The McKees: Seattle’s 49er Sailors

Prospecting for Gold at Sidney Olympics

Written May, 2000

Seattle is home to two exceptional athletes – both have won Olympic medals and coached subsequent US Olympic teams, both have been world champions, and both have been considered among the elite in their sport for the last decade.  Having accomplished all that, what drives these two family men to continue to train and compete full-time?  Sailing racers Jonathan McKee, 39, and his brother Charlie, 37, both of Seattle, have won their place on the US Sailing team in the 49er class, an exciting new high-performance sailing skiff included in the Olympics for the first time this year.

 Growing up in Seattle in the 1970’s, there wasn’t a youth sailing program available, so the McKees raced against adults and mostly lost.  Both feel they benefited from the experience and the higher skill level of adult competitors, and as a result excel in the sport.  As adults, to keep challenging themselves, they’ve sailed a wide variety of high-performance sailing skiffs including Lasers, Tasars, 470’s, 505’s, Flying Dutchman, One-Design 14’s, International18’s, and now 49ers.  The resulting sailing resumes for both Jonathan and Charlie span two decades with significant racing achievements in all of the classes in which they’ve sailed.

Jonathan was a collegiate sailing All-American in 1981, ’82 and ‘83.  He won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics and was 1984 world champion in the Flying Dutchman class.  He won the North American championships in the 505 class in 1986 and in the Laser class in 1987.  Jonathan moved away from full-time international competition in the mid- and late 1980’s and to coaching in 1992, when he coached the Soling and Tornado classes for the US Olympic Yachting team.  Returning to the water in 1996 he and his wife Libby were the Tasar class world champions.

Charlie was the 1981 USYRU Youth Champion and a collegiate All-American in sailing in 1985.  He won a bronze metal in the 1988 Olympics in the 470 class.  After a break of a couple of years, he returned to international sailing in 1991 and won the Tasar class world championship with his wife Becky.  Working with Jonathan in 1992, he coached for the 1992 US Olympic sailing team in the sailboard class.  Continuing in active sailing, he went on to be the One-Design 14 international champion in 1993, and Tasar national champion with Becky again in 1995.

Joining forces in the mid-1990’s with Chris Lanzinger, another top sailor from the Seattle area, the McKees competed professionally in the Australian 18-footer League sailing the 3-man International 18 skiff class for a couple of seasons.  While in Australia, they discovered an emerging class of Australian designed, 2-man sailing skiffs called 49ers.  The name 49er refers to the boat length, which is 4.9 meters.  Like the International 18’s, these boats have enormous sailing power requiring a high degree of athleticism and sailing skill to keep the boat upright let alone compete among the elite of the sport.  Imagine a wide, flat, open 16-foot-long boat with nearly twice as much sail area as other boats the same size, ripping through the water at fifteen or more miles per hour with both members of her crew suspended on wires from the mast, only their feet in contact with the boat, and their bodies stretched out a mere twelve to twenty-four inches above the water.  That is 49er sailing.

By bringing the 49er class to the US four years ago, the McKees helped start the first North American 49er fleet here in Seattle.  They quickly took the lead as the preeminent US competitors in the sport winning their first title as “Intergalactic Champions” in 1996.  They took the silver medal in the World Championships in 1997 and won nearly every other regatta they entered that year, ultimately being named US Sailing’s US Olympic Committee Athletes of the Year.  They’ve continued their mastery of the sport in subsequent years with Gold and Silver medals in successive years’ North American championships, a win and a third place in Grand Prix professional 49er racing in Europe last year and a bronze at the recent pre-Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.  Last fall they won the sole US Olympic berth for this class, beating out 1999 World bronze medallists Morgan Larson and Kevin Hall of California, fellow Seattleites Andy Mack and Adam Lowry, and 1998 National Champions Jay Renehan and Chris Lanzinger also from Seattle.

Despite the lengthy list of accomplishments, Jonathan believes that it’s “not really about that kind of acclaim or awards, it’s about the sailing.”  He’s more interested in continuing to improve his skills and doing the best he can, than worrying about the results.  Charlie has made a conscious decision not to do full-time professional sailing like the America’s Cup but rather prefers small boat racing because of the challenges of high-speed sailing tactics and the requirement for highly developed, physically demanding boat-handling skills.  Beyond that, you get the feeling that for these brothers, sailing and competing together is a defining element of their lives.

For the McKees, sailboat racing has been an enduring family tradition.  Their parents owned a cruising boat when they were young, and Jonathan remembers there being boating books and magazines all around the house.  Their mother competed in the Adams Cup, the women’s US national championship of sailing.  Jonathan began racing keelboats at about age ten, the family Soling at about age thirteen and Lasers at fourteen or fifteen.  Charlie started sailing between the ages of eight and ten, “tagging along with his older brothers” Jonathan and Bates, and started racing shortly after that.  In addition to the success Jonathan and Charlie have enjoyed, their older brother Bates has competed internationally as well.  He has raced with partner Fritz Lanzinger, brother of Chris Lanzinger and 1979 national champion in the Flying Dutchman class, and represented the US Sailing Team in the 1999 49er world championship with Adam Koch, also from Seattle.  Jonathan’s wife Libby Johnson McKee, in addition to sailing with Jonathan in the Tasar class, competes at the national level in the women’s “Europe” Olympic class.  The family affair with racing continues today as Jonathan and Charlie have taken time off from their professional careers to pursue racing full-time, training and competing in events leading up to the Olympics this fall.

An early major event this year was the 2000 49er class world championship held March 17^th through 23^rd in San Carlos, Mexico.  The event included the best 57 teams from around the world in a three-day qualifying series that narrowed the field to the best 25 teams who advanced to the three-day final.  In the 12-race qualifying series, the McKees, and their Team McLube boat, overcame the shaky first day to finish 7^th, and advanced to the finals.  In the four races in the first day of the three-day finals, the McKees improved their position to 4^th and looked to be in contention for the gold medal.  The second day proved tougher with a 23^rd place in the fourth race of the day dropping them back to 7^th place overall.  Unfortunately, the third and final day began with disaster as the McKees had an equipment failure at the beginning of the first race and couldn’t complete the race.  As the wind grew to over 20 mph, nearing the limit for this class, the bad luck continued with a capsize in the second race of the day that pushed them back from 5^th place in that race to 14^th, ending their medal hopes.  Continuing to drive themselves, the McKees finished 5^th in the third race, pulling them up into 6^th place overall.  The last race of the day was cancelled because the wind exceeded the 28 mph limit for the class, making the results after 11 races final.

In the event, the gold medal went to the Spanish team of Lopez-Vazquez and de la Plata, who never finished lower than 12^th in any race and strung together a 1^st, five 2nds and a 3^rd in the eleven races.  The silver medal went to the German team of Baur and Barth who never finished lower than 9^th in any race and had two 1sts and two 3rds.  The bronze medal went to the Finnish team of Johanson and Jarvi with nine top-10 finishes.  Previous 3-time world champions, Nicholson and Phillips from Australia, finished 5^th overall, just ahead of the McKees.  The result, while disappointing for the McKees, included eight top-10 race finishes, demonstrating that they can compete effectively with a world-class field and giving them reason to expect to be in medal contention in the Olympics in Sydney, Australia this fall [The McKees took the bronze metal in the 2000 Olympics - Ed].

After the 2000 World Championships will be a season of events in the European Grand Prix professional 49er racing circuit and throughout North America with the final stop on their current schedule being an opportunity for Pacific Northwest fans to catch high-caliber international action at the Subaru Gorge Games July 7^th through 10^th in Cascade Locks, Oregon.  In addition, the Seattle fleet typically races each Thursday evening at the Corinthian Yacht Club at Shilshole Bay between May and October offering an opportunity to see 49er racing in a local setting.  In September, they’ll be off to Australia for training and the Olympics. 

For sailors and non-sailors alike, the 49er competition in the Olympics should be fun and interesting to watch because of the way the races are run.  Unlike the other Olympic classes, the 49ers sail short, sprint courses with races lasting around 30 minutes and all the action is visible to the spectators.  Since the races are shorter, faster, near to shore, run more frequently and the boats are closer together, it is easier to watch and understand what is going on.

 The excitement of participating, as well as the excitement of watching are reasons why, after over 20 years of competitive sailing, the McKees have stayed in the sport beyond what is traditionally considered normal competitive sailing age.  The style of racing in this class and the exciting possibilities of the sport for spectators have reinvigorated them for the full-time commitment of this level of competitive sailing.  Jonathan says, “There’s a lot of energy around it and Sydney’s going to be a great showcase for sailing and our event in particular is going to be a big part of that.”

Additional information about 49ers is available on the worldwide web.  For more information about each of the following topics, see the respective web sites:

Copyright © 2000-2006 Chris Powell. All rights reserved.