Apparently so, or there wouldn't be so many people like Schoettle or Connor or the Linvilles (who have been a team for seven years) or '72 gold medal winner Foster, or Argyle Campbell, or Bill Cox Jr., or any of the other dedicated combatants in the Tempest class.
"It's like living every four years to four years," Berg said. "There are people who have been trying 20 years to make it to the Olympics, and they're eventually gonna make it, if they don't die first."
Length: 21 ft. 11 3/4 in.
Waterline: 19 ft. 3 in.
Beam: 6 ft. 5 1/2 in.
Draft: 3 ft. 7 in.
Sail area: main and jib, 247.6 sq. ft.
Spinnaker: 225 sq. ft.
Minimum hull weight: 977 lbs.
Designer: Ian Proctor
Top U.S. competition: Jack Linville, Dennis Conner, Glen Foster, Bruce MacLeod, Bill Cox Jr., Argyle Campbell, Andy Schoettle, Van Alan Clark and Peter Barrett.
Top foreign competition: John Albrechtson, Sweden; Giuseppe Milone, Italy; and Uwe Mares, Germany.