Community

Have an opinion about something you read in The Log?

Write to: The Log Editorial,

P.O. Box 1337, Newport Beach, CA 92659 thelogeditor@thelog.com.

Letters/Online Comments

RE: “Commissioners Approve 8-Week Pause for In-Water Hull Cleaning in Shelter Island Yacht Basin”

(JUNE 25 – JULY 8)

I do not see how this pause can come to a scientifi c conclusion. The thicker algae barrier from not cleaning will insulate the copper leaching into the water. Then this more toxic algae buildup will be more aggressively cleaned and released in the water. It also rains about 3 inches December to February which needs to be taken into account. It would be helpful to all if the Port would be transparent on the testing and reported to the Log. —Anonymous

RE: “Bellwether Announces Slip Fee Increases in Dana Point Harbor

Starting in October” (JULY 9 – 22)

The recent article regarding the massive increase in slip rent proposed by Bellwether Financial contains a number of misleading statements by Mr. Ueberroth. For instance, while the Dana Point harbor has virtually no amenities for boaters, other than rest rooms not upgraded since probably the 70›s (and no amenities to be added in the revitalization), the Newport Beach marinas on which Bellwether bases the proposed increase mostly have such amenities, like the pool, lounge and restaurant in Newport Dunes Marina, which is also a Ueberroth marina. To suggest any boater is “excited” about the so-called revitalization is laughable. The only things boaters are getting is replacement of some docks that have been crumbling for years, and, of course, a whopping, unreasonable slip increase. —Dennis

All comments are edited for grammar and clarity.

On Board With Johnson by J.R. Johnson

FAST FACTS

Fast Facts: Sailing in the Olympics

By: LINDSEY GLASGOW

PARIS — Its off to the races for the competitors in the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyoko. The games kicked off July 23 and the sailing events began on July 25. Sailing is one of the oldest sports on the Olympic program and its Olympic history includes some of the sporting world’s great figures.

The ancient version of the Games was first held in Greece around 776 BC as a tribute to Zeus, the god of sky and thunder. In 1894 the idea was put forward to resurrect the concept of the games by French historian and academic Baron Pierre de Coubertin. On June 16, 1894, the first Olympic Congress was declared open in the auditorium of the Sorbonne University in Paris and the desire was expressed for nautical sports - rowing, sailing, and swimming - to be on the Olympic program.

The first modern Games, held in Athens, Greece as a tribute to its roots, were held two years later in 1896. Sailing was on the program, but rain, heavy winds, and powerful waves that knocked lighter vessels on shore created conditions unsafe for competition in Phaleron Bay, according to the NBC Olympics website.

Sailing was first contested at the 1900 Olympic Games and the competition included cash prizes for the winners in an era in which athletes were supposed to be competing for the love of sport, not money, according to the NBC Olympics website. The yachting competition also featured more than one final for each class and an adjustment of the times for each vessel based on the weight of its crew.

Sailing made its next Olympic appearance in 1908 and has been on every Olympic program since that year.

It wouldn’t be until 1988 that women would be included in the event. At the International Olympic Committee Executive Board meeting held in July and August of 1984 in Los Angeles, it was decided to add the 470 dinghy event for women to the program of the Games in Seoul, Korea in 1988.

There have been many other notable moments in Olympic sailing over the years. The following are a couple of moments that come from the NBC Olympics website.

Los Angeles, 1932: At the helm of his vessel Angelita, Owen Churchill led his crew to victory in the 8-meter competition for America’s first-ever Olympic sailing medal. The Los Angeles native went on to patent the first rubber swim fin in 1940. These fins were later used in World War II by British and U.S. frogmen, and by recreational swimmers for decades to come. His boat was restored for the 1984 Los Angeles Games, with Churchill back at the flagship for the sailing events in Long Beach.

Tokyo, 1964: Australia’s Bill Northam won the 5.5meter class on his yacht, the Barrenjoey. A grandfather of five, Northam was, at age 59, the oldest Australian Olympic gold medalist and his country’s first in the