Sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics

During the early years of the Olympic movement, there were no strict rules for the assignment of venues. For the Olympic sailing in 1900, the organizers decided to combine the Olympic sailing for the smaller yachts with the regattas of the Exposition Universelle on the river Seine near Meulan. For the larger yachts, an Olympic regatta was held at Le Havre.

Cercle de la Voile de Paris Bassin Olympique de Meulan Les Mureaux
Burgee of the Cercle de la Voile de Paris
Interactive map of the Cercle de la Voile de Paris Bassin Olympique de Meulan Les Mureaux area
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Club House
Location	30, quai Albert Glandaz, 78130 Les Mureaux, France
Coordinates	49°00′1″N 1°54′54″E / 49.00028°N 1.91500°E / 49.00028; 1.91500
Elevation	Sealevel
Owner	Cercle de la Voile de Paris

During the Olympic regattas of the Exposition Universelle of 1900, there were more than 100 yachts racing from Paris, Rouen, Cannes, Nantes and Arcachon and yachts from England, Germany, the United States and Holland. The Bassin Olympique was the river Seine near the Cercle de la Voile de Paris that served as the Olympic harbor.

The race conditions at Meulan during the Olympic regatta were not ideal. A light breeze could hardly make the sailing interesting. Since the river Seine mainly runs from east to west, the light north-easterly breeze was partly blocked by buildings or trees on the river bank, thus heavily influencing the regatta.

During the second part of the Olympic regatta, the Atlantic Ocean was used for the races of the 10 – 20 ton and the 20⁺ ton yachts. The conditions during the regatta were so good that the 10 – 20 Ton class was able to sail the complete 22 nautical mile triangular course. The premises of the Société des Régates du Havre were used as Olympic harbor.

La Société des Régates du Havre Le Havre
Interactive map of the La Société des Régates du Havre Le Havre area
General information
Status	Destroyed
Type	Club House
Location	France
Coordinates	49°29′30″N 0°5′45″E / 49.49167°N 0.09583°E / 49.49167; 0.09583
Elevation	Sealevel
Owner	La Société des Régates du Havre

Since there were two venues, there were two course areas. One was on the river Seine near Meulan. Here, the organization could set courses of 8, 15 and 19 kilometres (4.3, 8.1 and 10.3 nmi). The other course area was on the North Atlantic off the coats of Le Havre. Here, courses could be set up to 40 nautical miles (74 km).

1900 Olympic Course Areas

Course area Meulan

Course area Le Havre

6 nations sent sailors. Several teams had crews from multiple countries, and in one case, they won a gold medal. This team of the United Kingdom and France, is attributed as a mixed team.

France (76)  Germany (4)  Great Britain (73)  Netherlands (3)  Switzerland (3)  United States (3)  Mixed team

Sailing during the turn of the century was not as well defined as it became later during the 20th century. Racing rules were mostly defined by local yacht clubs, or in some cases, by a National Yachting Federation. Also, boats were not standardized to what are now called One Design or One Builder classes. Therefore, many handicap systems or systems that put yachts into different categories were used. In 1892, Auguste Godinet developed a formula that placed different boats in different Ton categories. This rule was adopted by the Union des yachts français, and later by several other National Yachting Federations, such as the Société Nautique de Genève. For the sailing at the 1900 Olympics, this rule was chosen to determine the tonnage of a yacht.

For the smallest class, 0 – ½ Ton, among others, Larks were used. These Larks, copies of the Davis Lark and of the Sorceress designed by Linton Hope, became famous One Designs in France (Monotype de Chatou at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Olympics were open for the following classes:

Class	Type	Venue	Event	Sailors	First OG	Olympics so far
Open Class	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
0 – ½ Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
0 – ½ Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	2
½ – 1 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
½ – 1 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	2
1 – 2 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
1 – 2 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	2
2 – 3 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
2 – 3 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	2
3 – 10 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	1
3 – 10 Ton	Undefined	Meulan		Unknown	1900	2
10 – 20 Ton	Undefined	Le Havre		Unknown	1900	1
20+ Ton	Undefined	Le Havre		Unknown	1900	1
Legend: = Mixed gender event
Inshore classes (Meulan) Lark 0 – 0.5 Ton Sidi-Fekkar 0.5 - 1 Ton Lerina 1 – 2 Ton Phoebus 2 – 3 Ton Turquoise 3 – 10 Ton Offshore classes (Le Havre) Laurea 10 – 20 Ton Colombine 20+ Ton

All races are now considered official Olympic events, as the IOC website affirms 95 total medal events.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	France	7	9	10	26
2	Great Britain	4	1	1	6
3	Germany	1	1	0	2
	Switzerland	1	1	0	2
5	Netherlands	0	1	0	1
6	United States	0	0	2	2
Totals (6 entries)		13	13	13	39

There was some discussion ^[where?] about the validity of the Olympic status of Sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Ian Buchanan, first president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, stated, "Given the possible awarding of cash prizes, the "Olympic status" of this sport in 1900 must be in question. It is not exactly certain if the prizes were cash or "objets d’art" of the values listed, thus, for now, I have retained yachting as an Olympic sport in 1900."^[11]