½-1 Ton Race One, Open

After a break of one day after the opening Concours d’Honneur, the Olympic regatta continued, with the first races for the less than ½ ton, ½-1 ton, 1-2 tons and 2-3 tons classes. As was the case with the Concours d’Honneur, the competing yachts in these four events engaged in what was effectively a mass-start, with only a brief interval between the starting time for each yacht.

Race One of the ½-1 Ton Class took place on 24 May, and saw 17 yachts at the starting line of a 19 km course (one short and one long round). A maximum of four crew members were allowed. The field included the “Scotia” from Great Britain, with Algernon Maudslay, and the German “Aschenbrödel”, with Paul Wiesner at the helm, who had already placed first and second in the Concours d’Honneur, respectively.

In this race, “Aschenbrödel” initially placed first but was disqualified for exceeding the maximum weight allowed by 41 kg. They lost their prizes and had to compete in a higher class in Race Two. “Sidi-Fekkar” from France was also disqualified for receiving assistance. Of the other contenders, the “Scotia” was the superior boat again, winning by almost 10 minutes. The French yachts “Crabe II” and “Scamasaxe” came in second and third.

Several boats that competed in Race Two, notably “Tornade”, “Demi-Mondaine”’, “Jeanette”, “Vervaine”, and “Hébé”, likely competed in the first race, but there is no definite record of that and their finishing position is not available.

There were 33 entrants in this class, but only 17 started Race One. Prizes for Race One were as follows: 1st – Coupe Internationale de l’Exposition universelle; 2nd – 700 francs; 3rd – 400 francs; 4th – Framed engraving on Japanese letter paper; 5th – Framed engraving on Japanese letter paper; and 6th – Framed engraving on Japanese letter paper.