The Sailing Regatta of the 1980 Moscow Olympics was held in the ESSR from 20 to 30 July, on the Tallinn Bay. 83 yachts from 23 countries took part with 154 athletes in total. Competitions were held in six boat classes (Finn, 470, Flying Dutchman, Soling, Tornado, Star), and you can see the results according to classes on the wall here.

Before receiving the right to hold the 1980 Olympics, the USSR’s capital Moscow had unsuccessfully applied for holding the 1976 Summer Olympics, and on both occasions (in 1976 and 1980), the regatta was set to be held in Tallinn. The decision was largely informed by the fact that both state and sports organisations in Estonia supported the Olympic Regatta, promising to develop a new and modern yachting centre in Tallinn for the Olympics.

This is indeed what happened. Thanks to organising the Olympics, an enormous building was erected in Pirita, with the design largely following the example of the Kiel Yachting Centre built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Several other new buildings were constructed in Tallinn (the Olümpia Hotel, the airport, the TV tower, the Linnahall venue, the main post office, Pirita Road etc.), which considerably modernised the cityscape and is included in detail on the map here. Ahead of the Olympic Games, in June 1980, the Georg Ots ferry was launched on the Tallinn-Helsinki-Tallinn route – a new and considerably larger boat than the one servicing the route up to that point.

Although the organisers wished to present Estonia as a neutral apolitical seaside country with a rich history, the regatta was nevertheless caught up in the politically tense events. As is well known, the Moscow Games were boycotted by the West after the Soviet Union took their troops into Afghanistan in 1979. Additionally, the regatta was held in Estonia, a country the world considered to be under occupation.

This is why the Tallinn Regatta could be viewed through several lenses, as is evident from the reversible wall of posters on display here. While host city Moscow considered it a part of the general organisation of the Olympics, aiming to demonstrate the Soviet Union was capable of holding a major competition successfully, the local organisers wished to present Estonia and its culture to the world, and a more sensitive part of the world highlighted the political context mentioned above: the fact that the Olympic Regatta was held in an occupied country.

Eventually, several strong sailing countries never came to Tallinn and many delegations decided to take part under the Olympic flag – in other words, the countries did not officially take part but they also did not prevent their athletes from competing. This is why sailors from only 23 countries attended the regatta (in contrast, sailors from 40 countries had been at the starting line in Montreal four years earlier, and that number rose to more than 60 at the Los Angeles Olympics four years later).

A special moment occurred at the award ceremony. Esko Reckhardt made history when he became the first athlete to bring Finland an Olympic gold in sailing, winning in the Finn Class. So the award ceremony included the national anthem of Finland, which, as we know, has the same melody as the anthem of the Republic of Estonia. The Olympic gold of the Finns turned into an emotional moment on both sides of the Gulf of Finland!