STAR DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
A STEPPINGSTONE TO NAUTICA WORLDS
MARINA DEL REY, Calif.---To win the
Nautica 2002 Star Class World Championship, first you must
get there, which will bring up to 50 hopeful crews to the
74th Star Class 5th District Championship Saturday and Sunday,
July 13-14, at the California Yacht Club.
The entries include defending champion
George Szabo and crew Austin Sperry from San Diego, 1988 world
champion Paul Cayard of San Francisco, with Phil Trinter as
crew, and '84 Olympic Soling gold medallist Robbie Haines
of Coronado, with Bill Hardesty. Haines won the Star Districts
in '74 and '81.
"Our districts are gonna be pretty
exciting with a lot of good guys out there," Szabo said.
Former world and Olympic champions are
automatically qualified for the Worlds scheduled Aug. 18-23
on the same waters. With more than 40 boats the top eight
finishers in the District event---not counting the aforementioned
elite---also will advance.
Szabo, currently ranked 15th, qualified
for the Worlds by winning the San Diego fleet championship
last weekend. Those still seeking to qualify in the Districts
include San Francisco's Howie Sheibler, who with local Rick
Peters has won three of the past five years.
The 5th District, which includes the
West Coast from Oregon to Mexico, has been a steppingstone
to global glory in producing 27 world champions, more than
any other district in the world. That list includes icons
of the class such as Lowell North, who won a record four world
titles and 11 districts from 1949 to '73; Dennis Conner, Vince
Brun, Tom Blackaller, Malin Burnham, Bill Ficker and the man
who may be the best of them all: San Diego sailmaker Mark
Reynolds, the only Star sailor to win two world championships
and two Olympic gold medals, plus a silver.
Szabo works for Reynolds at Quantum
Sails in San Diego.
Reynolds, with crew Magnus Liljedahl,
recently won out over a 68-boat fleet at Kiel Week. He will
not race in the Districts because of another commitment, but
he and Szabo will be talking.
"We're both gone a lot," Reynolds
said, "like George was in Italy and Mississippi the past
couple of weeks sailing Snipes, and I was in Germany. But
we talk about Stars quite a bit, and George asks a lot of
questions. We'll be doing some tuning together for the Worlds."
Szabo already has a good handle on Santa
Monica Bay, site of the 5th Districts.
"The pressure comes from the left
or the right, so it can be pretty confusing at times,"
he said. "[The sea is] usually light and lumpy between
5 and 8 knots [of wind], or it's great sailing between 12
and 18.
"The breezier stuff, we're all
excited to sail in that, [although] overall we've done a little
better in the lighter air and flatter water and when it's
a little shifty."
Three races are scheduled Saturday and
two Sunday, starting at 11:30 a.m. each day, conditions permitting.
The course will be set 1-2 miles northwest of the entrance
to Marina del Rey Harbor.
Another tune-up event for the Nautica
Star Worlds is Cal Yacht Club's annual King of Spain regatta
for Stars on Aug. 10-11, the week before the Worlds. The King
of Spain normally involves mostly regional competitors but
will draw many of the national and international sailors trying
to get a feel for local sailing conditions.
Besides Nautica Enterprises, the Gold
Star Title Sponsor for the Nautica Star Worlds, other sponsors
at various levels are: Silver Star---RB Zack and Associates
and California Yacht Club; Blue Star---Bang and Olufsen; Green
Star---Quantum Sails; Red Star---Cafe del Rey, Marine Spars
Inc., Spar Tech Co., Star Frozen Foods and Studio A.
5TH DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP CHAIRMAN
Dean Dierks
((310) 788-4809
ddierks@socal.rr.com
NAUTICA STAR WORLDS GENERAL CHAIRMAN
Alex Benson
(805) 704-3333
alexbenson@baywoodinn.com
PRESS RELATIONS
Frank Gleberman
FGleberman@aol.com
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richroberts@compuserve.com
