJ is derived from the West Frisian word ...

near

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and on the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.

Venue

Source:

Six Harbor

As venue for the

Olympics the

near Amsterdam was chosen. The organizing committee of the sailing event was the Koninklijk Verbond Nederlandsche Watersport Vereniging. The Olympic harbor Six Harbor was on the North shore of the Y just opposite of the

Amsterdam Centraal railway station Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, m ...

. The boats were moored in the so-called 'kinderkamer' of the harbor. The Six Harbor was in that time the location of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeil- & Roeivereeniging. This resulted that all competing yachts had to go through the

Oranje Locks The Oranje Locks are a group of locks and other water management facilities just east of Amsterdam. Characteristics The ''Oranje Locks'' are located in the IJ Dijk, a dam which cuts through the IJ just east of Amsterdam. This dam runs from th ...

to enter the Buiten Y and Zuiderzee. Some of the former buildings of the Six Harbor were demolished during the construction of the Amsterdam Metro North–south line.

Course areas

A total of two race areas were used for sailing at the Amsterdam Olympics: * The courses of the 12' Dinghy were just outside the locks on the

buiten Y The IJ (; sometimes shown on old maps as ''Y'' or ''Ye'') is a body of water, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. Etymology The name IJ is derived from the West Frisian word ...

in front of

Durgerdam Durgerdam is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam, and lies about 7 km east of the city centre, along the dyke of the IJmeer. Durgerdam is a part of the ''deelgemeente'' (sub-munici ...

. * For the 6 and 8 Metre the used courses were about 5 nm out of the locks, East of the Isle of

Marken Marken (; Marken's dialect: ''Mereke'') is a village in the municipality of Waterland in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a population of 1,745 as of 2021, and occupies a peninsula in the Markermeer. It was, until 1957, an isla ...

on the

. At that time the Zuiderzee had an open connection with the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The sea water was salt or at best

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

. Waves could be steep and short due to the shallow waters. In 1932 a dam was built between the North Sea and the Zuiderzee and the Zuiderzee was renamed

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

. As result of this the lake now contains

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

. Inside the lake new land was reclaimed. At this moment the center of the 1928 6 and 8 Metre course is located in the city of

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

. Also the city of Amsterdam reclaimed land from the sea and moved towards the lake. When the sailors from the 1928 Summer Olympics could return to their venue they would hardly recognize it.

Competition

Source:

Overview

Continents

Countries

Classes (equipment)

Race schedule

Source:

Medal summary

Source:

Medal table

Source:

Notes

Quality of racing

This Olympic sailing regatta can be considered as the first Olympic regatta with a high quality of racing since there were: * Well selected classes that represented sailing * Sufficient competitors per class * Good and fair sailing conditions

Amateurism as defined by the National Authority in The Netherlands

Other information

Sailing

During the sailing regattas at the 1928 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes: * , Crown Prince of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Crown Prince Olav Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...

in the 6 Metre * , First full-time yachtwoman, Virginie Hériot in the 8 Metre * , United States yachting legend and inventor of the

Swimfin Swimfins, swim fins, diving fins, or flippers are finlike accessories worn on the feet, legs or hands and made from rubber, plastic, carbon fiber or combinations of these materials, to aid movement through the water in water sports activities su ...

, Owen Churchill in the 8 Metre * , Owner of

Wilh. Wilhelmsen Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) is a Norwegian multinational maritime industry, maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the la ...

, Norway, Wilhelm Wilhelmsen Jr. in the 8 Metre * , Yacht designer and boat builder,

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 ...

, Willem de Vries Lentsch in the 12' Dinghy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sailing At The 1928 Summer Olympics 1928 Summer Olympics events

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

1928 in sailing Sailing competitions in the Netherlands

Venue

Six Harbor

Course areas

Competition

Overview

Continents

Countries

Classes (equipment)

Race schedule

Medal summary

Medal table

Notes

Quality of racing

Amateurism as defined by the National Authority in The Netherlands

Other information

Sailing

Further reading

References