| Sailing at the Games of the XVI Olympiad | |
|---|---|
| Venues | Port Phillip Bay |
| Dates | First race: 26 November 1956 (1956-11-26) Last race: 5 December 1956 (1956-12-05) |
| Competitors | 154 from 28 nations |
| Boats | 71 |
← 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.
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).
| Continents | Countries | Classes | Boats | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 29 | 5 | 71 | 154 | 0 |
 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 |
|
The 1956 Olympic classes | |||||||||
| Class | Type | Event | Sailors | Trapeze | Mainsail | Jib/Genoa | Spinnaker | First OG | Olympics so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finn | Dinghy |  |
1 | 0 | + | – | – | 1952 | 2 |
| 12m2 Sharpie | Dinghy | |
2 | 0 | + | + | – | 1956 | 1 |
| Star | Keelboat | |
2 | 0 | + | + | – | 1932 | 5 |
| Dragon | Keelboat | |
3 | 0 | + | + | + | 1948 | 3 |
| 5.5 Metre | Keelboat | |
3 | 0 | + | + | + | 1952 | 2 |
Legend:  = Male,  = Female, = Open
| |||||||||
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
1956: Finn |
 Denmark (DEN)Paul Elvstrøm |
 Belgium (BEL)André Nelis |
 United States (USA)John Marvin |
1956: 12 m2 Sharpie |
 New Zealand (NZL)Peter Mander Jack Cropp |
 Australia (AUS)Rolland Tasker John Scott |
 Great Britain (GBR)Jasper Blackall Terence Smith |
1956: Star |
United States (USA) Herbert Williams Lawrence Low |
 Italy (ITA)Agostino Straulino Nicolò Rode |
 Bahamas (BAH)Durward Knowles Sloane Farrington |
1956: Dragon |
 Sweden (SWE)Folke Bohlin Bengt Palmquist Leif Wikström |
Denmark (DEN) Ole Berntsen Cyril Andresen Christian von Bülow |
Great Britain (GBR) Graham Mann Ronald Backus Jonathan Janson |
1956: 5.5 Metre |
Sweden (SWE) Lars Thörn Hjalmar Karlsson Sture Stork |
Great Britain (GBR) Robert Perry David Bowker John Dillon Neil Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick |
Australia (AUS) Jock Sturrock Douglas Buxton Devereaux Mytton |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Denmark (DEN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | New Zealand (NZL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 |  Bahamas (BAH) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (9 entries) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | |
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.
During the sailing regattas at the 1956 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:
Denmark (DEN), Paul Elvstrøm 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 Games
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