Olympians from Burnham on Crouch
Burnham has celebrated three Olympic gold
medals and one bronze for its sailors, which is a considerable
achievement for a small Town.
Additionally there are many
World, European and National Champions.
The list of honour does not
end their as the prominence and skill of our boat builders mean that
many yachtsmen who have do not sail in Burnham visit to have boats
designed or built in the boatyards.
The story
of the Medals is listed below.
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1908 London |
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The sailing events were held in the Solent at Ryde. |
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Gold medallists in 6 Metre Class |
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Yacht Dormy |
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The medal was decided over a three race series.
Dormy dominated by winning the first and second races
and finishing third in the final race.
The 6 metre race was over a 6 mile course in light winds
which meant that Dormy took three and three quarter
hours to complete the final races.
Strangely each day the wind increased near the end which
allowed for racing in the final section. |
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Details of the Crew |
Thomas McMeekin was the owner of
the yacht. He was secretary of the Eastern Yacht Club at Burnham
Crichton was the crew member
who went on to join the 10th Hussar and was awarded the
DSO in 1915 which led to his immediate promotion
from Major to Lt Colonel.
Gilbert Laws was the designer
of the yacht and was asked by McMeekin to be his helmsman as he knew
more about the boat than any other man.
Laws moved to Burnham in 1893
and started the Burnham Boat Building Company with Mr J A Youl.
The Company proved a great
success and was became one of the leading boat building and design
firms not only in Burnham but in the country.
1920 Antwerp
The
sailing events were held at Ostend
Gold medalists in 7 Metre
Class
Yacht Ancora
Crew
Cyril Macey WRIGHT b 17 September 1885 d 27 June 1960
Dorothy Winifred WRIGHT b 19 August 1989
W J MADDISON
Robert Henry Schofield COLEMAN
b 1888 d 1 January 1960
How the Gold was won
The 7 metre class as only
contested at the 1908 and 1920 Olympics.
Ancora finished second on the
first race and won the second and third to take gold ahead of the
Norwegian boat that won the first race.
Details of the Crew
Cyril Wright was the co owner
of the yacht with his father in law Percy Machin.
Dorothy Wright
was Cyril's wife and was the only female contestant in the 1920
yachting competition.
W J Maddison was a crew member
Robert Coleman was a crew
member
1936 Berlin
The sailing events were held
at Kiel
Gold medalists in 6 Metre
Class
Yacht Lalage
Crew
Miles Aubrey BELLVILLE b 28 April 1909 d 27 October 1980 Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
Christopher Alan BOARDMAN b 11 June 1903 d 29 September 1987 Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
Russell Thomas HARMER b 5 November 1896 d 31 October 1940 Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
Charles Symonds LEAF b 13
November 1895 d 19 February 1947 Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
How the Gold was won
After the last race Lalage
was in silver medal position with the gold medal going to Swiss boat
Yilliam
The Swiss boat was eventually
disqualified promoting the British crew to gold medal position.
The gold medal was one of just
4 that were won in these Olympics.
Details
of the Crew
Miles Bellville was a member
of the Americas Cup challenge in Endeaver in 1934.
In WW2 he served in the
commandos as a Major and was awarded the MC and MBE.
Christopher Boardman also was
a member of the Americas Cup challenge in 1934. He was helmsman of
the Lalage.
During WW2 he was a Corvette
Commander in the Atlantic. His brother was an Olympic rower who won
medals at the 1930 Empire Games.
Russell Harmer served as a
Captain
in the Royal Signals during WW1 although he was demobilised after suffering a bad injury. He was a Crew Member.
Charles Leaf was the owner of
Lalage.
Leaf served as a Lieutenant
with the Buffs in WW1 and enlisted in WW2 serving in the Balloon
Command before transferring as a Lieutenant in the Royal marines at
the age of 47.Leaf came from a wealthy family and was a noted
archeologist donating many important finds to Fitzwilliam Museum in
Cambridge.
1956 Melbourne
The sailing events were held
at Port Phillip
Bronze medalists in Sharpie
Class
Yacht Chuckles
Crew
Jasper Blackall
Terrence Smith b 18 October
1932
How the Bronze was won
The Bronze medal was won by Jasper Blackall on the Sharpie two man dinghy at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Jasper was born on 20 July
1920 at Hackney and became a successful illustrator and designer but
he devoted his spare time to sailing.
Jasper belonged to the Burnham
Sailing Club and bought a Sharpie dinghy from Sir Heneage Ogilvie
who was an eminent surgeon. Sir Heneage Ogilvie was a sailing
enthusiast who sailed Sharpies regularly at Burnham on Crouch and
had built up a small fleet.
Jasper joined forces with
Terrence Smith and they were selected to represent the UK in the
1956 Olympics at Melbourne.
On their arrival they managed
to borrow a Sharpie which they named Chuckles to enable their
participation.
Thirteen boats contested the
medals with the home boat a hot favourite.
After three races the boat was
in mid table with two 3rd places and a seventh but then things
picked up with a 2nd ,5th and 3rd place putting them into
bronze medal place which they held onto in style by winning the
final race.
