The Olympic Games Antwerpen/Ostende, Belgium 1920

The "Atalanta" 12 m R class sailyacht brought goldmedal to Bergen, Norway

Helmsman and owner was Henrik Østervold. Crew was Jon O. Østervold, Ole O. Østervold,
Hans Stoermann Næss, Lauritz Christiansen, Halvor Olai Møgster,Rasmus Birkeland, Halvor Birkeland and Kristian O. Østervold
The Norwegian boats took 11 medals, 7 gold - 3 silver and 1 bronze. Three of the "golden" boats were from Bergen

But first the boats from Bergen had to sail all the way to Ostende. It became a dramatic voyage in the North Sea. They started on a slow summercruise and made their course for Doggerbank, a famous place in the North Sea for the Norwegian fishing fleet. As one of the contestants said:" Let's buy some fresh fish". While they were there the weather turned to full storm so they had to set their smallest sail and even then did 11 knots. One of the crew fell overboard, but to his luck he got stuck in some ropes. The boats lost each other, but got to the Olympic races in time. Thanks to a skillfull crew they fixed what the storm had broken and sailed in to a gold medal.

Hans Stoermann Næss (1886-1958) was a shipbroker in Bergen, a chairmann in Bergen Shipbroker association. And the gold medal from the 1920 Olympics is still in the family.

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