Helmer Orlaf Leif Pedersen (28 March 1930 in Copenhagen, Denmark – 24 August 1987) was an Olympic gold medallist for New Zealand in

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

. With

Earle Wells Earle Leonard Wells (27 October 1933 – 1 October 2021) was an Olympic gold medallist for New Zealand in yachting. With Helmer Pedersen, Wells won the Flying Dutchman class at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Wells was born in Auckland in ...

, Pedersen won the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo. Pedersen had previously been the reserve for the same class at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in Rome. In his home country of Denmark he had been mainly a Finn class yachtsman. He did not make any Danish Olympic team due to the presence of the great

Paul Elvstrøm Paul Bert Elvstrøm (25 February 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Danish yachtsman and the founder of Elvstrøm Sails. He won four Olympic gold medals and thirteen world titles in a range of classes including Snipe, Soling, Star, Flying Du ...

, although he was a reserve for Denmark at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

in Finland. He died in 1987 from lung cancer after having been a heavy smoker. He was retrospectively inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

in 1990.

References

External links

* * * * * 1930 births 1987 deaths Danish male sailors (sport) New Zealand male sailors (sport) Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in sailing Sailors at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Deaths from lung cancer in New Zealand Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sailors (sport) from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish sportsmen 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-yachtracing-bio-stub