Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics

Lore & Background

The Snowbird was originally scheduled for morning races due to lighter sea breezes, but mornings had virtually no wind, so some races were sailed in the afternoon in heavy conditions. No capsizing occurred, but the schedule changes created challenges for three sailors—George Colin Ratsey (GBR), Bob Maas (NED), and Cecil Goodricke (RSA)—who competed in both the Snowbird and the Star. Medical support was provided by a U.S. Navy boat and a U.S. Coast Guard boat, each equipped with an inhalator and crew from the Los Angeles Fire Department, with seven local physicians volunteering.

Reader's Guide

The 1932 Olympic sailing regatta is notable for introducing the Star class, which became the longest-running Olympic sailing discipline, appearing in every Games from 1932 to 2012 except 1976. The event also featured the Snowbird, a locally available V-bottom catboat proposed by the USOC to replace the 12' Dinghy, with new masts, sails, and rigging. The course layout and support arrangements—including tows by the U.S. Navy, marking of kelp beds by the U.S. Navy Department, and spectator viewing from Point Fermin—reflected careful preparation. Although all events were gender independent, only male sailors competed. The regatta included notable participants such as French boat designer Jacques Lebrun, Dutch long-time Star sailor Bob Maas, American industrialist Donald Wills Douglas, Jr., and inventor of the Swimfin Owen Churchill.

Did You Know?

• The Star class made its Olympic debut in 1932 and remained an Olympic discipline through 2012, except for 1976.
• The Snowbird class was raced inside the breakwater to protect it from ocean swell, while other classes sailed outside.
• Three sailors competed in both the Snowbird and the Star: George Colin Ratsey, Bob Maas, and Cecil Goodricke.
• Seven local physicians provided voluntary medical service during the yachting events.

A Sport With Deep Olympic Roots

Sailing holds a unique place among Olympic disciplines, having been included in the very first modern Games held in Athens in 1896. Yet that inaugural appearance was short-lived—severe weather forced the cancellation of the scheduled regatta, and the event was ultimately abandoned because no Greek boats were available and no foreign entries materialized. From that rocky start, the sport quickly became a fixture of the Olympic calendar. With the singular exception of the 1904 St. Louis Games, sailing has featured in every subsequent edition. The 1900 Paris Olympics marked a particularly rich early chapter, with races spread across two distinct venues: inshore contests on the Seine at Meulan and offshore challenges on the English Channel at Le Havre. Roughly fifty-five boats and nearly one hundred fifty sailors took part in the Meulan events, while about ten vessels competed in the offshore class. This early era also saw Hélène de Pourtalès become the first woman to claim an Olympic gold medal in sailing, a milestone that predated the formal introduction of dedicated women's events by nearly a century.

The Evolution of Classes and Formats

The Olympic sailing program has undergone significant structural changes over the decades. In the earliest Games, boat classes were designated by tonnage, but the nomenclature gradually shifted to measurements in meters, feet, or generic names. A pivotal moment came in 1907, when international meetings were convened to address inconsistencies in yacht performance across different classes. The outcome was the ratification of the first International Rule in Paris that October, and the IOC subsequently mandated that Olympic regattas use International Rule classes—the 6, 7, 8, and 12 Metre categories. This standardization continued into 1912, when the 6, 8, 10, and 12 Metre classes were again selected. By 1924, the program had been streamlined to just three classes, a sharp reduction from the sixteen offered in 1920. The 1928 Games saw the revival of the 12-foot Dinghy alongside the 6 and 8 Metre classes. In terms of competitive format, most Olympic sailing has relied on the fleet race model, though match racing and hybrid formats have also appeared at certain Games. When classes were eventually discontinued, the Vintage Yachting Games, introduced in 2008, provided a venue to preserve their heritage.

Gender, Inclusion, and the Open Water

For most of Olympic sailing's history, the sport was gender-neutral. From the earliest regattas through 1988, men and women competed side by side in open events with no gender restrictions. Women were present even in the 1900 Paris Games, where Hélène de Pourtalès went on to win gold. The one notable exception to this inclusive tradition occurred after World War II: at the 1948 London Olympics, the IOC made the decision to restrict sailing events to male competitors only, a departure from the long-standing open format. It would take four more decades before the sport returned to its inclusive roots. In 1988, the first exclusively women's sailing event was introduced to the Olympic program, marking a formal recognition of female competitors in a dedicated category. The trajectory of inclusivity continued further: in 2016, sailing became one of the first Olympic sports to mandate a compulsory mixed-gender event with the introduction of the Mixed Multihull class. This progression—from open competition, to exclusion, to dedicated women's events, to mandatory mixed-gender racing—reflects a broader evolution in how the Olympic movement has grappled with equality in sport.

Venues, Winds, and the Pursuit of Fair Racing

Selecting the right venue has always been a critical challenge for Olympic sailing organizers. The 1900 Games split events between Meulan on the Seine and Le Havre on the English Channel. By 1912, Sweden's two candidate cities—Gothenburg and Stockholm—competed to host the regattas, with Gothenburg arguing its location offered overseas entrants a passage roughly 525 nautical miles shorter. Stockholm ultimately prevailed because the IOC preferred all Olympic events to be in the same vicinity, and the specific site of Nynäshamn, about sixty kilometers from the capital, was chosen. In 1920, Ostend on the Belgian coast was selected for its predictable tidal currents and favorable North Sea winds, yet the prevailing breeze failed to materialize, forcing most races to be sailed in frustratingly light air. The 1924 regattas at Meulan and Le Havre again presented challenges: light breezes at Meulan and predominantly easterly winds at Le Havre meant windward legs were rarely tested. It was not until the 1928 Games that organizers achieved what is widely regarded as the first truly high-quality Olympic sailing regatta, combining well-selected classes, sufficient competitor numbers, and fair racing conditions.

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