Yacht Enthusiasts Insist Competition Is Not Small Time

SAN DIEGO â€”  If you squinted into the sun a bit, as most of the spectators were doing Saturday, you could have thought you were watching a heat in the America’s Cup challenge races, with the local hope Dennis Conner pulling ahead in Stars and Stripes to edge out the French entry by a bowsprit.

But it was, instead, a miniature version of the real thing, played out with tiny remote-controlled sailboats guided by adults standing along the banks of the model yacht basin in Mission Bay Park.

It was nearly as exciting as the life-size racing off Freemantle, Australia, for the crowd of 50 or so dry-land sailors who followed the graceful model sailboats from front-row seats on the grass, groaning as their favorite, San Diegan Terry Allen, limped in a defeated second to Japan’s Itaru Igawa in the semifinals. Igawa went down to defeat to Canada’s Blair Atwell, who won the America’s Cup Style Challenge trophy in the first-ever model yacht regatta of these 12-meter class imitations.

Range of Competitors

Winners from regional U.S. competitions in New York City, Rhode Island, San Diego and Seattle competed against regional champions from Japan, England, Canada and the Bahamas on the miniature yacht pond course, which also was patterned after the America’s Cup course.

Many of the sailboats, all created from kits produced by the sponsor of the regatta, Japan-based AG Industries, were modified by their skippers to fit the wind and weather conditions. When the Canadian entry--the ultimate winner--came up with a winged keel judges grudgingly approved, but recommended that the second annual international event be held under stricter rules and regulations.

AG Industries paid expenses for regional winners to come to San Diego because of the city’s weather and its renown as the home of the U.S. hope for bringing the America’s Cup back from Australia next year.

Spokeswoman Susan Kornick said that, whether Conner wins the America’s Cup or not, the miniature competition will be back next year--in San Diego or maybe Hawaii.

The model yachts are maneuvered by battery-operated, two-band remote controls--one band controlling the rudder, one to set the sails. The models in Saturday’s regatta sell for less than $200, allowing would-be skippers who cannot afford a $500,000 full-sized yacht or even a more professional model yacht, which run from $1,000 to $4,000 and up, to take up the hobby.

International Test

Allen, the local finalist, said he had not worked with the AG Industries model sailboats until Thursday, when he prepared himself for Friday’s San Diego regional competition. As the winner in the regionals, he entered the international finals Saturday and placed third.

The San Diego native said he has been interested in model boats since his youth, designing and building his own craft and competing with the San Diego Argonauts, an organization of model powerboat and sailboat skippers.

Chuck Block, a veteran Navy man and Argonaut, said the local chapter is composed mostly of men who sail the “big boats� and also enjoy model boat competition. Of Allen, Block said, “Give him a shoe box and he’ll win with it.�

He attributed Allen’s single loss in the international competition to the Japanese skipper’s modifications.

“We’ll get ‘em next year,� Allen said.