More than three decades later, Frank McLaughlin vividly recalls his white-knuckle ride to the Olympic sailing podium.
In 1988, McLaughlin and crewmate/friend John Millen won bronze in the Flying Dutchman class in the choppy waters of the Sea of Japan off the southeast tip of South Korea.
"I don't think there's ever been a sailing Olympics, nor will there ever be one, where the conditions on a number of days were so extreme," said McLaughlin. "There were literally sort of survival conditions."
The wind was howling in one direction. The current moving in another.
"What that does is it is makes what would normally be large waves, it stands them up," McLaughlin explained. "And so you get these really tall, steep waves that on crazy day were actually breaking into the boat … It was just crazy to get through the waves."
Fellow Canadian Larry Lemieux abandoned a race in the Finn-class competition to rescue a pair of injured Singapore sailors in trouble. Lemieux's heroics meant he missed out on the podium, but was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for sportsmanship by the International Olympic Committee.
McLaughlin and Millen braved the challenging conditions, winning the final race of the regatta to earn bronze behind Denmark’s Jorgen Bojsen-Moller and runner-up Ole Petter Pollen of Norway.
Now the two Canadians are headed to the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame in a star-studded class of 2022.
Joining them in the induction class are:
— Sisters Gail and Karen Johnson, winners of the 1985 Women’s 470 World Championships.
— Judy Lugar and Morag McLean, winners of the 1986 Women’s 470 World Championships.
— Perry Connolly and Gordon Fisher, winners of the 1968 Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) in Red Jacket, a legendary 40-foot racing yacht that helped revolutionize the construction of boats, and 1969 Canada’s Cup in Manitou.
— George Cassian, the 2nd “C” in C & C Yachts and, with George Cuthbertson, designer of Red Jacket.
— Erich Bruckmann, builder of Red Jacket, founding member of C & C Yachts and manager of C & C Custom Division.
— George Hinterhoeller, designer and builder of the Shark class of keelboat, founding member of C & C Yachts and Hinterhoeller Yachts.
— Ian Morch, established Belleville Marine and a founding member of C & C Yachts.
The induction ceremony will take place Oct. 15 at the Kingston Yacht Club.
McLaughlin joins older brother Terry in the Hall of Fame. Terry, along with Evert Bastet, won silver in the Flying Dutchman class at the 1984 Olympics where Frank, with Martin ten Hove, finished 15th in the 470 event.
Frank McLaughlin also competed in the '92 Olympics, finishing ninth in the Flying Dutchman with Millen.
McLaughlin and Millen learned their sailing chops as kids on Lake Ontario. McLaughlin spent his summers on Toronto Island. Millen still lives there.
The ties ran deep — and paid off in South Korea.
The Flying Dutchman boats, no longer in the Olympics, are fast and technical, adding to the degree of difficulty.
"All the time spent together in boats really contributed to us winning the medal when the chips were down in extremely trying and difficult conditions," said McLaughlin, now a Toronto-based partner at the law firm of McCarthy Tetrault. "The fact that we had the teamwork that we had and the trust in each other that we had really came through for us when it counted.
"And we're still great friends at this stage of life. That definitely adds a lot to the experience."
McLaughlin and Millen finished fifth, sixth, first, 12th, ninth and sixth in the first six races in South Korea. Going into the final race, they were fourth and knew a first-place finish would assure they made the podium.
They did it, but it wasn't easy.
"It was the same kind of crazy conditions,," McLaughlin recalled
McLaughlin was a three-time Canadian under-20 Youth Champion and won the International 14 World Championship in 1981 with Millen. The pair placed third in the 1986 Flying Dutchman World Championships and the Goodwill Games.
McLaughlin also won bronze, with ten Hove, in the 470 class at the 1983 Pan American Games.
Canada, which has not won a sailing medal at the Olympics since a silver in Athens in 2004, has a combined three silver and six bronze medals. The McLaughlin brothers account for two of those.
Frank's father Paul was a two-time Olympian and represented Canada in the Firefly class at the 1948 Olympics in London and the Finn class at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
"He was a very committed lifelong competitive sailor," said Frank. "And my mother Mary was also a very talented sailor. Never went to the Olympics. They didn't have women's sailing back in those days but she also sailed the International 14 (class) out of the RCYC (Royal Canadian Yacht Club) and won her share of championships."
Sailing remains a family affair.
Terry McLaughlin and his son, Evert, competed in separate boats at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
And Ali ten Hove and Mariah Millen, the daughters of Frank's Olympic crewmates, competed together at last summer's Tokyo Olympics in the 49er FX class.
Frank McLaughlin, now 61, still sails with John Millen — these days in a 35-foot International J/105 keelboat. Terry McLaughlin is also still competing.
Frank believes more Canadian success is coming on the water, pointing to Sarah Douglas and the ten Hove/Mariah Millen combo as among the sailors to watch.
"I think there's still of talent around," he said. "It's a challenge because we have a shorter season here. But we still have people that are committed to it and are talented. So I think there could be more medals in our future in sailing."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2022.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
