Open, Open

The Concours d’Honneur or “Open Class”, at Meulan, on 20 May, was the first event of the 1900 Olympic yachting regatta. The rules of competition required that all yachts intending to compete in the five individual classes (up to 10 tons) at Meulan over the next few days took part in this Concours. The almost complete absence of any wind caused considerable problems. There were 77 boats initially entered, with 66 of them in the final entries, but only 49 boats eventually started in the event, although all details of who started are not known for certain.

Only seven boats completed the approximately 11 km long course within the time limit and, of the seven finishers, two, “Mamie” and “Carabinier,” were disqualified for using “other means of propulsion than the sail.” Only six yachts with foreign crews competed, and one was manned with a mixed crew.

The start of the first group was at 1300 (1:00 PM). When at 1700 hours (5 PM) only a few yachts had circled the upper buoy, a cancellation was considered. However, by 7 PM, seven boats had crossed the finish line. The two first places were taken by small boats, with the British boat “Scotia” (½-1 ton class) coming in first, followed by the German “Aschenbrödel” (1-2 ton class). The “Lérina” was in third place when it abandoned the race within a few hundred metres of the finish, under the mistaken belief that the race had been cancelled.

Boats were sent off in groups, by weight classes. Group 1 was for 0-½ tons, termed “Guidons bleus (Blue pennant)”, and started at 1300 (1 PM). Group 2 was for ½-1 tons, termed “Guidons rouges (Red pennant)”, and started at 1-04:02. Group 3 was for 1-2 tons, termed “Guidons blancs (White pennant)”, and started at 1-10:24. Group 4 was for 2-3 tons, termed “Guidons jaunes (Yellow pennant)”, and started at 1-13:03. Lastly, Group 5 was for 3-10 tons, termed “Guidons verts (Green pennant)”, and started at 1-19:37.

The prizes given were as follows: 1st – Prix d’honneur deux vases de Sèvres; 2nd – Buste en biscuit de Sèvres de Mme Roland; 3rd – L’amour de Falconnet, biscuit de Sèvres; 4th – Le chasseur, biscuit de Sèvres; 5th – Framed engraving on Japanese letter paper; and 6th – Framed engraving on Japanese letter paper.