AMSTERDAM 1928
Games of the IX Olympiad

The Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 were held in an atmosphere of peace and harmony, possibly best exemplified by the experience of Australian rower Henry Pearce who, midway through his quarterfinal race, stopped rowing to allow a family of ducks to pass single file in front of his boat. Despite this, Pearce won both the heat and the gold medal!  
The International 12 Foot dinghy class was used for the first Olympic individual sailing event which was held at Durgerdam in the south-west corner of the Zuider Zee using boats supplied by the host nation.

Twenty competitors took part in the regatta which was won by Sven Thorell from Uppsala, Sweden. Thorell was a well known designer and builder of sailing canoes. He was subsequently involved in the adoption of the Finn dinghy as an Olympic class.

Manfred Curry, who later gained fame for his books on yachting and aerodynamics, participated in the event and finished in the middle of the fleet.
 
Sven ThorellSven Thorell
(1888-1974)
12' DINGHY - MEDAL TABLE
GoldSven ThorellSweden
SilverHenrik RobertNorway
BronzeBertil BromanFinland
Source: International Olympics Committee
Durgerdam 1928
 
1928 Olympics - qualifying rounds
contestant country sail no day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 points
time pos. time pos. time pos. time pos.
J.J.Anderson Denmark 1 01:49:06 2 01:19:51 4 01:16:55 4 01:23:17 4 14
R.Ellis Brown S. Africa 2 01:54:55 7 01:19:12 3 DNS 10 DNS 10 30
H.Robert Norway 3 01:48:49 1 01:24:57 5 01:10:50 3 01:19:29 1 10
E.Barral Monaco 4 DNF 10 withdrew 10 - - - - -
E.Beyn Germany 5 01:51:27 3 01:17:33 2 01:04:56 1 01:20:00 3 9
T. Nordio Italy 6 01:52:47 5 01:19:27 4 01:05:00 2 01:24:50 3 14
S.Amat Cansino Spain 7 01:52:51 6 01:26:01 6 DNS 10 01:26:41 7 29
Ch.J.F.Laverne
L.A.M.Pauly
France 8 DNF 10 01:25:30 7 DNF 6 01:28:30 6 29
R.Uhl Hungary 9 01:52:38 4 capsized 10 01:39:56 5 01:25:25 5 24
A.Krzyzanowski
A.Wolff
Poland 10 01:57:41 8 01:29:13 8 DNS 10 01:29:57 7 33
S.G.Thorell Sweden 11 02:08:35 6 01:16:56 1 00:39:47 1 01:19:36 2 10
R.Winter Cz.Slov. 12 02:13:37 10 capsized 10 00:52:51 6 01:37:51 34
H.Fivaz Switzerland 13 02:10:28 8 01:32:36 7 damaged 7 01:26:14 6 28
H.R.Gaydon
G.Fowler
Gr.Britain 14 02:06:01 5 01:25:22 6 00:40:27 2 01:26:13 5 18
L.Huybrechts Belgium 15 02:03:33 2 capsized 10 00:48:56 4 hit no.3 9 28
M.Curry U.S.A 16 02:04:19 3 01:20:15 5 00:46:57 3 01:25:46 4 15
R.Johanny Austria 17 02:10:33 9 DNF 10 DNF 10 DNS 10 39
R.Broman Finland 18 02:01:47 1 01:17:13 2 DNF 10 01:23:54 1 14
K.Classen Latvia 19 02:09:20 7 01:19:38 3 00:49:15 5 01:27:56 8 23
W.de Vries
Lentsch
Holland 20 02:04:34 4 01:14:58 1 DNF 10 01:24:00 2 17
key: group 1   group 2 DNS-did not start DNF-did not finish
 
1928 Olympics - finals
contestant country sail no day 5 day 6
race 1 race 2 race 1 race 2
time pos. time pos. time pos. time pos.
J.J.Anderson Denmark 1 01:19:32 5 01:24:37 8 DNS 10 DNS 10
H.Robert Norway 3 01:19:13 2 01:20:56 1 01:39:27 4 01:32:17 3
E.Beyn Germany 5 01:19:29 4 01:22:27 4 01:39:54 6 01:35:49 7
T.Nordio Italy 6 DNF 10 01:21:58 2 01:37:32 3 01:33:35 5
S.G.Thorell Sweden 11 01:18:55 1 01:21:59 3 01:36:09 1 01:32:16 2
H.R.Gaydon
G.Fowler
Gr.Britain 14 01:19:49 6 01:23:45 5 hit no.3 8 01:32:44 4
M.Curry U.S.A. 16 DNF 10 01:24:31 7 DNS 10 DNS 10
B.Broman Finland 18 01:19:28 3 01:24:53 9 01:36:46 2 01:35:42 6
K.Classen Latvia 19 01:21:11 8 01:25:24 10 01:42:39 7 01:38:03 8
W.de Vries
Lentsch
Holland 20 01:20:03 7 01:24:07 6 01:39:41 5 01:28:50 1
Olympic medal winners
The medal winners: from left to right, Sven Thorell, Henrik Robert and Bertil Broman
1928 Olympics - results
contestant country position  
S.G.Thorell Sweden GOLD
H.Robert Norway SILVER
B.Broman Finland BRONZE
W.de Vries Lentsch Holland 4
E.Beyn Germany 5
T.Nordio Italy 6
J.J.Anderson Denmark 7
H.R.Gaydon / G.Fowler Gr.Britain 8
L.Huybrechts Belgium 9 see below
M.Curry U.S.A. 10
K.Classen Latvia 11 see below
R.Ellis Brown S. Africa 12
R.Uhl Hungary 13
Ch.J.F.Laverne / L.A.M.Pauly France =14
S.Amat Cansino Spain =14
H.Fivaz Switzerland 16
R.Winter Cz.Slov. 17
A.Krzyzanowski / A.Wolff Poland 18
R.Johanny Austria 19
E.Barral Monaco 20
 
NB: Final positions were determined by counting the number of first, second, third, fourth etc. places obtained by each contestant in all of the races. Consequently Belgium finished in ninth place, despite not having qualified for the 'finals', thanks to having finished second in the first race in group 2.