Moscow trip in yacht bid

Press, 26 June 1978, Page 3

Moscow trip in yacht bid

PA Wellington New Zealand yachting is adopting a positive but lowkey approach in its efforts to gain a place at next year’s pre-Olympic regatta at the Baltic port of Tallin in Soviet Estonia. It has also not been invited to the Baltic yachting regatta at Tallin in August. Two officials will travel [ to Moscow in November to try to persuade the Russians to allow New Zealand to compete next year. The New Zealand Yachting Federation decided at a meeting in Wellington at. the week-end that its president (Mr Harry Julian) and executive secretary (Mr Martin Foster) will make the trip after attending the annual conference in London of the Interntional Yacht Racing Union. Russian sports officials have rejected allegations

that they are discriminating by not inviting some countries to Tallin, the site of : 1980 Olympic sailing events, for the August regatta. Mr Malexei Promyslov, general secretary of the Soviet Yachting Federation, said in Moscow that the organisation felt no obligation to invite all Olympic partici-1 pants. [ “As this is an ordinary reigatta — it isn’t a pre-Olym-pic one — so we choose the countries.” he said. “That is our right as a federation, who to invite, who not to invite.” Earlier the International Yacht Racing Union had complained that four member countries, New Zealand, Belgium, Israel and Ireland, had not received invitations and others had received too few. The regatta would give yachtsmen an opportunity to practice on the Olympic site. The union threatened to complain to the Inter-

national Olympic Committee if the discrimination cotinued. Mr Promyslov said that his federation had ti limit the size and number of foreign teams at the August regatta because of a shortage of accommodation in Tallin. The Olympic village was [still under construction, the town had too few hotels, and many rooms were already taken by foreign tourists. It would be different for the pre-Olympic regatta next year when 525 participants would be invited. There would be enough accommodation for all who wanted to attend. Mr Julian said after the Wellington meeting that while he accepted the decision to visit Moscow he felt the mission would be a waste of time and money unless he and Mr Foster could be certain of meeting the right people: members of

e the Soviet Olympic com- - mittee. If that condition were met s he felt sure that much could I e be achieved in face-to-face t discussions. New Zealand yachtsmen e had to have experience of i. Tallin’s winds and tides if s)they were to compete with! e distinction at the Olympics. I ;, It is believed that New[ - Zealand’s past political-! - sporting trouble with black! Africa is behind the Russian! r attitude. The matter is cer-i t tain to come to a head at) s the international union’s! e conference. Mr Julian is cautiously) a optimistic about the even-! tual outcome. The New Zeae land federation had just re-! t ceived a letter from Mr Ani- drei Kislov, the Soviet t Union’s representative on I a the International Yacht Race y Union, saying that he was; r endeavouring to arrange for g New Zealand’s participation ! f at next year’s regatta.