Skipper Larry Klein of San Diego, with...

Skipper Larry Klein of San Diego, with crew Ron Rosenberg and Chris Redman of Long Beach, won the Soling class world championship on Lake Ontario over a 70-boat fleet that included former world and Olympic champions. Their seven-race series of finishes was 3-9-3-2-1-DSQ-19 to edge ’88 Olympic gold medalist Jochen Schumann of Germany, who could have won by placing first instead of second in the final race.

INDOOR SOCCER

When the Sockers announced Monday that they waived Waad Hirmez because the two sides remained $4,000 apart in contract negotiations, they lost another 43 goals and 20 assists from last season’s championship team.

Assuming the Sockers will either trade or grant free agency to forward Branko Segota, the club now must find replacements for players who provided 51% of last year’s total offense.

“We’re not trying to dismantle the Sockers’ franchise,’ said Randy Bernstein, executive vice president/general manager. “We know when we have something good and we would like to keep it, but some things are unavoidable.”

Hirmez, who worked the phones soliciting season tickets each summer during which the Sockers seemed on the brink of collapse, leaves on a sour note.

“I’m really bitter about this,” he said. “They were trying to sign me to a cheap deal so they could trade me to Baltimore for Paul Wright.

“I didn’t ask to be the team’s highest-paid player, I just asked for a $6,000 raise (to $50,000).”

Coach Ron Newman said he tried to trade Hirmez but found no takers.

Neither side would rule out Hirmez’s return should the midfielder receive no other offers.