| | Event type
8 metres, Open
| Date | 2 – 9 August 1928 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Zuiderzee | |
| Participants | 44 from 8 countries | |
| Format | Seven races, with the first four preliminary. After four races, yachts are eliminated that have not placed in the top three in any of the four preliminary races. Final placements determined by a majority ordinal system. | |
There had been other women who had won Olympic gold medals in sailing, but none had ever done so as captain before Virginie Hériot achieved this feat in 1928. The Frenchwoman and her all-male crew clinched their victory by winning the seventh and final race of the series and became the only boat to record three race victories. Anything other than victory in the sixth and seventh Olympic races would most probably have seen them drop down to the bronze medal position, but the French team thrived in the stronger wind conditions and could not be matched when the wind blew on the Zuiderzee. Sweden, which finished third, included three members of the Sandblom family, as John Sandblom was joined by his sons.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Majority Ordinals | Race #1 | Race #2 | Race #3 | Race #4 | Race #5 | Race #6 | Race #7 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L'Aile VI |  FRA | 3 1sts | 4-12:16 (7) | 2-33:26 (1) | – | 3-02:11 (2) | 3-03:37 (4) | 3-09:52 (1) | 2-44:59 (1) | Gold | |||||
| Virginie Hériot • André Derrien • André Lesauvage • Carl de la Sablière • Donatien Bouché • Jean Lesieur | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Hollandia |  NED | 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 3 3rds | 3-53:45 (1) | 2-34:32 (3) | 2-57:14 (1) | 3-02:45 (3) | 3-00:50 (2) | 3-10:27 (2) | 2-46:40 (3) | Silver | |||||
| Cornelis van Staveren • Gerard de Vries Lentsch • Henk Kersken • Johannes van Hoolwerff • Lambertus Doedes • Maarten de Wit | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sylvia |  SWE | 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 1 3rd | 4-01:41 (3) | 2-37:05 (4) | 2-57:28 (2) | 3-01:23 (1) | 2-59:31 (1) | 3-11:47 (4) | 2-45:45 (2) | Bronze | |||||
| Carl Sandblom • Clarence Hammar • John Sandblom • Philip Sandblom • Tore Holm • Wilhelm Törsleff | ||||||||||||||||
| =4 | Bamba |  ITA | 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th, 1 5th, 1 6th, 1 8th | – ( | 2-34:02 (2) | – ( | [2-59:00] ( | 3-05:45 (5) | 3-10:28 (3) | – | ||||||
| Carlo Alberto D'Albertis • Edoardo Moscatelli • Francesco Giovanelli • Guido Giovanelli • Marcantonio De Beaumont-Bonelli • Mario Bruzzone | ||||||||||||||||
| =4 | Noreg |  NOR | 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th, 1 5th, 1 6th, 1 8th | 3-56:36 (2) | [2-35:11] ( | – ( | – ( | 3-03:36 (3) | 3-12:39 (5) | – | ||||||
| Bernhard Lund • Jens Salvesen • Magnus Konow • Wilhelm Wilhelmsen | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Babe |  USA | 1 3rd | 4-10:26 (6) | 2-42:54 (6) | 3-08:17 (3) | – ( | – | – | – | ||||||
| Ben Weston • Frank Hekma • Manfred Curry • Nicholas Hekma • Owen Churchill | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Feo |  GBR | 1 4th, 1 5th, 1 7th | 4-04:12 (4) | 2-41:02 (5) | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||
| Margaret Roney • Ernest Roney • Esmond Roney • Philip Falle • Tom Riggs • T. Gordon Skinner | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Cupidon III |  ARG | 1 4th, 1 5th, 1 8th | 4-04:42 (5) | – ( | 3-12:59 (4) | – | – | – | – | ||||||
| Carlos Serantes • Horacio Seeber • Miguel Bosch • Pedro Dates • Rafael Iglesias | ||||||||||||||||