# Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics

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 the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. 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:

### 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.

### 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.

## Competition

Source:

### Overview

| Continents | Countries | Classes | Boats | Male | Female |
| 3 | 11 | 4 | 23 | 57 | 0 |
* However all events were gender independent it turned out to be a male only event.

### 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 (1)  Canada (13)  France (3)  Germany (1)  Great Britain (2)  Italy (1) | Netherlands (2)  South Africa (2)  Spain (1)  Sweden (7)  United States (22) |

### Classes (equipment)

The 1932 Olympic classes :
| Class | Type | Venue | Sailors | First OG | Olympics so far |
| Snowbird | Dinghy | Los Angeles | Max. 1 Max. 1 substitutes | 1932 | 1 |
| Star | Keelboat | Los Angeles | Max. 2 Max. 2 substitutes | 1932 | 1 |
| 6 Metre | Keelboat | Los Angeles | Max. 5 Max. 5 substitutes | 1908 | 6 |
| 8 Metre | Keelboat | Los Angeles | Max. 6 Max. 6 substitutes | 1908 | 6 |
| Legend: = Mixed gender event |||||||

## Race schedule

Source:
| ● | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | ● | Event finals | ● | Closing ceremony |
| Date | July | July | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August | August |
| Date | 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:
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1932: Snowbird details | France (FRA) Jacques Lebrun | Netherlands (NED) Bob Maas | Spain (ESP) Santiago Amat |
| 1932: Star details | 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 details | 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 details | 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:
| 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 |
| 5 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |