STAR CLASS RACING : Sailing This 22-Foot Boat Takes Plenty of Skill and Not Too Much Money, and May Be Habit-Forming

Somewhere between the low-key competition of one-design dinghy racing and the high-tech, high-stakes world of 12-meter yachting is the Star class of sailing.

Unlike dinghies such as the Lightning and Thistle, the 22-foot Star has a fin keel, one of several challenging features that deter the weekend hobbyist but attract the serious sailor. This week, 100 of the top sailors in the class are competing off Point Loma in the Star Spring Championship.

“In the Stars, you get a caliber of sailors that a lot of classes don’t offer,” said Hal Haenel, 28, crew for a boat skippered by San Diegan Mark Reynolds. “The boat takes quite a lot of skill to sail it well. I consider it one of the toughest classes in sailing. Half of the 12-meter guys are graduates of the Star class.”

Indeed, the man who represents 12 - meter sailing in the minds of most Americans--Dennis Conner--was twice world champion of the Star class. The 50 crews competing today in the last of the regatta’s six races include defending world champion Vince Brun, three-time world champion Bill Buchan and a several Olympic medalists and America’s Cup veterans.

But one does not need the backing of a multimillion-dollar syndicate to be competitive in the Star class. The requirements are enough disposable income to buy a boat--about $24,000 for a top-of-the-line model fresh from the factory in Europe--and the freedom to take time from work for the occasional regatta.

“A guy can get a good used boat for 10 grand and have a good time and be real competitive,” said Larry Whipple, a skipper from Seattle’s Puget Sound Yacht Club.

“The boats have gotten to be pretty even, so you’re pitting one guy’s skills against the others’, unlike the 12-meters, where it’s all technology and design and how much money you’ve got.”

The attraction of the Star class is both the challenge of sailing the boat and competing with other sailors who consider themselves equal to that challenge.

“We get guys in here from every class,” Whipple said. “Most people start with dinghies, and then they want to get a keel boat. The Star is like a dinghy with a keel. It’s a big boat and a small boat at the same time. You don’t see too many guys get into Star boats and get out. They may be out for a few years, but then they come back.”

The Spring Championship is one of six “silver-star” regattas in which participants qualify for the “gold star” event, the world championship. Last year’s world championship in Capri, Italy, drew a record 110 boats from around the world.

A handful of sailors such as Reynolds, Brun and Buchan go from regatta to regatta in pursuit of world championships, but most set aside vacations to attend events such as the Spring Championship.

Steve Gould, a member of the West San Francisco Yacht Club, is a Star sailor who juggles a career with his demanding hobby. Gould bought his first Star in 1971 while in law school, but academic responsibilities forced him to temporarily abandon his passion.

“I decided I had to finish law school and got out of it,” Gould said. “I bought another Star in 1977 and I’ve been sailing ever since. I’ve taken one vacation that wasn’t Star-related. In 1981, I went on my honeymoon--that was it.”

Said Whipple: “You get a few guys who hit all the major regattas, then you get a group of guys who race in one or two a year. We usually do a couple major regattas and then a few smaller ones that are within 500 miles of home. We’re in the category of guys who are serious, but not obsessed.”