1988 Olympic Hopefuls Have Tough Act to Follow

Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup victory has prompted tributes to American ingenuity, but this overlooks the fact that five other American syndicates failed at Fremantle, some of them miserably.

For a collective national effort, the 1984 Olympics were a greater achievement for American sailors: seven boats, seven medals--three gold and four silver.

It’s a tough act to follow, but a year and a half away from the 1988 Olympics, U.S. prospects appear even better than they did at the same point in 1983.

John Kostecki of San Francisco and Vince Brun of San Diego are current world champions in the Soling and Star classes, in which Robbie Haines and Bill Buchan won golds in 1984.

Brian Ledbetter of San Diego was runnerup in the 1986 Finn Gold Cup; the new women’s 470 class is strong, and Randy Smythe and Jay Glaser of Huntington Beach, the Tornado catamaran favorites in ‘84, are again campaigning hard toward the gold they lost to New Zealand’s unheralded Rex Sellers.

But Jonathan Harley, Olympic director for the United States Yacht Racing Union, is cautious.

“I’m not going to make any predictions,” Harley said. “I think we’re going to have a real strong team, but everybody else is, too. It will be very difficult to duplicate the success of the ’84 group.

“Even though our guys this time around could be much better sailors, everything happened to work in ’84. Everything went just like we’d hoped and planned.”

Team manager Sam Merrick joined all the individuals into a common cause that swept everybody along. Keelboat sailors talked tactics with 470 dinghy guys, who returned tips on nuances of the wind.

“It wasn’t really a team,” Harley says, “but it turned out to be a team effort.”

It will be more difficult to duplicate that effort at Pusan, which is an ocean away on the southern tip of South Korea, where sailing is virtually an unknown sport.

How hard does the wind blow? From which direction? At what time? Is the sea choppy or smooth? Data is minimal, but those factors are critical for planning strategy and sail design. Harley has had meteorological scouts out taking notes.

“Traditional conditions are light to moderate, with a short chop on top of big swells,” he said. “But during the Asian Games last time, they canceled a day of racing because it was blowing more than 35 knots, and a couple of days it was over 20.”

There will be almost a whole new U.S. team in 1988. Only Smythe and Glaser are still campaigning in the same class, although Flying Dutchman alternate Gary Knapp has teamed up with Chris Steinfeld, who won a silver medal as Steve Benjamin’s crew on a 470. They are sailing a Tornado, challenging Smythe-Glaser for the U.S. berth.

Jonathan McKee, the 1984 Flying Dutchman winner, has joined the Australian professional 18-foot skiff series, and Smythe and Steele also have been sailing for money in Europe, although they remain amateurs because they never see any of it.

“Anything they win comes in here,” Harley said. “I’ve got a big trust fund stashed away for ‘em, a designated account for each sailor. They submit receipts for expenses. As long as they’re not being paid a salary, and they’re not being paid to race, it’s OK.”

The prize money can’t be used directly to finance Olympic campaigns, which have international travel and boat-shipping expenses. But USYRU’s Olympic Yachting Committee does allot funds according to rankings developed from major events such as the Olympic Classes Regatta.

“I think we’re in good shape compared to where we were at this time last year,” Harley said.

“Fund-raising for us has been difficult because of the America’s Cup. People would say, ‘I can’t contribute this year because I gave money to the America’s Cup.’ Now that the America’s Cup is over, maybe our fund-raising will be a little bit easier.”

Sailing Notes

A pre-Olympic regatta is scheduled at Pusan Sept. 12-28 . . . The U.S. trials are scheduled for July 5-26, 1988, at three sites simultaneously. Stars and Solings will be at San Diego, the Finns at Marblehead, Mass., and 470s (men and women), Flying Dutchmen, Tornados and sailboards at Newport, R.I. . . . French brothers Bruno, 31, and Loick Peyron, 27, are due to cast off from New York for England this weekend in separate ocean-going catamarans. They’ll race to set an Atlantic single-handed west-to-east record, using as a goal the 1905 mark of 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute, 19 seconds by Capt. Charlie Barr’s schooner Atlanta, with a crew of 40. The record with crew is now less than eight days. Bruno tried it solo last year but was dismasted midway. . . . The Newport in-the-Water Sailboat Show runs through Sunday and features a used boat display. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children 6-12. Shuttle parking is available at Tustin and Avon Aves.