For Brun, Third Time’s the Charm : Skipper Finally Wins Star Race at U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials

SAN DIEGO — The celebration skipper Vince Brun and crew Hugo Schreiner held Thursday didn’t last long.

As the two San Diego sailors crossed the finish line off Point Loma to win the third of 10 Star class races in the U.S. Olympic yachting trials, they exchanged grins and high fives, then immediately headed for shore.

There, Brun played down his victory, saying there is much work to be done if they are to catch fellow San Diego Yacht Club member Mark Reynolds.

“Reynolds still has a huge lead,” Brun said.

With a third-place finish Thursday, in addition to victories in the first two races, Reynolds improved his overall lead to 16 points. He has 5.7 points in the trials’ low-scoring point system to 21.7 for the second-place Brun.

In winds of 7-8 knots, Brun rounded every mark in front, but it wasn’t until the final leg that he was able to shake Reynolds and second-place finisher Peter Wright. Brun crossed the finish line 1 minute 45 seconds ahead of Wright.

“We had to break Mark’s winning streak.” Brun said. “I think everybody felt that way. We’re definitely happy with the results. There was a lot of pressure (during the race) with Reynolds behind us.”

Another San Diego entry finished fourth.

Paul Cayard, who won the Star Worlds in January, struggled in the first two races, finishing 10th and 8th. He looked to be in even more trouble in the third race when he rounded the first mark in 11th place.

But gradually he started to reel in the competition and ended up behind Reynolds.

“I had a nice start, but then we got caught in the middle on the right side,” Cayard said. “We did a good job of coming back.”

Cayard has 38 points, seventh overall.

In the closest competition in either class this week, Dave Chapin of Newport Beach edged John Kostecki in the final leg to win the Soling race by 30 seconds.

Craig Healy of Point Richmond led through the triangle, but Chapin slipped by after the first leeward mark and Kostecki soon followed.

Chapin and Kostecki exchanged the lead until halfway through the last leg.

“He passed us, then we both tacked and I caught the wind and moved ahead,” Chapin said.

Chapin, who finished fifth and fourth in the first two races, said that with a little luck, he and his crew of Larry Klein of La Jolla and Paul Murphy of Annapolis, Md., could be in even better position.

“We were sailing very well and didn’t feel we were getting any breaks,” Chapin said. “You have to have some breaks to win.”

Kostecki, the 1988 Soling world champion from San Francisco, still leads the overall standings with 11 points. Healy is second with 14.4 and Chapin third with 18.

Kostecki has filed a protest against Chapin. Race officials will announce their decision today.

Yachting Notes

Ned Jones of Balboa was over at the start of the Star race and had to go back and start again. . . . Craig Healy rounded the first mark with a 45-second lead but lost at least half of it when his crew had trouble setting the spinnaker.