Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics

Sailing
at the Games of the X Olympiad

Xth Olympiad Los Angeles Bronze tablet Yachting
Venues Los Angeles Harbor
Dates First race: 5 August 1932 (1932-08-05)
Last race: 12 August 1932 (1932-08-12)
Sailors 57 from 11 countries
Boats 23
Top ranked countries
United States: 2 1st, gold medalist(s)  1 2nd, silver medalist(s)  0 3rd, bronze medalist(s)  
Sweden: 1 1st, gold medalist(s)  1 2nd, silver medalist(s)  1 3rd, bronze medalist(s)  
France: 1 1st, gold medalist(s)  0 2nd, silver medalist(s)  0 3rd, bronze medalist(s)  

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 possible 1916 sailing was always a part of the Olympic program. The Sailing program of 1932 consisted of a total of four sailing classes (disciplines). For each class races were scheduled from 5–12 August directly off the Los Angeles Harbor on the Pacific Ocean.

Venue

Source: [1]

Los Angeles Harbor
Angels Gate light

Entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor.
On the right the courses of the Snowbird were laid. To the left those of the other three classes.
Location within California
General information
Status Complete
Type Olympic harbor
Location San Pedro Breakwater
Town or city Los Angeles, California
Country  United States
Coordinates 33°42′30.5″N 118°15′06.0″W / 33.708472°N 118.251667°W / 33.708472; -118.251667Coordinates: 33°42′30.5″N 118°15′06.0″W / 33.708472°N 118.251667°W / 33.708472; -118.251667
Elevation Sealevel
Construction started 1910
Opened 1913
Cost $36,000
Owner US Coast Guard
Design and construction
Architect Unknown

Los Angeles Harbor

The Xth Olympiad Yachting events were raced in the Pacific Ocean directly off the Port of Los Angeles, over a course used for the past eight years in local yachting. This course was selected because of its suitability for wind conditions, its freedom from tides and swift currents, and the clearness of its waters, with the added advantage of offering spectators a full view from the Point Fermin headlands. Constant winds were assured as in this locality the trade wind comes up about mid-day, bringing with it a true westerly wind varying from

eight to fifteen knots in velocity.

— Xth Olympiade Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, Official Report of the Games of the X Olympiad[1]

Sea breeze

Due to the predicted Sea breeze in Los Angeles Harbor it was decided to race the Snowbirds in the lighter morning breezes. However, during the mornings there was virtually no wind at all. Therefore some races of the Snowbird were sailed in the afternoon in heavy conditions. Luckily no capsizing took place. It also gave issues for those sailors who were competing not only in the Snowbird but also in one of the other classes.

Course areas

The courses had been well prepared. The marks were laid by the United States Lighthouse Service in the form of large Government buoys, and kelp beds under the lee of Point Fermin were marked by the United States Navy Department as restricted area. Visiting yachts were kept at a safe distance from the racing boats by the US Coast Guard. Tows were arranged by the US Navy to and from Los Angeles Harbor to the race area's. On the Pacific side of the San Pedro Breakwater the Star, 6 Metre and 8 Metre yachts had their races. Those classes had to pass the Angels Gate light in order to reach the course area. The Snowbird stayed inside the breakwater to protect them from the ocean swell.[1]

1932 Olympic Course Areas
Open street map view of the current map of Los Angeles. Projected are the 1932 Olympic courses of the Snowbird (Red Area) and the Star, 6 Metre and 8 Metre (blue area).

Competition

Source: [1]

Overview

ContinentsCountriesClassesBoatsMaleFemale
311423570

Continents

Map of Participating Sailing Continents at the 1932 Summer Olympics
● Green = Participating for the first time
● Blue = Participating
● Light Blue = Have previously participated
● Africa
● Europe
● North America

Countries

Map of Participating Sailing Countries at the 1932 Summer Olympics
● Green = Participating for the first time
● Blue = Participating
● Light Blue = Have previously participated
 Austria (AUT) Canada (CAN) Spain (ESP) France (FRA)
 Germany (GER) Great Britain (GBR) Italy (ITA) Netherlands (NED)
 South Africa (RSA) Sweden (SWE) United States (USA)

Classes (equipment)

The 1932 Olympic classes
 
 |-
 ! Class !! Type !! Venue !! Event !! Sailors !! First OG !! Olympics so far
 |-
|style="text-align:left"|Snowbird 		Dinghy Los AngelesMax. 1
Max. 1 substitutes		19321
Star KeelboatLos Angeles Max. 2
Max. 2 substitutes		19321
6 Metre Keelboat Los Angeles Max. 5
Max. 5 substitutes		19086
8 Metre Keelboat Los Angeles Max. 6
Max. 6 substitutes		19086
Legend: = Mixed gender event
The 1932 Olympic Classes in action
Snowbird 
Star 
6 Metre 
8 Metre 

Race schedule

Source: [1]

 ● Opening ceremony ● Event competitions  ● Event finals  ● Closing ceremony
Date July August
30
Sat		31
Sun		1
Mon		2
Tue		3
Wed		4
Thu		5
Fri		6
Sat		7
Sun		8
Mon		9
Tue		10
Wed		11
Thu		12
Fri		13
Sat		14
Sun
Sailing (actual) ● ●
● ●		 ● ●
● ●		 ●● ●
● ●		 ● ●
● ●		 ● ●
●		 ●● ●
●		 ●●● ● ●
Total gold medals 8 Metre 6 Metre Snowbird Star
Ceremonies ● ●

Medal summary

Source: [2]

Event Gold Silver Bronze

1932: Snowbird

 France (FRA)
Jacques Lebrun		  Netherlands (NED)
Bob Maas		  Spain (ESP)
Santiago Amat

1932: Star

 United States (USA)
Gilbert Gray
Andrew Libano		  Great Britain (GBR)
George Colin Ratsey
Peter Jaffe		  Sweden (SWE)
Gunnar Asther
Daniel Sundén-Cullberg

1932: 6 Metre

 Sweden (SWE)
Tore Holm
Olle Åkerlund
Åke Bergqvist
Martin Hindorff		  United States (USA)
Robert Carlson
Temple Ashbrook
Frederic Conant
Emmett Davis
Donald Douglas
Charles Smith		  Canada (CAN)
Philip Rogers
Gardner Boultbee
Ken Glass
Jerry Wilson

1932: 8 Metre

 United States (USA)
Owen Churchill
John Biby
Alphonse Burnand
Kenneth Carey
William Cooper
Pierpont Davis
Carl Dorsey
John Huettner
Richard Moore
Alan Morgan
Robert Sutton
Thomas Webster		  Canada (CAN)
Ronald Maitland
Ernest Cribb
Peter Gordon
George Gyles
Harry Jones
Hubert Wallace		 No further competitors

Medal table

Source: [2]

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 2 1 0 3
2  Sweden (SWE) 1 0 1 2
3  France (FRA) 1 0 0 1
4  Canada (CAN) 0 1 1 2
5  Great Britain (GBR) 0 1 0 1
 Netherlands (NED) 0 1 0 1
7  Spain (ESP) 0 0 1 1
Total 4 4 3 11

Notes

Star

The 1932 Olympics featured for the first time the Star as Olympic discipline. This turned out to be so far the longest run for a sailing discipline in the Olympics. The Star was an Olympic class from 1932 - 2012 with the exception of 1976.

Snowbird

The USOC proposed to discontinue the 12' Dinghy in favor of a small V-bottom Catboat locally known as the Snowbird as the single handed one design class. This proposal was carried by the IYRU and IOC. The locally available Snowbirds were equipped with new masts, sails and rigging.

Medical assistance

For medical incidents during the Yachting events a United States Navy boat and a US Coast Guard boat were on duty during the races. This boats were equipped with an inhalator and crew furnished by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Seven local physicians provided voluntary service (in alphabetical order):

Other information

Sailors in multiple disciplines

Three sailors attempted to sail in the Snownbird and the Star. This was a challenge since the schedule of the Snowbird was modified due to the light air weather conditions in the mornings of the regattas.[1]

Sailing

During the Sailing regattas at the 1932 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

Sailors at the 1932 Olympic Games
Jacques Lebrun 
Bob Maas (left) 
Santiago Amat 

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 (ed.) Browne, Francis Granger (1933). Official Report of the Games of the X Olympiad (PDF). Los Angeles: Xth Olympiade Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, U.S. A. 1932, LTD. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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