| Water motorsports at the Games of the IV Olympiad | |
|---|---|
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| Venues | Southampton Water |
| Dates | August 28–29 |
| Competitors | 17 from 2 nations |
| Water Motorsports at the 1908 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class A (open) | mixed |
| Class B (<60 ft) | mixed |
| Class C (6.5–8 m) | mixed |
At the1908 Summer Olympics, threemotorboat racing events were contested. Various sources refer to the sport as "water motorsports",[1] "motor boats",[2] and "power boating".[3] The 1900 and 1908 Summer Games were the only ones to feature motorised sports (motor racing was featured in1900). The IOC has never decided which events were "Olympic" and which were not.[4]
All three events used the same distance: five laps around an 8-nautical-mile course for a total of 40 nautical miles (74 km). In each of the events, multiple boats started; however, only one finished due primarily to thegale that was blowing during the course of the competition. Events were held on 28 August and 29 August 1908.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class A — Open details |  Emile Thubron (FRA)Camille | none | none |
| Class B — Under 60 feet details |  Great Britain (GBR)John Field-Richards Bernard Boverton Redwood Isaac Thomas ThornycroftGyrinus | none | none |
| Class C — 6.5–8 metres details | Great Britain (GBR) John Field-Richards Bernard Boverton Redwood Isaac Thomas ThornycroftGyrinus | none | none |
The water motorsports event was quickly abolished, because after these games the IOC decided that the Olympics was not intended for motorized competition.[citation needed]
17 boaters from 2 nations competed.
France (4) Great Britain (13)Sources:[5]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | France (FRA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (2 entries) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
The open class was scheduled to take place on the first day of competition, 28 August. Two boats,Wolseley-Siddely andDylan, began the race.Dylan abandoned the race partway through the first lap, withWolseley-Siddely finishing first before the weather became too severe to continue the race.
A second attempt to run the event took place the next day after the other two races had been completed.Wolseley-Siddely again started, this time againstCamille (the only French boat to take part in competition).Wolseley-Siddely ran aground on a mud spit, leavingCamille to finish alone for the gold medal.
The B class was held on 28 August after the abortive first running of the open class. Again, only two boats appeared at the starting line:Quicksilver andGyrinus.Quicksilver became threatened by water coming in over the sides, abandoning the race.Gyrinus, a small boat with an extra crewman to bail water, was able to finish to make its crew the first Olympic champions in motorsports.Gyrinus was the earliest round-bilge Semi-Planing Mono-Hull ('SPMH') designed by SirJohn Isaac ThornycroftFRS, the great Victorian engineer, previously the designer and builder of the world's first torpedo boats and torpedo boat 'Destroyers'. Development of the technical features ofGyrinus (combining speed with good seaworthiness, as demonstrated in the 1908 Olympics) was described in 'Engineering', the Proceedings of the Society of Civil Engineers, on March 12, 1909. His son,Isaac Thomas Thornycroft, theGyrinus helmsman, became a yacht designer and helmsman of J-Class racing yachts. Thomas's son, Commander Peter Thornycroft (1914–1987), carried on the family tradition, developing the SPMH as the standard Nelson Class of Pilot Boat for Trinity House (1964 to 1987) and, later, up to much larger sizes of offshore patrol vessels. The US Navy's 350 ft./114-metre/3,200-ton/45-knot USSFreedom is the largest SPMH launched to date (2006). It combines a higher speed-for-length than would be possible with a conventional destroyer hull, good seakeeping at speed, and a high payload—characteristics that enabled the littleGyrinus to win her famous Olympic victories.
The first race of 29 August was the small class of boats.Gyrinus, which had won the B class the day before, appeared again. This time her competition wasSea Dog. Again, however,Gyrinus was the only boat to finish, asSea Dog experienced engine problems and had to be towed off the course.
In many works, it is read that the IOC later met to decide which events were Olympic and which were not. This is not correct and no decision has ever been made. No discussion of this item can be found in the account of any Session.