Ferdinand "Fred" Helmuth Imhoff (born 15 February 1942 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

) is a sailor from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, who represented his country at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972 ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

, Germany as helmsman in the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the Dutch Golden Age, 17th-century Gold ...

''Brave Henderik IV'' (H-230). With crew

Simon Korver Simon Willem Korver (11 June 1940 – 19 October 2009) was a sailor from the Netherlands who represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Kiel, Germany. With helmsmen Fred Imhoff Korver took the 10th place in the Flying Dutc ...

they took the 10th place. Imhoff was the substitute for the Dragon during the

1968 Olympics 1968 Olympics may refer to: * 1968 Summer Olympics, which were held in Mexico City, Mexico * 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter ...

. During the 1970s Imhoff led the Dutch Yellow Joker Sailing Team, a group of sailors who sailed many Dutch National Classes, like the

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...

as well as Flying Dutchman and

Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

. Later Imhoff specialized in keelboat classes in general and belonged to the world top in the Dragon between 1986 and 2006. Imhoff nowadays sails the 2.4 Metre.

Controversy

During the selection for the

Dutch Olympic Sailing Team The Dutch were in most of the Olympic sailing competitions represented by the Dutch Olympic Sailing Team. The selection of the members of the team was done by the Koninklijk Nederlands Watersport Verbond (KNWV) or its predecessor. With the excepti ...

for the 1976 Olympics a controversy emerged between twelve sailors and the selection committee chaired by

André du Pon André du Pon (30 August 1924, in Amsterdam – 24 May 2006, in Medemblik) was a sailor from the Netherlands] who was three times chef d'équipe for the Dutch Olympic Sailing team. Du Pon led his teams during the Sailing at the 1976 Summer Olymp ...

. This discussion focussed on the role of

Frieda Vollebergt '' Frida'' is a 2002 film about artist Frida Kahlo Frida, Frieda, or Freida may also refer to: People *Frida (given name), a feminine given name *Frieda (surname) * Frieda (''Peanuts''), a character from the comic strip ''Peanuts'' *Afroditi Fr ...

who did the communication for the sailing team. As mother of

Erik Vollebregt Jan Erik Vollebregt (born 10 December 1954, in Leiden) is a sailor from the Netherlands who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Kingston, Ontario. With twin brother Sjoerd Vollebregt as crew, Vollebregt finished 14th in ...

Sjoerd Vollebregt Sjoerd Steven Vollebregt (born 10 December 1954, in Leiden) is a sailor from the Netherlands who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Kingston, Ontario. With twin brother Erik Vollebregt as helmsman, Vollebregt finished 1 ...

and

Peter Vollebregt Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

– All three candidates for the 1976 Olympic sailing event – she was accused for having a

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...

towards het children in the communication. In the end Fred Imhoff and

Heike Blok Heike may refer to: * Heike (given name), a (not exclusively) feminine given name, derived from the male name Anri (Henry) * Taira clan, sometimes referred to as "Heike" * Heike crab, a species of crab named after the Taira (Heike) clan * Heike On ...

lost the

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and were removed from the 1976 selection.

Professional life

Imhoff owned a specialized enterprise in sailing equipment, and was one of the first overseas dealers for

Harken Harken, Inc. is an international manufacturer specializing in performance sailing hardware, headquartered in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The company was founded in a 60-foot trailer in 1967 by brothers Peter Harken and Olaf Harken. Ori ...

fittings. Also Imhoff developed the brand 'Imhoff' for sailing clothes. Furthermore, he developed during the 1970s and 1980s: Spars (Imhoff) and Sails (Gaastra Imhoff Goldlabel Sails).

Books

Fred Imhoff published (some of them in cooperation with Lex Pranger) several books on sailing that were translated in many languages. Some of the Dutch titles are: * Dit is snel zeilen (1975) * Dit is getrained zeilen (1978) * Winnen is geen geluk (2014)

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Imhoff, Fred Living people 1942 births Sportspeople from The Hague Dutch male sailors (sport) 2.4 Metre class sailors Solo class sailors Yngling class sailors Star class sailors Dragon class sailors Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Olympic sailors for the Netherlands