Sailing toward a dream

Mike Sciacca

Mark Ivey is passionate about sailing.

The 26-year-old lifelong Huntington Beach resident is so driven

when it comes to the sport that he recently quit his job and gave up

his apartment to chase after a dream: A berth on the U.S. Olympic 470

sailing team that will compete in the 2004 XXVIII Olympics Aug. 13 to

29 in Athens, Greece.

For the next three months, Ivey, a 1995 graduate of Marina High,

will be in full travel and training mode.

He’ll be somewhat of a vagabond on the waters of the world, with

no real home base. He will, however, feel right at home on his 470 --

a 16-foot fiberglass boat purchased for him through a yacht club

fund-raiser held before the 2002 Olympic trials.

Ivey will be joined by Howard Cromwell, who has been his

“off-and-on” sailing partner for the past eight years.

Ivey skippers the 470 and Cromwell is the crew.

The two just finished training in New Orleans.

“We’ll be out on the water for the next three months, in

preparation for Olympic Trials,” Ivey said. “Our schedule has us

sailing up to six, seven days as we get closer to the trials. We’ll

be very busy preparing for the trials but it’s well worth it.”

The Olympic Team Trials-Sailing will take place Nov. 6 through 16

in Houston, Texas.

The duo will need to win the trials qualifier in order to make the

US Olympic 470 team.

Ivey will take a break from sailing to return to his old stomping

grounds of Huntington Harbour Friday to attend a fund-raiser on his

behalf.

The “Kick Off” Olympic Sailing Fund-raiser, as it is called, is

being held at the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club in an effort to raise

funds to help support Ivey and Cromwell as they pursue their dream.

“I remember him as a youngster when he first got into our sailing

school,” said George Demos, a past commodore at the yacht club and

active club member for the past 25 years.

“In order to travel and compete against the world’s best sailing

teams, Mark and Howard need funding. The sport of sailing can get

very costly and this fundraiser is set up to help defray those

costs.”

Ivey will signing “Mark Who?” T-shirts, which bear the Olympic

rings symbol, during the fund-raiser.

“Mark has the competitive spirit to succeed,” Demos said. “First

of all, he’s a very humble and nice young man. But he’s extremely

competitive, hard-working and committed to the sport.

“It takes a lot of moxie, smarts, hard work and commitment to

excellence to succeed in sailing and Mark has all those attributes.”

Ivey began sailing at age 7 and joined the Huntington Harbour

Sailing School. He went on to Marina High and was part of the

Vikings’ sailing team, then, following graduation in 1995, left for

Maryland to attend St. Mary’s College.

He was a four-time All-American while at St. Mary’s and graduated

from the school in 1999 as a double major in economics and sociology.

Currently, he and Cromwell are ranked in the Top 3 in the USA 470

sailing team. The team secured that spot after earning a bronze medal

at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes 470 Division held in the spring.

After the Labor Day weekend, Ivey and Cromwell will leave for

Cadiz, Spain to compete in two events: the 470 Spanish Nationals and

the 470 World Championships.

“We’ll be sailing every day for 25 days in Spain,” Ivey said.

As he eyes November’s Olympic Team Trials-Sailing, Ivey says he

knows what to expect.

He and Cromwell took their first shot at the Olympic Trials four

years ago in St. Petersburg, Fla. The two were straight out of

college when they competed.

“We didn’t do too well -- I think we finished ninth -- but I was

really happy that we went through the trials,” he said. “We gained a

lot of valuable experience, so I know somewhat what to expect at

these trials.

“But there are so many variables in sailing -- things like amount

of and direction of wind, waves and various weather conditions. You

can never be 100% prepared. You just adjust to the conditions.”

He has given unconditional attention to a sport he has loved since

childhood. The demands of the open sea and the challenges that lay

ahead, he said, are what keep his passion burning.

“I basically have dedicated my life to this,” he said. “I have

some kind and incredible people in Huntington helping to support my

dream.

“You know, watching the Olympic opening ceremonies every four

years gives me the chills. There’s no finer collection of athletes

from around the world in the same place at one time. I want to be a

part of that. That would be killer.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.