Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
I was fascinated by a chance find in my archives recently as it shed light on the South Africans who competed in those Rome Games, one being Robin Standing my sailing mentor when I was introduced to the sport way back in 1968.
Standing was a great mate of John Sully, and was his crew on an FD for many years. However he competed in these Games with Hellmut Stauch aboard ‘Hakahana’ with sail number SA 73.
Their best race was the opening one in which they scored a 5th overall, but from there on were in double figures, their worst being a 20th which they discarded.
Their result of 15th from 31 boats was a respectable result.
Also interesting was that the Rhodesia team of David Butler and Chris Bevan were 4th overall, having won the first race. A DSQ in race 2 did not help their cause overall. I had to dig deep to find what the DSQ was for – a protest lodged by two competitors for him luffing at the start was upheld.
The only other South African competing was Gordon Burn-Wood in the Finn class. Sadly his result was best forgotten as he was 33rd from 35.
There were big “sailing names” competing across the 5 Classes, with names like Paul Elvstrom (Finn Gold medalist) and Hans Fogh (FD Silver medallist) being well known to South Africans.
For those with an interest in the Olympics and South Africa’s participation, it’s worth browsing through, and is shared HERE: Olympics – 1960 Rome Competitors – Final –
