Three Person Keelboat (Dragon), Open

Norway’s Thor Thorvaldsen, aboard Pan, and crewed by Hakon Barfod and Sigve Lie, had won the gold medal in this event in 1948. The same boat and crew won three of the seven races in Helsinki to defend their gold medal. The silver went to Sweden, on Tornado and skippered by Per Gedda, who had raced at the 1936 Olympics, placing fourth in the 8-metre class. One woman competed in the event, Joyce Horton, who was alongside her husband and son on the American boat, Skidoo, which placed 11th. The 12th-place finisher, helmsman Jock Sturrock, later made Australia’s first America’s Cup challenge, in 1962 aboard Gretel.