John's Story
Australia’s first Olympic sailing medals were won at Melbourne 1956 with John Scott, with Rolly Tasker, finishing second in the Sharpies, and Jock Sturrock, with Dev Mytton and Doug Buxton, winning a bronze medal in the 5.5 Metre class. By the final race of the seven-race series Tasker and Scott had finished no worse than second. They sailed Falcon IV across the finish line in first place but were subsequently disqualified for a mid-race infringement. After the final points for each crew were calculated from the six best finishes, Australia and New Zealand were tied on 6086 points. On a count-back, New Zealand was awarded the gold medal because it had won three races to Australia's two.