The oldest video footage of 5.5 Metre keelboat racing
by Magnus Smith 8 Jun 2025 12:00 BST
Robin's Aisher's Yeoman VII (K 10) in Neuchatel © Robert Deaves
With the Scandinavian Gold Cup currently on in Sopot, Poland, maybe it's time to delve into our video archive to see what 5.5mR footage was recorded by newsreels in the past. It seems we could only find Fifties and Sixties coverage.
The oldest we can find is from Cowes Week 1956 where a 5.5m can be seen rigging near the start, and a pair of them racing near the end of the video.
Then comes the Rome Olympics - sailed at Naples (this video also features Dragons).
More 5.5m action from the 1960 Olympics.
One more Olympic video : Tokyo 1964.
From January 1965, we see 5.5m racing in Sydney Harbour.
And in the next year : 1966 World Championship off Denmark/Sweden.
Finally we can show you 1969 World Championship which was won by a Swedish team.
What of the rest?
Do you know the location of any 5.5m videos that show racing fleets from the 1970s to the 90s which we have missed? We would love to share these with other sailors. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.
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