[ Retrospective
] [ Venue ] [ Competition
] [ Results ] [ Highlights
] [ Conclusion ] [ Legacy
]
A 1984 OLYMPIC YACHTING RETROSPECTIVE
"Don't let it be forgot.
that once there was a spot
for one brief shining moment
that was known as Camelot"
Lerner & Loewe
Olympic Yachting and Los Angeles go back a long way -- to the Games of Xth Olympiad. It
was then that the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA) also had its first involvement in the Olympics.SCYA, founded in 1921, played a major role in the staging of the 1932 Olympic Regatta, which was sailed in the Pacific Ocean off the Port of Los Angeles. Among the many who were involved was 26 year old Owen Churchill, who skippered the eight-meter yacht "Angelita" to a Gold Medal in those Games. There were many more and together they provided the inspirational linkage between them and the more recent vintage of SCYA leaders, foremost of whom was Richard Belden, SCYA Commodore-1975, who when the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad were awarded to Los Angeles in 1978, began the effort to see that SCYA again played an important role in staging the 1984 Olympic Games.
- Shortly after the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) was formed in 1979, Dick Belden, Barry Labow, SCYA Commodore-1974 and Ted Hinshaw, SCYA Commodore-1979 met with John MacFaden, a yachtsman and LAOOC board member to discuss SCYA's interest in becoming involved in the "84 Games. He told them "to go for it".
- On March 24, 1980 the LAOOC made a most important announcement: "LAOOC ANNOUNCES FIRST MAJOR 1984 OLYMPIC SITE IN AGREEMENT WITH LONG BEACH (C/LB) AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA YACHTING ASSOCIATION".
- The agreement called for the C/LB to provide the physical facilities and SCYA to provide all logistical support - all at no expense to LAOOC. This announcement represented an agreement between the parties which had taken eight months to negotiate and approve. Negotiations were done by Richard Sargent for LAOOC; Phil Bruebaker for C/LB: and Ted Hinshaw for SCYA.
- This agreement had no provision for any pre-Olympic Yachting events. The Southern California yachting community was blessed with a wealth of talent and experience in the area of race management. Nonetheless, it was readily apparent that a series of Olympic training regattas was essential to the success of the 1984 events.
- To this end (in the summer of 1980) five organizations came together to form an entity whose sole purpose was to organize and stage a series of three pre-Olympic regattas. The five were SCYA, City of Long Beach, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC), Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC) and the United States Yacht Racing Union (USYRU)-now U. S. Sailing.
- The organization was called Olympic Classes Regatta Organizing Committee (OCROC). It put on three very successful regattas from 1981-83. The experience gained by OCROC personnel - who it is conservatively estimated put in a combined total of over 250,000 volunteer hours during those three years - was a major factor in the success of the 1984 Olympic Regatta.
- On November 28, 1980, LAOOC announced it first group of sports commissioners for the 1984 Games. Among that group was Ted Hinshaw, who was named Yachting Commissioner.
- After three successful pre-Olympic regattas, the run-up to the 1984 Olympic Regatta began.
