Olympian Reynolds a True Star

Mark Reynolds is as predictable as the tide.

For decades, no American sailor in the Star class made consecutive Olympic appearances. Then Reynolds came along, and no one else has been able to get in a jib edgewise.

Reynolds, one of the old men among the seagoing U.S. Olympians, will have his two-man Star on the starting line in Sydney next month. It will be his fourth straight Olympics, tying sailboarder Mike Gebhardt, who’ll also be in Sydney, for the most appearances by a U.S. sailor.

And it’s no surprise that Reynolds goes in as America’s best bet for a sailing gold medal, which would be his second.

“It’s still special,” said the 44-year-old Reynolds, a sailmaker, second-generation Star sailor and a protege of Dennis Conner, who also grew up in San Diego before going on to America’s Cup fame. “I just really enjoy sailing the Star boat.”

Reynolds won the silver medal in his first Olympics, in 1988. He and crewman Hal Haenel, saw their bid for gold undone in the final race when a control line failed and their mast came tumbling down.

Four years later, they won the gold medal in Barcelona, never finishing worse than third in any race and wrapping up the medal even before the final day of competition.

But they finished an uncharacteristic eighth at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

“We expected to do well last time,” Reynolds said while sitting in the sail loft he owns near the San Diego Yacht Club. “We thought everything was pretty much on track, but it just didn’t go well. So I guess that probably drives me a little harder this time to try to come back and improve on that.”

Haenel retired after ‘96, and his spot went to Swede Magnus Liljedahl, who became a U.S. citizen in 1994.

Although they’ve been sailing together for just three years, Reynolds figures his experience will give them an edge. He knows what it takes to win a medal.

“I probably won’t make some of the mistakes the younger guys might make,” he said. “In a way, there’s not quite as much pressure on me, too. They’re looking at it as their one chance to get an Olympic medal. I’ve gotten an Olympic medal and I’m there to do it again.”

Although sailors face an exhausting range of variables over the course of every race, Liljedahl knows that hooking up with Reynolds is the closest he’s going to come to a sure thing.

“He was the big favorite all along and has the best reputation,” Liljedahl said.

Reynolds and Liljedahl won the Star world championships this year--Reynolds’ second in five years--as well as some other top regattas. In the winner-take-all Star Olympic trials, they won nine of 12 races.

“If everything goes right, and we have a little ounce of fortune on our side, I think we can win the gold medal pretty handily,” Liljedahl said.

Reynolds’ first Olympic campaign was in 1980 in the now discontinued Flying Dutchman class, but with the boycott of the Moscow Games looming, he didn’t even bother going through the trials. He had a good shot to qualify, having won the last two big regattas before the trials.

Although he failed to qualify for the 1984 Games, the American who went, Bill Buchan, used sails made by Reynolds in winning the gold medal.

Since then, the line between the Olympics and Reynolds’ business have blurred. Needing a job after his 1980 Olympic campaign, he began making sails for the Star, a sleek, 22-foot, 8-inch keelboat with a huge sail area.

“I got into the business of making sails so I could continue to do Olympic sailing and now it’s kind of all interconnected, because I make sails for the same boats that I race,” Reynolds said. “So my business is essentially sailing the Star now. The two kind of go together. There really couldn’t be one without the other.”

Reynolds also makes sails for most of his competitors.

“Even when I go to the Olympics there will probably be a few last-minute sails I’ll be taking down to people,” he said.

Of course, as a businessman, he has to help his customers. They’ll want his opinion on how to set the sails and other information.

“So I have to be real open with everybody, but that seems to work out well. I learn from them as well, so it helps my sailing,” he said.

Reynolds’ father, Jim, crewed for Conner. They won the Star world championships in 1971, the first major championship for Conner.