Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1980 consisted of a total of six sailing classes (disciplines). For each class seven races were scheduled from 19 to 29 July 1980 of the coast of Tallinn (district of Pirita, in present-day Estonia), in that time an illegally annexed part of the USSR at the Baltic Sea. The sailing was done on the triangular type Olympic courses.[1]

Sailing
at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Logo for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow
VenuesTallinn Olympic Yachting Centre, Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
DatesFirst race: 21 July 1980 (1980-07-21)
Last race: 29 July 1980 (1980-07-29)
Competitors156 (all male) from 23 nations
Boats83
 1976
1984 

Venue

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The Olympic Yachting Centre in Pirita (pictured in 2005)
Pirita Olympic Yachting Center
Map
Interactive map of the The Olympic Yachting Centre in Pirita (pictured in 2005) area
General information
LocationTallinn, Estonia
Coordinates59°28′13″N 24°49′6″E / 59.47028°N 24.81833°E / 59.47028; 24.81833
Olympic Yachting Centre 1980.

According to the IOC statutes the contests in all sport disciplines must be held either in, or as close as possible to the city which the IOC has chosen. Since Moscow was not a suitable place the Olympic Yachting Centre in Pirita Tallinn was constructed for the 1980 Olympic Sailing event.

Competition

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Overview

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Continents Countries Classes Boats Male Female
3236831560

Continents

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  • Europe
  • Africa
  • Americas

Countries

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Countries that participated in the Sailing event of the 1980 Olympic Games.
Blue: Water
Gray: Never participated in OG
Dark Gray: Participated in earlier OG
Green: Country participated for the first time
Dark Blue: Country participated also on previous games
Red: Country boycotted the sailing event of the OG
 Austria Brazil Bulgaria
 Cuba Cyprus Denmark
 Spain Finland East Germany
 Greece Guatemala Hungary
 Ireland Italy Netherlands
 Poland Romania Switzerland
 Sweden Czechoslovakia Soviet Union
 Yugoslavia Zimbabwe

1980 Olympic boycott

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The boycott affected the medalists in most sailing events with a number of European and World champions not participating. In the Soiling, the Canadian World champion team of Glen Dexter, Andreas Josenhans and [Sandy McMillan] was absent. Some British athletes participated in the Games under a neutral flag, but the sailing federation chose to join the boycott.[2] In several classes an alternative sailing event was organized by the boycotting nations, with the Flying Dutchman class having been held Luxembourg.[3] Other significant countries that choose not to participate included the Australian team [4]

Canadian Olympic Boycott Party
The Flying Dutchman on a Russian stamp, issued for the Olympics in 1978

Classes (equipment)

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ClassTypeEventSailorsTrapezeMainsailJib/GenoaSpinnakerFirst OGOlympics so far
FinnDinghy10+19528
470Dinghy21+++19762
Flying DutchmanDinghy21+++19606
TornadoCatamaran21++19762
StarKeelboat20++193210
SolingKeelboat30+++19723

Medal summary

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Winners of the XXII Olympic Games in Moscow. Sailing.
Event Gold Silver Bronze

1980: Finn
details

 Finland (FIN)
Esko Rechardt
 Austria (AUT)
Wolfgang Mayrhofer
 Soviet Union (URS)
Andrei Balashov

1980: 470
details

 Brazil (BRA)
Marcos Soares
Eduardo Penido
 East Germany (GDR)
Jörn Borowski
Egbert Swensson
 Finland (FIN)
Jouko Lindgrén
Georg Tallberg

1980: Flying Dutchman
details

 Spain (ESP)
Alejandro Abascal
Miguel Noguer
 Ireland (IRL)
David Wilkins
James Wilkinson
 Hungary (HUN)
Szabolcs Detre
Zsolt Detre

1980: Tornado
details

 Brazil (BRA)
Lars Sigurd Björkström
Alexandre Welter
 Denmark (DEN)
Peter Due
Per Kjergard
 Sweden (SWE)
Göran Marström
Jörgen Ragnarsson

1980: Star
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 Soviet Union (URS)
Valentin Mankin
Aleksandr Muzychenko
 Austria (AUT)
Hubert Raudaschl
Karl Ferstl
 Italy (ITA)
Giorgio Gorla
Alfio Peraboni

1980: Soling
details

 Denmark (DEN)
Poul Richard Høj Jensen
Valdemar Bandolowski
Erik Hansen
 Soviet Union (URS)
Boris Budnikov
Alexandr Budnikov
Nikolay Poliakov
 Greece (GRE)
Anastasios Bountouris
Anastasios Gavrilis
Aristidis Rapanakis

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Brazil2002
2 Soviet Union1113
3 Denmark1102
4 Finland1012
5 Spain1001
6 Austria0202
7 East Germany0101
 Ireland0101
9 Greece0011
 Hungary0011
 Italy0011
 Sweden0011
Totals (12 entries)66618

Remarks

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Sailors

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In the Finn (left): Mihai Butucaru

During the sailing regattas at the 1980 Summer Olympics among others the following persons were competing in the various classes:

References

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  1. "Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Olympedia. 2023. Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  2. "Sailing 1980 Olympic Team". 5 December 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  3. Smothers, Ronald (19 July 1996). "Olympics; Boycott". The New York Times.
  4. by Lisa Darmanin / Australian Sailing Team (30 July 2025). "Sailing's Lost Olympic Dream: Honouring the 1980 Yachting Team".
  5. Eurosaf

Sources

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