Mendelblatt eyes the next America's Cup

By DORAN CUSHING

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 20, 2001

Mark Mendelblatt began racing sailboats in the early 1980s at the helm of an inexpensive 8-foot Optimist dinghy on Tampa Bay.

Twenty years later, with a lengthy resume of national and international titles to his credit, the lifelong St. Petersburg resident has teamed up with the One World Challenge America's Cup campaign to crew aboard some of the largest, most expensive and fastest boats in international sailing. Mendelblatt is part of a professional sailing team that includes more than 30 sailors and a similar number of shore support crew. The Seattle- and Washington-based One World Challenge program signed on Australian skipper Peter Gilmore to lead the team and expects to build two boats as part of the multimillion dollar Cup program.

Although the final races of the next America's Cup won't be sailed until February 2003, the qualifying rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup are set to begin in the fall of 2002.

"I'll be going back to Auckland (New Zealand) in October or November," Mendelblatt said about the team's preparation. "I already spent five or six months down there training. I'm off for the summer, waiting for the new boats to be built.

"Then we probably will be down there for the duration until the Cup is over."

While Mendelblatt has some experience on larger boats, most of his racing has been aboard dinghies and smaller keelboats with a maximum crew of three. The America's Cup mega-boats typically race with 16 crew members.

"It's kind of a shock to be on a big boat like these with much bigger equipment," Mendelblatt said. "You need people who are in charge and you need people who just do their job and be quiet. When you sail by yourself, you're responsible only for yourself.

"On the team, you're responsible to everyone. You have to perform well."

Mendelblatt is a graduate of St. Petersburg High and was cited as an All-American his senior year atTufts College. As an Optimist sailor, he qualified for a spot on the U.S. national team several times, competing at international championships in Europe and South America.

"I've never been very goal-oriented," Mendelblatt said, "not long-term goals. But my first sailing goal was qualifying for the Opti Worlds team.

"You had to be one of the top five."

Mendelblatt's tall, lanky frame is a good match for the strength and dynamics needed to race successfully in the Laser Class.

His accomplishments in the single-handed boats include qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the Laser Class in 1992 and 1996. He has finished in the top 10 at the Laser world championships twice and has been ranked as the top American in the class. Despite his success, he hasn't abandoned the dinghies and smaller keelboats for the prestigious AC boats.

"I'll definitely sail the next Olympic Trials, probably in the Laser or another class," Mendelblatt said.

"And I'm going to the Laser Worlds in Ireland in August."

Mendelblatt added a new wrinkle to his resume earlier this summer when he joined the djuice dragon racing team for a sail up the East Coast and across the Atlantic to France.

Another St. Petersburg resident and world champion sailor, Ed Baird, is djuice dragon team coordinator.

"It was a last-minute thing," Mendelblatt said about the ocean experience.

"(Baird) invited me to go along to help with the delivery and some training. It was kind of a tough, slow 17 days. It feels pretty good when you get into shore."

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