I watched how they launched their
boats, how they tweaked their con-
trol lines, how they maintained their
positions on the starting line, how they
used their weight to help them turn around
the marks.
I also observed that they shared with
each other what they were learning.
This was the very beginning of the “Laser
Revolution,” and dinghy sailing techniques
were evolving quickly. I did not know it at
the time, but the center of the movement
was right there in front of me.
I was just a kid who liked to sail, but there
was a group of slightly older sailors who
were the real deal.
The bus did not run as often on Sundays,
so I had to ride my bike—life jacket and
wetsuit strapped to the back. This built
character—and also my legs and lungs.
My battle was only half over when I got
to the yacht club and rigged up my bat-
tered club boat. Sometimes I got a tow from
a passing motorboat, but most of the time
I still had to sail from the small bay where
the yacht club is, through a narrow canal to
Lake Washington.
More character building, and I also
learned how to rock eectively to self-pro-
pel when the wind died, which was almost
every time.
In those days, one of the Laser fleet
members would volunteer to run races for
the day, and each boat would pay $1. Each
week I had to save up 60 cents each way
for bus fare, plus a dollar for the racing, for
$2.20 total. Lunch was a soggy sandwich
brought from home.
All this was of no consequence because
I got to sail against real sailors, current and
future champions who were much better
than me.
But I could also see myself in them. I
could see that it was possible to get to a
world-class level, despite my youth and
modest skills at the time. I just had to keep
coming back every week, keep watching
and learning, keep getting stronger.
After a couple of years, the club bought
a new batch of Lasers. This was a big break
for me because I was just getting good
enough that a decent Laser actually made
a dierence.
In 1976, I won the Canadian Nationals in
Vancouver at age 16 in a club boat. While
the Seattle fleet’s rock stars had largely
moved on to Finns and other classes, I beat
some pretty good guys from California,
the Northwest and Canada. I was kind of
stunned at the time, but I realized that
those days of riding my bike or taking the
bus were paying o.
My surprise victory qualified me for
the Laser Worlds in Brazil—an amaz-
ing experience, my first time away fromNorth America, and my first look at the
international sailing scene. In Brazil, I met
Peter Commette and John Bertrand, whom
I had seen in the sailing magazines.
Alas, I was not quite ready for the big
time. I was too small, not fit enough, and
generally not good enough to compete at
this level, and I finished 49th of 100. Not
terrible for a 17-year-old kid from Seattle,
but I vowed next time I would be more
competitive.
These days, I sometimes wonder what
caused me to choose sailing at a young
age, and to pursue it above anything else.
I had the desire, but equally important
was the environment that allowed me to
progress at my own pace—but with a high
standard clearly in view.
How can we create this nurturing but
competitive pathway for kids today? Is it
better that kids sail only against other kids,
or would it be more productive, as it was
for me, to race against adults? QThese days, I
sometimes wonder
what caused me to
choose sailing at
a young age, and
to pursue it above
anything else. I had
the desire, but equally
important was the
environment that
allowed me to progress
at my own pace—but
with a high standard
clearly in view.
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