Success kept in the family

Press, 27 September 1988, Page 23

Success kept in the family

NZPA-Reuter Pusan In the close-knit world of yachting, one secret of Olympic success is keeping it in the family. Yachtsmen at the Olympic regatta in the southeastern port of Pusan say sharing a boat with a close relative is a big help in a sport where a good team relationship, trust and understanding are crucial. Brothers were in five of the top 10 places in the 470 light dinghy class after five races of the seven race series, and Finnish sisters were third in the women’s 470. A total of 19 Olympic crews include blood relations. “We know each other so well we can read what each other is going to do before we do it,” said Dan-Noam Torten, of Israel, who races with his brother Ram-Jacob in the 470. Tynu and Toomas Tyniste, of the Soviet Union, have an even bigger advantage — they are twins. “We do everything together and we always have. We understand each other very well,” Tynu said. He and his brother were in second place in the 470. The Tynistes, who are 21, have been sailing since they were 10 when their school teacher suggested they take it up. They were well-placed with two races remaining to become the first brothers to sail to gold together since the East German Diesch brothers Jorg and Eckhardt won the Flying Dutchman in Kingston in 1976. Most of the family teams have been racing together for a long time, often growing up sailing boats in a sailing-mad family. Torben Grael of Brazil, who was leading the Star class — the second largest Olympic category — raced for many years with his brother Lars, who is in the Tornado catamaran. Sailing is in the family’s blood. Two of their uncles, Axel and Eric Schmidt, sailed at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. “We learned a lot from them, they helped us very much,” said Torben, a former world champion in the Snipe, a nonOlympic class.