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. It is known that at least 49 yachts started but only seven 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 1:00 PM. When at 5:00 PM. only a few yachts had circled the upper buoy, a cancellation was considered, however, by 7:00 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 and the German “Aschenbrödel” (1-2 ton class). The Lerina 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.