U.S. Olympic Sailing Trials : No Flukes Despite Choice of Venues

Having the U.S. Olympic sailing trials in three light-air venues when the wind is expected to howl at Pusan, South Korea, didn’t make much sense, but it may have turned out all right.

The trials, which concluded the last two days, produced no flukes.

Newport, R.I, lost two days because of fog and a Flying Dutchman race because of a race committee foul-up, but the wind blew more than could be expected, and the best sailors came through.

John Shadden of Long Beach, with crew Charlie McKee of Seattle, won the 470 world championships last March and sailed a shutout in the trials (0.00 points) with six straight wins after an opening second place.

Paul Foerster of Corpus Christi, Tex., peaking at the right time, followed up his European title to dominate the Flying Dutchman class.

Allison Jolly of Valencia, with Lynne Jewell, turned what loomed as a close women’s 470 fleet into another rout.

Pete Melvin of Long Beach, with Pat Muglia of San Diego, rated no better than third in the Tornado catamarans behind ’84 silver medalist Randy Smyth and New York’s Gary Knapp two weeks before the trials. But then Smyth withdrew, and Melvin blew off Knapp, along with his reputation of being strictly a light-air sailor.

The last to clinch was Mike Gebhardt, a 22-year-old “veteran” of the sailboard fleet from Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., who soared past 17-year-old Bert Rice Jr. when the wind blew on the final day.

Finally, with Navy Lt. Brian Ledbetter in Finn at Marblehead, Mass., and John Kostecki in Soling and Mark Reynolds in Star at San Diego, it was skill and not the conditions that made the difference.

Ledbetter has won the last four U.S. Finn nationals. Kostecki is the current world Soling champion. Reynolds was runner-up this year to Paul Cayard in the Star worlds.

The team will train in the stronger winds off Long Beach--site of the ’84 Olympic sailing--from July 30 to Aug. 13. Then they’ll go to Pusan well in advance of their competition to train some more.

Although recreational sailing is unknown in Korea, five of the eight trials winners--Ledbetter, Melvin, Kostecki, Jolly and Gebhardt--already know what to expect. They sailed in the Olympic Practice Regatta on Suyong Bay last September.

Ledbetter was asked his impressions of those conditions.

“Wow,” he said.

“Where in Long Beach (success) might have been 75% boat speed, it’s going to be 50% boat speed, and the rest is going to be getting that start to be able to go the right way, when there is a guaranteed right way to go.

“The leader is not necessarily the guy that’s going to win. He’s just a guinea pig. Anything can happen.

“We had currents swirling in all directions. I don’t know if that was characteristic. I’m sure we’ll know more in the next couple months. But you pretty much expect anything.”

In one way, Ledbetter said, these Olympics may present a supreme test of saling.

“The worse the conditions, the better the sailor has to be to win,” he said.

“The wind seemed to blow either directly the same direction as the current or directly opposing the current. So we had really flat water when it would take you forever to go upwind, or we had really huge waves when the upwind legs were fastest and the downwind legs took forever.”

There also may be a narrow window of sailing conditions when the wind is strong enough to overcome the current, but not strong enough to be dangerous. Outside that window, the boats could sail backwards or be blown apart.

“Last year, because of their inexperience, the South Koreans couldn’t run races in anything over 20 or 25 (knots), but this year I think they’ll be ready to go in anything up until the boats aren’t holding together anymore,” Ledbetter said.

Kostecki said he and his crew can put some weight back on after dieting for San Diego’s light wind.

“But strength may be more important than size,” Kostecki said, “because at times when you’re sailing against the current it could be very painful on one tack for 45 minutes. That was a big unknown variable that surprised us. I remember getting very tired.”

Kostecki’s crew are Will Baylis and Bob Billingham. Baylis explained how their success over the last three years has been a team effort.

“Bob is really good with logistics, and I have a good hand with tools,” Baylis said. “John has a good eye for sails and, more than anything, we’re real good under pressure.

“We’ve been together so long and been through so much and hated each other so many times, that in a given race at a given time when something really bad happens, it’s not that bad.”

Shadden/McKee and Melvin/Muglia were members of the “Long Beach” Olympic sailing team that also included brothers Ron and Steve Rosenberg in FD, Pease Herndon and Cindy Goff in women’s 470 and Richard Byron in Finn.

“It’s sad they didn’t do better,” Shadden said. “Charlie and I have been through it, so we know how they feel. But we stuck with it and made it pay off. They can, too.”

McKee and Shadden joined forces two years after failing as rival skippers in the ’84 trials.

McKee had to adjust to crewing but said, “John’s a great helmsman and the most laid-back skipper I’ve ever known. He never gets upset. He never yells.

“That’s why it’s working so well. I don’t blame him if he steers wrong. He doesn’t blame me if I miss a wind shift. We just keep sailing.”

Star winner Mark Reynolds said that while rival Peter Wright was pressing the race jury to review the videotape of his disputed start in last Thursday’s race, “I was making notes about match racing.”

Reynolds would have had to return Saturday with the sole purpose of beating Wright to claim victory.

However, the jury refused to reopen the hearing, and Wright and his crew, Todd Cozzens, were the first to re-congratulate Reynolds on his win.

There was a similar situation when Soling sailor Kevin Mahaney of Bangor, Me., asked the jury to review a tape of his premature start the same day.

The jury not only confirmed that Mahaney was over the line before the gun--but that Dave Chapin and Ed Baird were, too.

Chapin and Baird also were disqualified, thanks to Mahaney.