HIS STAR FLAMES OUT : Bill Buchan ‘Coasted’ for a Year and Now Finds He’s Among Also-Rans

Soft-spoken Bill Buchan, then 49, said before the 1984 U.S. Olympic sailing trials that he hoped, in all modesty, the “Bill Buchan era” of the Star class was about to begin.

If it did, it lasted only a little longer than the tenure of a Yankee manager.

Buchan, with crewman Steve Erickson, went on to win the Olympic berth and the gold medal, then followed up with his third world championship the following year.

And then?

“I dropped out for a year in ‘86,” he said. “We thought we could coast for a year or two, and I think I missed something.”

Buchan towed his boat down from Seattle but said he will not be among the top contenders in two weeks of Star trials opening Tuesday, along with the Soling competition, at San Diego.

Buchan has seen the class pass by other champions--including himself twice. He won his first world title in 1961. He didn’t win his second until 1970, then his third in ’85.

“In the old days, I remember, the Harry Nyes and Skip Etchells--things would come along and they wouldn’t pick up on it and they would fade, and that was it,” he said.

This time Buchan isn’t sure what happened during his hiatus, but when he returned in ’87 he found he couldn’t keep up with the front of the fleet.

“The class was really moving, learning how to use new sails and new techniques for setting up the rig,” Buchan said. “I just wasn’t paying attention.

“We were a major player until the worlds at Chicago last year, and then we had our comeuppance--but good (48th place). I realized how far along Ed Adams and Mark Reynolds and Paul (Cayard) and Vince (Brun) had come. We were no longer competitive.

“For years, I got spoiled. I can’t remember anybody just sailing past me going upwind. It wasn’t an experience I was familiar with, and that’s what’s happened quite a lot lately--mostly from this big four.”

Those skippers, Buchan and most others agree, are the solid favorites in the trials, each hoping, perhaps, that his era is about to begin. A sailor can aspire to no higher achievement, not even the America’s Cup, which is far less a test of individual sailing skill.

The Star class is the class not only of the Olympics but of one-design sailing worldwide. The two-man, boxy design originated with the Bug boat in 1906 and evolved into the Star when the class was formally organized in 1922.

As the world’s oldest one-design class, it has held a world championship every year since ‘22, including during World War II, although for the duration it was virtually an all-American event.

The class honor roll of skippers who have won the privilege of carrying gold stars on their main sails reads like a sailing hall of fame in itself.

San Diego alone can claim 6 world champions and 10 titles: Lowell North, 4; Dennis Conner, 2, and Brun, Malin Burnham, Gerry Driscoll and Milton Wegeforth, 1 each.

Others include America’s Cup skippers Tom Blackaller and Buddy Melges, Cup defender Bill Ficker and such sailing legends as Arthur Knapp and the Great Dane himself, four-time Olympic gold medalist Paul Elvstrom.

Currently, Cayard reigns, thanks to his victory over Reynolds and Adams, with Brun sixth, in the World Championships at Buenos Aires this year. Adams won in ‘87, Brun in ’86.

Is Buchan poised for yet another comeback?

“I’m still not really doing it again,” he demurred. “I’m just sort of showing up. We haven’t done any kind of an effort.

“But I enjoy sailing a Star boat, and that’s what my friends are all going to be doing, so I thought I’d better be down there to keep tabs on ‘em.”

Buchan might feel more confident if he had his ’84 crewman, but Erickson now sails with Cayard, his crewmate aboard Blackaller’s USA 12-meter in the America’s Cup last year.

“After we qualified for the Olympics in ‘84, I suggested to Paul and Steve that they team up and do Kiel Week (in West Germany),” Buchan said. “I didn’t have time to go myself.”

And when Buchan dropped out in ‘86, Cayard and Erickson teamed up permanently.

For what it’s worth, Buchan won his three world titles with three different crewmen. His latest is Mark Brink, 29, a Laser champion, also from Seattle.

“Mark seems to be able to help me in some areas that I haven’t been getting help in lately, like on the boat speed,” Buchan said. “He seems to have a good sense of when the boat isn’t going well, and when I’m not concentrating.”

Buchan doesn’t think Cayard and Erickson are necessarily the favorites.

“Not if it’s light air. I would probably pick Vince (Brun) or Ed Adams,” he said. “Twelve knots (of wind) or more, I guess I would pick Paul, but Paul doesn’t seem to have the patience and experience in light air that Ed does. Over the last four years, Ed seems to have worked the hardest of anybody in Star boats.

“On my down days, I wonder why I’m in San Diego. But I like San Diego. A lot of my friends live in San Diego. I’ve always done fairly well in San Diego.”

Right. He won his first Star world title in San Diego in ’61.