IYRU Joins Open Olympic Movement

Yachtsmen may gasp, but the International Yacht Racing Union has adopted a new eligibility code that will open the Olympic Games to professional sailors, starting at Barcelona in 1992.

The move means that U.S. sailing has finally fallen into step with the ethics of the 1980s, which put American sailors at a disadvantage against some foreign rivals whose de facto professionalism was either disguised or ignored.

The IYRU took the action last Friday in London after a campaign led by Tom Ehman, who is chairman of the U.S. delegation to sailing’s international governing body as well as executive vice president and general manager of San Diego’s America’s Cup Organizing Committee.

“We hit a home run,” Ehman said. “We sold the whole open Olympics. It’s only subject to the approval of the International Olympic Committee, but that’s a foregone conclusion. The IOC has already approved every other sport that has come to it and asked for that.”

When sailing reached new heights of interest in the ’87 America’s Cup, the powers that run U.S. sailing--meaning the sometimes stiff-necked United States Yacht Racing Union--uncomfortably embraced the concept of professional sailing when several entrepreneurs organized events with prize money involved.

Only three weeks ago, Sam Merrick, chairman of USYRU’s committee on eligibility, wrote Randy Smyth “to raise questions on your status as an amateur” after noting America’s top catamaran sailor had not been funneling his winnings into USYRU’s trust accounts for laundering.

But Merrick and USYRU apparently are delighted with the IYRU action.

“It makes his job a lot easier because he’s got a code he can work with,” Ehman said. “He gets rid of all that stuff . . . that ‘shamateurism.’ ”

Another part of the new eligibility code will apply to all regattas, assigning sailors to one of three groups--amateur, marine industry racer or professional--at the discretion of the organizer.

“Somebody in London said, ‘It’s sort of like first class, business class and economy class,’ ” Ehman said.

Dave Ullman, Newport Beach sailmaker and world-class competitor, conceived the marine industry racer concept in Southern California to prevent his own kind from dominating so-called amateur events and discouraging weekend sailors from competing. Cynics might say Ullman feared a defection would hurt his business, but those who know Ullman would understand that his motives were more noble than commercial.

Amateurs can now compete on their own pond, and the new code also is a boost for professional racing, which can recruit entries without fear of compromising Olympic eligibility.

Also, some sailors who believed they were forfeiting future Olympic opportunities when they committed themselves to professionalism may be back in the picture. Where would that leave Rod Davis, who won a gold medal for the United States in ’84 but is now living in New Zealand as a principal of that country’s Americas’s Cup effort?

The stringent amateur attitude still prevails in college sailing, which permits no scholarships based on sailing ability.

“In other words, if you’re poor, forget it,” said one observer of the sailing scene. College sailing is run by the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Assn., not the NCAA. No school in the country offers sailing scholarships, but the U.S. Olympic Committee awards grants of up to $5,000 under its “Operation Gold” program for prospective Olympians in school.

No scholarships has been an ICYRA policy since 1975, but the issue arose last June when the IYRCA passed a rule to that effect. The Sih brothers, Brady and Bryant, who campaigned a 470 dinghy for the ’88 Games and plan to try again in ‘92, were already attending college on USOC grants--Brady as an architectural student at Stanford, Bryant as a biology student at UC Irvine.

They asked for exemptions. Since their grants were awarded before the rule went into effect, the ICYRA agreed, but after this year they’re out of luck.

The ICYRA also is independent of USYRU--a governing body totally unto itself--although some officers serve in both organizations. Mike Horn, head of the ICYRA, said the rule is necessary because in college sailing, Division III schools, which give no scholarships in any sport, are not distinguished from major schools.

“We are trying to preserve equality,” Horn said.

He denied that the rule hurts sailors who are not wealthy.

“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with receiving a scholarship for academic excellence. The real purpose of this (USOC) grant is not to help poor people to go to college but to help people who are trying to compete in the Olympics to defray some of their costs.”

Scholarships, he said, could lead to some of the abuses that have corrupted other college sports.

“People feel that college sailing should be recreational and fun,” Horn said.

Sailing Notes

Thirteen Ultra-Light Displacement Boats--ULDBs, or “sleds”--are among the 32 entries in the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 13th biennial race from Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas. The IMS-B and PHRF-C classes for smaller boats started Friday in a 3-knot southeast wind, hugging the beach close-hauled. Bruce Anderson’s Chicken Lips from Shoreline YC was the early leader. The other four classes for larger boats go at noon today. If normally light fall winds prevail, the leaders should finish the 820-mile run to the tip of Baja by the middle of next week. John Delaura’s year-old Silver Bullet from the Waikiki Yacht Club already has clinched the 1989 ULDB championship with its victory in the Transpac, but Mitchell Rouse’s Taxi Dancer (LBYC) and Pat Farrah’s Blondie (LBYC) will be sailing for second place in the final standings.

John Bertrand, with Canadian Terry Nielson as tactician, sailed Rich DeVos’s Windquest to first place in the International 50 World Cup at Miura, Japan. Bertrand was the ’84 Olympic silver medalist in the Finn class and tactician for the late Tom Blackaller in the 1986-87 America’s Cup. Windquest started the final day three-quarters of a point behind Will, skippered by Geoffrey Stagg. After waiting five hours for a light wind to arrive, Windquest beat Will by 56 seconds, claiming the title by a half-point.

Some other top helmsmen included Bruce Nelson, fourth with Champosa V; ’84 Olympic Flying Dutchman gold medalist Jonathan McKee, eighth with Blizzard; John Kolius, 14th with Abracadabra, and Tom Whidden, Dennis Conner’s tactician, 17th with Springbok. The event was sponsored by Japanese real estate developer Masatoshi Morita, who paid for the shipping of all 18 boats, plus air fare and rooms for 25 crew members each.