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.
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).
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
This Olympic sailing event was gender independent, but turned out to be a Men-only event. This was one of the triggers to create gender specific events. This however had to wait until 1988.
Classes were hosted by several local yacht clubs:
Sandringham Yacht Club: Finn
Elwood Sailing Club: 12m2 Sharpie
Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club: Star
Royal Brighton Yacht Club: Dragon
Royal Yacht Club of Victoria: 5.5 Metre
The Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club was also the Sailing Headquarters
Thirty-five Finn boats were built by a Melbourne firm of yacht builders. Other than in Helsinki, they were cold moulded shells of Queensland maple veneer. The mast and boom were of sitka spruce.
The weather, throughout the series, was fine, with moderate sea breezes and pleasant sunshine. Except on 29 November th when the races in the Finn were postponed, several 12m2 Meter Sharpies capsized, only 5 out of 13 Sharpies could finish and the 5.5 Metre's of the Soviet Union and South Africa were dismasted.
The courses were set by the Royal Australian Navy. The vessels: H.M.A.S. Warramunga, H.M.A.S. Swan and H.M.A.S. Sprightly acted as starting vessels.
Sailors
During the sailing regattas at the 1956 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:
New Zealand(NZL), Peter Mander won the first New Zealand Olympic gold medal in the 12m2 Sharpie, became later president of the New Zealand Yachting Federation.
Australia(AUS), Jock Sturrock in the 5.5 Metres, won Australia's first medal in Olympic sailing. Later skipper of "Gretel" and "Dame Pattie", the first two Australian challengers for the America's Cup.
Olympics Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics at World Sailing
^"Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
References
The Organizing Committee of the XVI Olympiad, Melbourne, 1956 (1958). The Official Report of the Organizing Committee for the Games XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956(PDF).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Hugh Drake & Paul Henderson (2009). Canada's Olympic Sailing Legacy, Paris 1924 – Beijing 2008. Toronto: CYA.
"Melbourne - Stockholm 1956". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
August 23, 2023
sailing, 1956, summer, olympics, sailing, yachting, olympic, sport, starting, from, games, olympiad, 1896, olympics, greece, with, exception, 1904, canceled, 1916, summer, olympics, sailing, always, been, included, olympic, schedule, sailing, program, 1956, co. 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 Sailingat the Games of the XVI OlympiadVenuesPort Phillip BayDatesFirst race 26 November 1956 1956 11 26 Last race 5 December 1956 1956 12 05 Competitors154 from 28 nationsBoats71 19521960 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 Contents 1 Venue 2 Competition 2 1 Overview 2 2 Continents 2 3 Countries 2 4 Classes equipment 3 Medal summary 4 Medal table 5 Remarks 5 1 Olympic boycott 5 2 Sailing 5 3 Sailors 6 Notes 7 ReferencesVenue EditPort 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 EditOverview Edit Continents Countries Classes Boats Male Female5 29 5 71 154 0Continents Edit Africa Asia Australian continent Europe AmericasCountries Edit 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 Argentina ARG Australia AUS Austria AUT Bahamas BAH Belgium BEL Bermuda BER Burma BIR Brazil BRA Canada CAN Cuba CUB Denmark DEN Fiji FIJ Finland FIN France FRA Great Britain GBR United Team of Germany EUA Greece GRE Ireland IRL Italy ITA Norway NOR New Zealand NZL Portugal POR South Africa RSA Singapore SIN Sweden SWE Thailand THA Soviet Union URS United States USA Classes equipment Edit The 1956 Olympic classes Class Type Event Sailors Trapeze Mainsail Jib Genoa Spinnaker First OG Olympics so farFinn Dinghy 1 0 1952 212m2 Sharpie Dinghy 2 0 1956 1Star Keelboat 2 0 1932 5Dragon Keelboat 3 0 1948 35 5 Metre Keelboat 3 0 1952 2Legend Male Female OpenMedal summary EditEvent Gold Silver Bronze 1956 Finn details Denmark DEN Paul Elvstrom Belgium BEL Andre Nelis United States USA John Marvin 1956 12m Sharpie details New Zealand NZL Peter ManderJack Cropp Australia AUS Rolland TaskerJohn Scott Great Britain GBR Jasper BlackallTerence Smith 1956 Star details United States USA Herbert WilliamsLawrence Low Italy ITA Agostino StraulinoNicolo Rode Bahamas BAH Durward KnowlesSloane Farrington 1956 Dragon details Sweden SWE Folke BohlinBengt PalmquistLeif Wikstrom Denmark DEN Ole BerntsenCyril AndresenChristian von Bulow Great Britain GBR Graham MannRonald BackusJonathan Janson 1956 5 5 Metre details Sweden SWE Lars ThornHjalmar KarlssonSture Stork Great Britain GBR Robert PerryDavid BowkerJohn DillonNeil Kennedy Cochran Patrick Australia AUS Jock SturrockDouglas BuxtonDevereaux MyttonMedal table EditRankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal1 Sweden SWE 20022 Denmark DEN 11023 United States USA 10124 New Zealand NZL 10015 Great Britain GBR 01236 Australia AUS 01127 Belgium BEL 0101 Italy ITA 01019 Bahamas BAH 0011Totals 9 entries 55515Remarks EditOlympic boycott Edit 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 Edit This Olympic sailing event was gender independent but turned out to be a Men only event This was one of the triggers to create gender specific events This however had to wait until 1988 Classes were hosted by several local yacht clubs Sandringham Yacht Club Finn Elwood Sailing Club 12m2 Sharpie Royal St Kilda Yacht Club Star Royal Brighton Yacht Club Dragon Royal Yacht Club of Victoria 5 5 Metre The Royal St Kilda Yacht Club was also the Sailing Headquarters Thirty five Finn boats were built by a Melbourne firm of yacht builders Other than in Helsinki they were cold moulded shells of Queensland maple veneer The mast and boom were of sitka spruce The weather throughout the series was fine with moderate sea breezes and pleasant sunshine Except on 29 November th when the races in the Finn were postponed several 12m2 Meter Sharpies capsized only 5 out of 13 Sharpies could finish and the 5 5 Metre s of the Soviet Union and South Africa were dismasted The courses were set by the Royal Australian Navy The vessels H M A S Warramunga H M A S Swan and H M A S Sprightly acted as starting vessels Sailors Edit During the sailing regattas at the 1956 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes Denmark DEN Paul Elvstrom in the Finn won his third consecutive Gold medal Canada CAN Bruce Kirby in the Finn yacht designer of the Olympic Laser New Zealand NZL Peter Mander won the first New Zealand Olympic gold medal in the 12m2 Sharpie became later president of the New Zealand Yachting Federation Great Britain GBR Graham Hargrave Mann helmed the dragon Bluebottle the wedding gift to Her Majesty the Queen Australia AUS Jock Sturrock in the 5 5 Metres won Australia s first medal in Olympic sailing Later skipper of Gretel and Dame Pattie the first two Australian challengers for the America s Cup Thailand THA Prince of Thailand Prinz Bhanubanda Bira in the StarAt the 1956 Olympic GamesNotes EditWorld Sailing 1956 Olympic Microsite Olympics Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics at World Sailing Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympedia Retrieved 2 June 2020 References EditThe Organizing Committee of the XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956 1958 The Official Report of the Organizing Committee for the Games XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956 PDF a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Hugh Drake amp Paul Henderson 2009 Canada s Olympic Sailing Legacy Paris 1924 Beijing 2008 Toronto CYA Melbourne Stockholm 1956 Olympics com International Olympic Committee Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics amp oldid 1159495171, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,