Chessie

"Chessie Racing: The Story of Maryland's Entry in the 1997-98 Whitbread Round the World Race," by George J. Collins and Kathy Alexander. Johns Hopkins University Press. 240 pages. $34.95. This is a book for several audiences -- the serious sailor, the vicarious adventurer, and the proud Maryland landlubber. Chessie Racing's entry into the 1997-98 Whitbread Round the World Race engaged an interest far beyond the normal appeal of ocean racing, even in a water-bred community like ours. This was achieved, in major part, through the first partnership between an ocean racing syndicate and a nonprofit organization, the Living Classrooms Foundation.

On Sept. 21, Chessie and its Baltimore-Annapolis crew and support group will begin the Whitbread Round the World Race -- nine legs and more than 30,000 miles of the toughest racing on the planet.Chessie Racing president Mark K. Fischer said last week that Chessie and its crew are rounding into shape quickly as the start in Southampton, England, nears."We have made the final crew selections and the boat has to be measured [certified]," said Fischer, also Chessie's co-skipper, while in town last week.

Pieces of column too short to use . . .Dog overboard . . . Richard Schubert can't say for sure how Chessie, his yellow Lab, wound up doing the ole dogstroke off Hart-Miller Island last Saturday morning.Before he anchored for the night and retired to the cabin of his 21-foot boat, Date Bait -- "Hey, I'm a single guy" -- Schubert tethered his dog to the railing. Somehow, Chessie got free from her collar.Another boater found her about 100 yards offshore, pulled her aboard, then gave her to a third boater who happened by.Schubert went nuts when he awoke.

Chessie Racing, the Baltimore-Annapolis entry in the Whitbread, has been sailing comfortably in 4th place as the fleet of 10 looks ahead to the Doldrums, passing the Equator and entering the South Atlantic.In recent days, Chessie and Silk Cut, the British entry skippered by Lawrie Smith, have been fighting over 4th and 5th places, with Chessie settled in 4th."If someone told me we would be in a gybing duel in the middle of the Atlantic with Silk Cut after a week of racing, I wouldn't have believed them," Chessie watch captain Grant Spanhake reported.

Although Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread, was last as the fleet left Cape Town for Fremantle, Australia, on Saturday, it has been as high as second place in the days since as the fleet has chased Swedish Match into the upper limits of the Roaring 40s.At midnight (GMT), Chessie was sixth, 324 miles behind.Satellite position reports indicate Chessie has been sailing well and has been heading south in search of stronger, steadier winds. The forecast for the next two days - stronger winds for boats more to the south and east, bodes well for the Maryland boat.

Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, has not filed reports to race headquarters since the start of Leg 3 on Saturday. Satellite position reports, however, indicate Chessie is doing well.While Norway's Innovation Kvaerner and The Netherlands' BrunelSunergy took a gamble yesterday and headed south away from the fleet, Chessie is with the fleet leaders, sailing closer to the Australian coast.At today's second report, at 6 a.m. (GMT), Chessie was in fourth position, 11.3 miles behind leader EF Language of Sweden, which led Swedish Match by 5.8 miles.

A marine biologist for the National Aquarium in Baltimore searched Rock Creek in northern Anne Arundel County and parts of the Patapsco River but found no trace of Chessie, the manatee who first wandered into the Chesapeake Bay in 1994.The search was prompted by reports from two people who said they had seen the 10-foot-long, 1,500-pound sea cow in the creek Monday, said biologist David Schofield, who flew over the area in a Department of Natural Resources helicopter with a DNR police officer and a video photographer.

The keel damage sustained in Chessie Racing's collision with a whale in the Southern Ocean was repaired yesterday, allowing the crew to press on with the major task of renewing the super-slick racing finish on the boat's underbody.The damage, a slight ding about two feet above the junction of the bulb and the fin keel was not as significant as was feared. Paint had peeled off, but there was no real structural damage. There was, however, one blade missing from the tiny impeller that protrudes through the boat's bottom to record its speed through the water.

Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, is expected to finish the first leg by Friday morning, likely in fifth place in the 10-boat fleet -- a strong showing for a first-time entrant in the world's toughest team sailing race.Reports from Chessie indicate that food and fuel are in good supply, and, unlike several other boats in the fleet, the crew has not had to ration food or water.Team officials report Chessie had stocked meals for 35 days. Projections have the Maryland boat in Cape Town after 33 days.

Chessie is missing.The wandering Florida manatee, who made news with his summer ventures into the Chesapeake Bay in 1994 and to Rhode Island waters in 1995, has been separated from the radio transmitter used to track his movements.Scientists following the signal by satellite detected the separation July 10, when Chessie was north of Morehead City, N.C., near Pamlico Sound. Two days later, the region was swept by Hurricane Bertha.Tuesday, biologist Jim Reid of the National Biological Service's Sirenia Project traced the transmitter's continuing signal to the Intracoastal Waterway near the Neuse River in North Carolina.