On Sunday, They Will Be Holding on for Dear Life : Skiing: Competitors will reach speeds of 80 m.p.h. on Sunday in round-trip race between Long Beach and Catalina.

Outside the breakwater where the ocean gets choppy, water-skiers in the round-trip race between Long Beach and Catalina meet their stiffest challenges: fog, sharks, dolphins, large swells and fatigue.

“It’s a very physically demanding event,” said Lee Squier of Long Beach, who has four top-10 finishes in 10 tries and placed first in the outboard class in 1989.

The 45th race begins at 8 a.m. Sunday with a stampede start in Long Beach Harbor near the Queen Mary. More than 100 competitors, from age 8 to 68 and representing five countries, will reach speeds of 80 m.p.h.

“You have to have total concentration,” said Squier, 39. “If you’re not reading the water properly you could end up falling.”

The top competitors, using only a single, specially designed ski, are expected to complete the 62-statute mile course in less than an hour. The record of 54 minutes 56 seconds was set in 1984 by Mason Thompson of Newport Beach.

Poor steering by boat drivers or bad visibility because of fog has hampered even the best skiers. In 1954 former Bellflower resident Chuck Stearns was in the lead with his father, Bob, observing in the boat. The boat hit a big swell and Bob was thrown into the water, causing several minutes of delay. The younger Stearns recovered and finished third.

Another time, with Bob at the helm and Chuck running neck and neck with a rival doing 50 m.p.h., the fog got so thick near Catalina that both boats missed the turn at Avalon and wound up on San Clemente Island. Out of gas, they were rescued the next morning.

Stearns has won the race 11 times, more than anyone else. If he wins Sunday, he will be the only competitor to have won at least one race in each of the past five decades.

Squier, a railroad conductor who finished third in 1990, has a shot at the title. He was born the year Bob Stearns was bumped out of the boat. Squier didn’t take up water-skiing until he was in his early 20s and was 28 when he first tried the Catalina race.

“I used to watch the race every year and I always wanted to experience it firsthand,” he said. “After my first year in the race, I discovered that if I corrected some of my mistakes and learned the technique I might be able to do pretty well.”

Race promoter Dan Stiel said that no prize money is awarded for winning the event, which is sponsored by the Long Beach Boat and Ski Club.

“People do this just for the love of the sport,” Stiel said.