5.5 metres, Open
| Date | 12 – 21 October 1964 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Enoshima, Sagami-wan (5.5 m and Dragon Course) | |
| Participants | 46 from 15 countries | |
| Format | Points awarded for placement in each race. Best six of seven scores to count for final placement. | |
The American boat Bingo took the lead by winning the second and third races, but Australia’s Barrenjoey won three races overall, and won the gold medal easily over Sweden’s Rush VII, skippered by Lars Thörn, the gold medalist in the event in 1956. The Americans, skippered by Don McNamara, would have won but were disqualified in the final race, and did not improve their point standings. Norway finished eighth, led by helmsman Crown Prince Harald.
The Barrenjoey helmsman was Bill Northam, who had a most unusual story. A highly successful businessman, he was chairman of the Australian sections of both Johnson & Johnson and Slazenger, and did not take up sailing until 1951, when he was 46-years-old. He only decided to try for the Olympics in 1963 and made the team, despite some Australian sailing authorities’ concerns about him competing in the Olympics as a 59-year-old.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Points | Race #1 | Race #2 | Race #3 | Race #4 | Race #5 | Race #6 | Race #7 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barrenjoey |  AUS | 5,981 | 1,277 (1) | 499 (6) | 976 (2) | 1,277 (1) | 101 ( | 1,277 (1) | 675 (4) | Gold | |||||
| Bill Northam • Dick Sargeant • Peter O'Donnell | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Rush VII |  SWE | 5,254 | 675 (4) | 675 (4) | 675 (4) | 675 (4) | 1,277 (1) | 675 (4) | 1,277 (1) | Silver | |||||
| Lars Thörn • Arne Karlsson • Sture Stork | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Bingo |  USA | 5,106 | 277 (10) | 1,277 (1) | 1,277 (1) | 499 (6) | 976 (2) | 800 (3) | 101 ( | Bronze | |||||
| Don McNamara • Frank Scully • Joe Batchelder | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Grifone |  ITA | 4,738 | 976 (2) | 976 (2) | 800 (3) | 236 (11) | 432 (7) | 976 (2) | 578 (5) | ||||||
| Agostino Straulino • Bruno Petronio • Massimo Minervini | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Subbnboana |  GER | 3,057 | 131 (14) | 374 (8) | 499 (6) | 101 ( | 675 (4) | 578 (5) | 800 (3) | ||||||
| Fritz Kopperschmidt • Eckart Wagner • Herbert Reich • Uwe Mares | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Chaje II |  FIN | 3,039 | 499 (6) | 578 (5) | 323 (9) | 578 (5) | 578 (5) | 374 (8) | 432 (7) | ||||||
| Johan Gullichsen • Juhani Salovaara • Peter Fazer | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | State VI |  CAN | 2,955 | 163 (13) | 800 (3) | 578 (5) | 323 (9) | 323 (9) | 432 (7) | 499 (6) | ||||||
| Sandy MacDonald • Bernie Skinner • Doug Woodward | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Fram III |  NOR | 2,860 | 432 (7) | 323 (9) | 432 (7) | 976 (2) | 277 (10) | 323 (9) | 374 (8) | ||||||
| Kronprins Harald • Eirik Johannessen • Stein Føyen | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | John B |  BAH | 2,713 | 323 (9) | 163 (13) | 236 (11) | 800 (3) | 800 (3) | 277 (10) | 277 (10) | ||||||
| Bobby Symonette • Roy Ramsay • Percy Knowles | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Alain IV |  SUI | 2,474 | 800 (3) | 101 ( | 163 (13) | [0] ( | 236 (11) | 198 (12) | 976 (2) | ||||||
| Paul Ramelet • Jean Graul • Roger Rouge | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Yeoman XII |  GBR | 2,443 | 374 (8) | 277 (10) | 374 (8) | 374 (8) | 499 (6) | 499 (6) | 323 (9) | ||||||
| Robin Aisher • Adrian Jardine • Eric Denham | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Web III |  DEN | 2,095 | 578 (5) | 432 (7) | 198 (12) | 277 (10) | 374 (8) | 163 (13) | 236 (11) | ||||||
| William Berntsen • Carl Christian Lassen • Per Holm | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Druzhba |  URS | 1,596 | 236 (11) | 217 (=11) | 277 (10) | 432 (7) | 198 (12) | 236 (11) | 198 (12) | ||||||
| Konstantin Aleksandrov • Konstantin Melgunov • Valentin Zamotaykin | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Roy |  JPN | 1,070 | 198 (12) | 217 (=11) | 131 (14) | 198 (12) | 163 (13) | 131 (14) | 163 (13) | ||||||
| Fujiya Matsumoto • Masao Yoshida • Takeshi Hagiwara | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Xolotl |  MEX | 758 | 101 (15) | 131 (14) | 101 (15) | 163 (13) | 131 (14) | 101 (15) | 131 (14) | ||||||
| Víctor de la Lama • Iker Belausteguigoitía • Luis Aguilar | ||||||||||||||||