8 Metre (keelboat)

Class symbol
Finnish 8mR-yacht Sagitta (FIN–2) designed by Charles Nicholson in 1929 and owned by Timo Saalasti.
Development
Year	1907 (rule design)

The International Eight Metre class are class of racing yachts. Eight Metre boats (often called "Eights" or 8mR) are a construction class, meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in this case International rule. Before WW II Eights were the most prestigious international yacht racing class, and they are still raced around the world. "Eight metre" in class name does not, somewhat confusingly, refer to length of the boat, but product of the formula. 8mR boats are on average some 15 metres long. Between 1907 and 2008 approximately 500 8mR boats were built, 177 of them have survived until today.

History

The Swedish silver medalist Sans Atout at 1912 Summer Olympics.

The Finnish eights Sphinx (FIN–4) and Sagitta (FIN–2) competing in 2012.

The International Rule was set up in 1907 to replace earlier, simpler handicap system which were often local or at best, national, and often also fairly simple, producing extreme boats which were fast but lightly constructed and impractical. The Eight Metre class was the medium size rating established under the rule and they were chosen as an Olympic class in 1908 Summer Olympics. The Eights remained in the Olympics until 1936.

New, modern eights are still built utilising newest contemporary technologies, at the rate of 1–3 boats per year. During the 1980s, many old sailboat classes experienced a revival of interest. The class has undergone a renaissance which has continued to the day, with many old yachts restored or rebuilt to racing condition, and 8mr competition is once again thriving with 25–35 boats participating annually at the 8mR Worlds. "The International Eight Register" includes 177 identified existing boats of a total of approximately 500 boats built from 1907 until today.

Events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1908 London	Great Britain (GBR) Blair Cochrane Charles Campbell John Rhodes Henry Sutton Arthur Wood	Sweden (SWE) Carl Hellström Edmund Thormählen Eric Sandberg Erik Wallerius Harald Wallin The Duchess of Westminster	Great Britain (GBR) Philip Hunloke Alfred Hughes Frederick Hughes George Ratsey William Ward
1912 Stockholm	Norway (NOR) Thoralf Glad Thomas Aas Andreas Brecke Torleiv Corneliussen Christian Jebe	Sweden (SWE) Bengt Heyman Emil Henriques Alvar Thiel Herbert Westermark Nils Westermark	Finland (FIN) Bertil Tallberg Arthur Ahnger Emil Lindh Gunnar Tallberg Georg Westling
1920 Antwerp 1907 rule	Norway (NOR) Carl Ringvold Thorleif Holbye Alf Jacobsen Kristoffer Olsen Tellef Wagle	No further competitors	No further competitors
1920 Antwerp 1919 rule	Norway (NOR) Magnus Konow Thorleif Christoffersen Reidar Marthiniussen Ragnar Vik	Norway (NOR) Jens Salvesen Finn Schiander Lauritz Schmidt Nils Thomas Ralph Tschudi	Belgium (BEL) Albert Grisar Willy de l'Arbre Georges Hellebuyck Léopold Standaert Henri Weewauters
1924 Paris	Norway (NOR) Carl Ringvold Rick Bockelie Harald Hagen Ingar Nielsen Carl Ringvold, Jr.	Great Britain (GBR) Ernest Roney Harold Fowler Edwin Jacob Thomas Riggs Walter Riggs	France (FRA) Louis Breguet Pierre Gauthier Robert Girardet André Guerrier Georges Mollard
1928 Amsterdam	France (FRA) Donatien Bouché André Derrien Virginie Hériot André Lesauvage Jean Lesieur Carl de la Sablière	Netherlands (NED) Johannes van Hoolwerff Lambertus Doedes Hendrik Kersken Cornelis van Staveren Gerard de Vries Lentsch Maarten de Wit	Sweden (SWE) Clarence Hammar Tore Holm Carl Sandblom John Sandblom Philip Sandblom Wilhelm Törsleff
1932 Los Angeles	United States (USA) Owen Churchill John Biby Alphonse Burnand Kenneth Carey William Cooper Pierpont Davis Carl Dorsey John Huettner Richard Moore Alan Morgan Robert Sutton Thomas Webster	Canada (CAN) Ronald Maitland Ernest Cribb Peter Gordon George Gyles Harry Jones Hubert Wallace	No further competitors
1936 Berlin	Italy (ITA) Giovanni Reggio Bruno Bianchi Luigi De Manincor Domenico Mordini Enrico Poggi Luigi Poggi	Norway (NOR) Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen John Ditlev-Simonsen Hans Struksnæs Lauritz Schmidt Jacob Thams Nordahl Wallem	Germany (GER) Hans Howaldt Fritz Bischoff Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Eduard Mohr Felix Scheder-Bieschin Otto Wachs

References

• The International Rule – The Eight Metre Class – John Lammerts van Bueren, 2007

External links

• International Eight Metre Association
• Metre Boat Index
• North American Eight Metre Association
• British Eight Metre Association
• Finnish Eight Metre Association (in Finnish)
• Russian Eight Metre Association (Russian)