8 metres, Open

The 8-metre class is a construction class, which means that they are not all identical, but must meet certain international specifications. The class was the most prestigious class prior to World War II, and was conducted continuously at the Olympics from 1908 through 1936, but was discontinued as an Olympic event after this year. This was most likely due to the fact that the 8-metres were the largest boat raced at the Olympics, with a crew of six, getting the boats to the Olympic sites was somewhat difficult, and the trend was to smaller boats at the Olympics.

The Swedish boat “Ilderim”, helmed by Tore Holm, won three of the seven races, but very poor finishes in the others dropped it to only fourth place. After six races, the Italian boat “Italia” led the Norwegians, aboard “Silja”, by only one point. When Italy defeated Norway in the seventh race, finishing second and third, respectively, behind Sweden, the Italians had the gold medal. Norway and Germany tied after seven races, and sailed off for the silver and bronze medals, Norway winning that race and the silver medal.

The German crew included Alfried von Bohlen und Halbach, who was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for “crimes against humanity” during World War II, when he was complicit in assisting Nazi war crimes.