Don't Lower The Boom, Just Move The Mast

In fact, chief criticism aimed at the 5.5s, North pointed out, was their cost. They demand great wardrobes of sails, spare and often exotic spars and custom-built fittings. The result is that many sailors are disturbed by growing costs in the class and the emphasis on design, plus the fact that few regattas are scheduled for the 5.5s. There is a feeling that many in the rank and file of sailing will convince the union to replace the class in the 1972 Olympics with a more democratic, cheaper, less sophisticated boat.

The new Luv, for example, cost North and Peter Peckham some $15,000, including design fee, tank testing, sails and rigging. But not far away sat Lady Luck, a strange-looking vessel concocted by MIT's Dr. Jerry Milgram. Her cost was said to be in the $70,000 range.

All the boats on the Newport Harbor Yacht Club line were about 3% faster than the boats of a year ago, said Britton Chance Jr., a 28-year-old who designed 11 of the 17 entries. Chance, who many predict will be the next Olin Stephens when that peerless yacht designer retires, firmly maintained that 5.5s "are only as expensive as you want to make them." And, discounting the fact that he has more at stake than anyone else, he feels that the class deserves to live on its merits.

"A hell of a lot more innovation has come out of this class than, say, the 12-meters," he said. "Small keels, modern high-aspect-ratio rigs, Mylar spinnakers, all came from the 5.5s."

And Newport Beach did, indeed, look like a designer's dream. There were rectangular keels, delta keels, scimitar rudders, rudders like airplane flaps, masts with holes all over them, flat booms, round and oval booms—and several boats with hard ridges running almost the length of their topsides, thus permitting a low wetted surface. All were aimed, in their own way, at the light airs of Acapulco, where the survivor will fight it out for Olympic medals.

And so, masts tuned, sails picked, bottoms polished slickly, what may be the last Olympic trials the 5.5s will ever experience got under way.

Sailor North had been looking at the skies and had mused, "I think a controllable mast helps in a breeze, but not so much in light air. In fact, we may not even use it."

But when Sunday afternoon came up washed in bright sunshine—complete with light air and a long swell—North decided to go for the gadget. So did Cassel; only Allan elected to go for an old-fashioned sail.

And when it was all over, the only conclusive finding seemed to be that the role of the flopper is still uncertain, and that the 5.5-meter men would have to continue worrying about it through the entire week of trials. For one thing, North made a poor start and never overcame the handicap, finishing fifth. Allan and Cassel also finished far down the fleet.

The winner and leader from start to finish was a tense, up-tight gentleman named Gardner Cox, aided by an all-star combination of champion dinghy skipper Dr. Stuart Walker and 12-meter hand and sailing instructor Steve Colgate. Nervousness aside, Cox is a sailor's sailor; he was three-time international champion in Penguin dinghys and despite the fact he is a newcomer to the sophisticated 5.5s he became U.S. champion of that class this year.