It’s Smooth Sailing for Lanee Butler These Days

Lanee Butler was angry, tired and wet, but she couldn’t leave the water. Her sister wouldn’t let her.

Lynn Butler promised to teach her younger sister how to windsurf, and she kept her word. Early in the initial lesson, however, Lanee discovered something unsettling: She disliked windsurfing--intensely.

“It was so hard,” Lanee said. “I didn’t have a lot of strength, and that board and sail were so big. I kept falling off.”

Despite Lanee’s protests, Lynn insisted she keep trying. She did, reluctantly. Eleven years later, battling that sailboard is still among Lanee’s best decisions.

Today, Butler, 24, is one of the top amateur female windsurfers in the world. And although the Dana Hills High and UC Irvine graduate has made her mark in national and international competition, she still longs for an Olympic medal.

Not that being draped in hardware is unfamiliar to Lanee Butler.

Last week she was chosen the female boardsailor of the year by the United States Windsurfing Assn. Butler is the only two-time winner (male or female), having won the inaugural award in 1991.

The award covers the period of Sept. 1, 1993, through July 27, 1994. Butler consistently finished with the leaders in every event she entered, including two first-place finishes and five seconds.

“I’m pretty excited about the award,” Butler said. “I’ve been sailing competitively for several years, and it gets harder and harder each year. There are so many people in the U. S. (who) do this type of sailing, and I’m thrilled that it is getting the respect it deserves.”

After overcoming her initial disdain for the sport, Butler improved rapidly. Within a year she was racing friends in Dana Point Harbor.

“Windsurfing has come a long way,” Butler said. “It’s a lot easier to learn to windsurf now than when I started because there are smaller boards for kids. It’s not that difficult once you learn what the wind is doing.”

Butler (5 feet 4, 125 pounds) sails Olympic-class Mistral One-Design boards, which are 12 feet long. Butler’s board and sail have powered her around the world.

She competes annually in events in Europe, Greece, Japan and Russia, locales she expected to visit--not frequent.

“I’ve been all over the world and it’s been incredible,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know (windsurfing is) an international sport. It’s super because you travel with all the same people, so it’s like a small community of windsurfers going around the world.”

Butler is in Manitoba, Canada, competing in the Mistral World Championships, which continue through Sept. 5.

She prepared for the event at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, earning a bronze medal. She finished second at the last world championship in Kashiwazaki, Japan.

“Competing is fun, but I also just love going out by myself,” Butler said. “It’s such a neat feeling to just be able to jump on your board and go wherever you want. I just love this sport.”

Ranked No. 2 in the nation by the windsurfing association, Butler is a five-year veteran of the U.S. national team. Moreover, she is the only woman to have represented the United States in sailboarding in the Olympics. Butler finished fifth at the 1992 Barcelona Games, the first to include her event.

“Barcelona was great,” she said. “Being the first girl and all, it was like history being made.”

One male and one female will again represent the U. S. at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Butler hopes to compose half of that duo, too.

“The Olympic trials are the most important regattas to win,” she said. “The races are going to get really tough leading into next year, but I think I’ve got a good shot.”