HOST

Torquay, England     ----------

RESULTS

REGATTA REPORT

The 1940 Olympics, slated for Finland, were cancelled because of the war. The twelfth and thirteenth Olympiads (an Olympiad being a measure of time) were, therefore, skipped. The games were renewed and held in England in 1948, the yachting events being sailed on Torquay Bay.

The Star was not one of the four classes originally designated for the Olympics. The unvarnished truth is that British top yachting brass, which practically controlled the permanent committee of the I.Y.R.U., did not like Stars. The chief bone of contention was the two man one-design Swallow. Like the jib and mainsail Firefly dinghy, it was a new creation by the English designer Uffa Fox. Being new, naturally there were only a few Swallows in existence, almost all of them being in England. The only measure of popularity in yachting is the international distribution and activity of a given class. Many countries thought it odd that the Star should have been replaced by an unknown quantity. Their overwhelming requests for the Star resulted in its being included as a fifth Olympic class, thereby establishing a new precedent.

Perhaps I better start by telling about the U.S. Olympic trials of 1948, because of a drastic change made in the system. Each fleet was entitled to send one entry direct to the finals. The skipper had to agree in writing to go if he won and, just to keep him honest, a fifty dollar entry fee was required. The money went to help defray in part the cost of shipping the winner’s Star.

The finals were sailed on the ocean side of Coney Island, with the anchorage and headquarters at the Sheepshead Bay Y.C. Because of the many fishing boats in that area, the cooperation of the Coast Guard was most helpful. Hilary Smart defeated Woodie Pirie by a single point in a close and exciting series. It was necessary to go down to a tie for sixth place between Cebern Lee and Ralph Craig, in order to find two alternates willing to make the trip. They were also named as alternates for several other United States classes.

Two girls were originally selected to represent the U.S. in the Swallow class, but the entry could not be accepted. That had nothing to do with yachting, but a general Olympic rule, which prohibits men and women from competing in the same event. On the night of the final Star banquet, Mr. Loomis, manager of the U.S. yachting team, came down to Sheepshead Bay and between us we persuaded Woodie to skipper the Swallow for the U.S. Owen Torrey, a good Star skipper in his own right, happened to be in London at the time and was willing to act as crew. I believe that the charter price of the Swallow was a suit of new sails, but anyway Woodie and Owen gave the U.S. a third place among the Swallows. There were other Star skippers sailing in that class, including Bello, of Portugal, who owned his own boat. If I remember correctly, he placed second.

Durward Knowles, who was then international Star class champion, only learned at the last moment that the Bahamas were not entitled to a separate Olympic entry, but could compete only for Great Britain. He immediately shipped his Star from Nassau to Miami. He and his crew trailed it from there to New York, driving day and night. At that they would have missed the Queen Elizabeth, except for a bomb scare, which delayed her departure for several hours. Durward had no trouble in winning the finals in England, as he was sailing against a less experienced group of Star skippers. In the Olympics, however, he ran into tough luck. He was dismasted and disqualified in the last two races. At that he placed fourth.

As the games originated in Greece, Greek athletes always lead the Olympic parade of nations. George Calambokidis headed that group as its standard bearer. Ralph Craig was elected to carry the Stars and Stripes. It was the second time he represented the U.S. In 1912 he had won both the one hundred and two hundred meter dashes. Hence two Star skippers had the honor of marching at Wimbly, in a temperature of one hundred and three degrees, carrying the flag of their respective countries.

Out of the scheduled seven races, an entry’s best six counted in the point score. In other words a skipper could throw out any one race he desired. There are two schools of thought on the subject. If disabled through no fault of his own, perhaps the skipper should not have to suffer. Everyone will agree, however, that he should not be allowed to throw out a disqualification and nullify the penalty, as we must assume that officials know their business and that the disqualification was deserved. The point system was figured on a formula, which frankly I dot not fully understand. It provides a big premium for winning, which conforms to Olympic principles. As you go down the list the difference in points between positions keeps diminishing, until very few points separate those at the bottom. My personal opinion is that the throw out system encourages reckless sailing, because the skipper knows that the race does not have to count. I also feel that the old fashioned total point system is a more accurate measure of ability, as yachting is about the only sport in which wind shifts, slants, puffs, etc., affect the order of finish and are unpredictable.

Whoever laid out the courses off Torquay must have thought that Stars were toy boats. The Star course combined a windward and leeward and a triangle, sailed three times around, for a total of about seven and one-half miles. One can judge from this how short the windward leg must have been. The seventeen Star entries could not get out of each other’s hair and were constantly in danger of a foul. That accounts for the many disqualifications, to say nothing of the disallowed protests, in 1948. Most of the contestants had to wait around after each race to testify as principals or witnesses at the hearing of some protest. They would have been there yet, if the hearings had not been conducted with the dispatch of traffic violations.

The first four races were sailed in comparatively light air and, after a three day rest period, the last three races provided rather rugged going. Hilary Smart, with his father Paul as crew, made his best showing during the first part of the series, taking two firsts and a second. That gave the U.S. the 1948 Star Olympics by nearly one thousand points. Carlos de Cardenas, with his son as crew, finished in a blaze of glory. Charlie, who has always liked plenty of wind, took a first and second to make Cuba runner-up. Adrian Maas was once again third. On the total point system, used in the two previous Olympics, the Holland skipper would have won. Italy’s Straulino actually finished first four times, but was disqualified on two of those occasions and dismasted in the last race. Nevertheless, he placed fifth. His daily record and that of Maas, if the reader will look at the summaries, is a good example of the difference between the two systems.

Star contestants were plagued with unexpected difficulties and expenses from the start. Over here the right hand did not know what the left was doing. The U.S.O.C. was most helpful in arranging for the Star and Star contingent to go on the Manhattan with the rest of the Olympic team. I was given full authority to handle the Star entry, but someone else must have been given like authority. At the last moment the Star entry was switched to the Queen. Fortunately the boys could afford the additional expense.

Finalists and semi-finalists did not receive their U.S.O.C. certificates although I sent a certified list of those entitled to them to the secretary of the U.S.O. yachting committee. I learned two years later that he did not know that his own committee consisted of seven members. It is difficult to understand why, as my name appeared on U.S.O.C. notices. He only recognized the five N.A.Y.R.U. delegates and did not know that I had been appointed a Star delegate over a year before they were eligible. How could things be expected to run smoothly? The man responsible for allocating the work, and there was plenty of it, openly admitted that he disapproved of the Olympics and even told members of the committee that their jobs were really only nominal.

What happened in England is only hearsay and I cannot vouch for its authenticity. No provision had been made for getting Stars from where they were unloaded at London to Torquay. Commercial transportation had to be arranged for and cost plenty. It is said to have cost fifteen dollars to either launch or haul a Star at Torquay. One alternate told me that the only way he could see the races was to buy a ticket on the public observation boat. After the Olympics, over half the Stars had to be shipped to Portugal for the World’s Championship. Finally a tramp was diverted to Torquay. I understand that it could have come alongside the dock and loaded the Stars, except possibly at dead low water, but the port authorities would not allow it. So the boats had to be taken by a lighter to where the tramp was anchored, a short distance away. The consensus of opinion was that the tradespeople heaped every expense they could think of upon the rich yachtsmen.

Do not think that I am criticizing the local yachting organizations. Remember that there was a lot of discussion as to whether England was in a position to hold the games that year. I believe that the local yachtsmen did all they were able to do under existing conditions. Even in our own World’s Championships some localities are able to provide better and cheaper facilities than others.