Mallory Cup Opening Today Off Redondo
Ten regional winners will compete for the Mallory Cup, emblematic of the U.S. men’s sailing championship, in competition today through Saturday out of the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach.
They will sail 10 fleet-style races in Martin 242s--keel boats similar to J-24s. All races will count in the low-point scoring. No alternative penalty rule will be in effect, meaning that all incidents leading to protests will be heard by a race jury.
The Southern California area representative is Scott Deardorff of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, with crew Kirk Arndt and Matt Wilson.
Others: Andy Schoettle, Minnetonka (Minn.) YC; John Dickson, Chatham (Mass.) YC; William Drewes, Manhasset Bay (Long Island, N.Y.) YC; Paul Gelenitis, Metedeconk (N.J.) YC; Rob Fowler, Privateer (Tenn.) YC; John Deimel, Erie (Pa.) YC; Robert Berg, Oklahoma City Boat Club; Seadon Wijsen, San Francisco YC; Robin West, Royal Vancouver YC.
The Beach Boys’ America’s Cup syndicate figured how to get a boat in the water before any other U.S. effort. It bought one, ready-made.
An agreement with the financially struggling French team gives the late-starting Beach Boys use of F-1, one of the new International America’s Cup Class 75-footers that Marc Pajot’s crew has been sailing for several months.
Beach Boys’ skipper John Bertrand will join the French crew for next month’s European IACC championship. Then the boat will be shipped to San Diego, where the crews will train together until next summer, when the Beach Boys’ own boat will be ready. This way, instead of sitting around for another six months, Bertrand’s crew hopes to be sailing before Christmas and can compete in the IACC world championships at San Diego next May, while the French can afford to build a second boat in their development program.
Peter Isler’s recent withdrawal makes it clear that in the United States one must be a salesman as well as a sailor to compete for the America’s Cup.
Nobody worked harder than Isler, a successful regular on the world match-racing circuit. But that didn’t seem to impress potential sponsors.
The privilege of defending the trophy for the San Diego Yacht Club will cost $15 million to $20 million, and even Dennis Conner won’t come close to raising the $40 million the Italian and Japanese syndicates are each expected to spend. Corporate America can’t see any value in five months of international exposure on a floating billboard.
There are now only three listed potential defense syndicates--Conner’s, Larry Klein’s Triumph America and the Beach Boys. That’s not enough to fill a fleet for the defender semifinals in April 1992, let alone stage a competitive round of trials.
Nearly half of the 21 challengers were chased out by this month’s requirement to post a $150,000 performance bond. The list shows 12 entries from a record 10 countries, including one from the Soviet Union. A second Soviet entry dropped out.
Sailing Notes
Design ace Bruce Nelson, who became available when Peter Isler gave up his America’s Cup campaign, has rejoined Dennis Conner, with whom he served in 1986-87. . . . The big and expensive 80-foot ketches that dominated the recent Whitbread Round the World Race and the small, quixotic sloops that finished each leg days behind have been excluded from the 1993-94 event. Instead, organizers have approved new 70- and 60-foot classes with the intent of tightening the competition. . . . Nance Frank of Annapolis, Md., who headed the all-woman crew that just missed the 1989-90 Whitbread for lack of sponsorship, has already entered the next event, along with Ted Turner Jr. Frank has enough sponsorship from Western International University in Phoenix to continue her campaign. She recently sailed an unusual regatta against a Soviet women’s team on Lake Onego in the far north of the Soviet Union. With only two hours of darkness, one of the five long-distance races started at 9 p.m. . . . A series called the World Yachting Grand Prix is scheduled to start at Glasgow, Scotland next August. Subsequent events are scheduled at Long Beach in October, and in Spain, Japan and Australia. The series is to be sailed in 52-foot boats designed by Bruce Nelson and Australia’s Tony Castro. . . . The Yacht Clubs of Long Beach will hold their fourth Charity Regatta Sept. 30 to benefit the Children’s Clinic of Long Beach.
Hal Ward’s Cheval, with 33 points, leads the ULDB 70 Assn.’s standings with a second place at Manzanillo and a victory from Oakland to Catalina. Next are Ed McDowell’s Grand Illusion, with 28, and Mitch’s Rouse’s Taxi Dancer, Bob McNulty’s Chance and Holua, each with 26. Cal Cup winner Evolution had 31 points until sold by Bob Doughty to Brack Duker of the California YC, who must start over in the standings. The next points event is the Watts Trophy Regatta at Los Angeles YC Oct. 13-14.