Opening Date 14 May 1900 Closing Date 28 Oct 1900 Country of the host city France

Candidate cities None

Information

Some 32 boats in six classes contested the Olympic sailing regatta, or was it 49 yachts in five classes? The entries and the results are not clear-cut.

"In common with other sports at the 1900 Games the yachting results are varied, incomplete and contradictory," concluded Ian Buchanan, president of the International Association of Olympic Historians who, with Swede Tore Widlund, ploughed through contemporary accounts in French, German and British periodicals. The racing was split between the River Seine at Meulan, some 30km downstream from Paris, and where the Seine disgorged into La Manche, at Le Havre. All competitors were required to participate in a Concourse d'Honneur on May 20th at Meulan but only seven finished inside the time limit. Two, Mamie and Carabinier were disqualified for "using other means of propulsion than sail."

The classes were determined under the Thames Tonnage Rules with the 10-20 and Over 20 Ton classes competing on the coast. In fact the big boats just had one race to determine their medal while the smaller classes on the Seine at Meulan had two separate races with medal winners in each. This is one reason for the inconsistent results because some sources have aggregated the two races in the modern style as an overall series score.

Prize money was on offer: FF1500 for Race 1 in the 3-10 Ton Class, rising to FF2000 in Race 2- substantial sums. The Linton Hope designed ½ Ton Scotia was sailed by Britons Lorne Currie and J H Gretton not only won her class but an Open competition too. So Scotia won two gold in one Games! Count Hermann de Pourtales of Switzerland, winner in the 1-2 Ton class, was the oldest sailor at 53, whilst his wife Countess Helen was the oldest woman in any sport aged 33.