12 metres, Open

The event was held in London, nor even in England, but took place in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the very few times in Olympic history that an event was not only held outside of the host city, but was not even contested in the host country. In 1920 yachting, this occurred again. The 1920 Olympic games took place in Antwerp, Belgium, although the yachting competition was primarily held in Ostend, Belgium, during July. In the 12-foot dinghy class, the first two races were split between two Dutch boats, the Boreas and the Beatrijs III. It was decided to hold the deciding race in their home country, in September, at the Buiten-Y, a water near Amsterdam.

As neither of the two 1908 12 metre class entries were based in the South of England it was agreed that the owners should not be put to the trouble and expense of transporting their boats and crews from Glasgow and Liverpool to the Isle of Wight where the other Olympic races were held. The majority of the crew of Mouchette were members of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club (Liverpool) and Hera was crewed entirely by members of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club (Glasgow).

After Hera won the first two races, it was not necessary to hold a third race, and race three, scheduled for 13 August, was cancelled.