La Rochelle

The visit to Baltimore and Annapolis in the Whitbread Round the World Race has been a success on so many major counts -- there were spectators, there was publicity, there was even wind -- that some race officials feel almost certain the international competition will return to the Chesapeake."

BaseballNL -- Suspended San Diego Padres P Andy Benes for five games for hitting Colorado's Alex Cole with a pitch last Wednesday.Orioles -- Purchased the contract of P Mike Cook from Triple-A Rochester. Placed OF Jeffrey Hammonds on the 60-day DL.Cleveland Indians -- Recalled C Jessie Levis from Triple-A Charlotte.Kansas City Royals -- Agreed to terms with manager Hal McRae on a one-year contract extension.San Diego Padres -- Named Ollie Goulston assistant director of scouting and player development.

Bathed in mist and fog and surrounded by a mass of nearly 1,000 spectator boats, the yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race resumed their around-the-world voyage yesterday afternoon, charging under the Bay Bridge to begin a 3,400-mile trek to France. In contrast to the chaotic start in Miami this month, all eight yachts crossed the line - just north of the bridge - cleanly in a tight cluster, with Swedish entry SEB a nose ahead of Amer Sports One to begin Leg 7 of the race. The boats that straggled up Chesapeake Bay in fluky winds 10 days ago took off in building southerly breezes for their 118-mile drag race to the Virginia capes, where they will turn east and head for the Gulf Stream to help push them across the Atlantic.

They came from as far as Nevada and Massachusetts to wait by a dock for hours to get a five-minute, up-close glimpse of nine sailing marvels.No matter that a steady rain fell all day. Or that there was a slight chill in the air. And the scant parking downtown didn't seem to make a difference. For the thousands of people who poured into Annapolis the last two days, the Whitbread Round the World yachts were well worth the wait.As the crowds of schoolchildren, sailors and the merely curious in the Whitbread Racing Village down on the City Dock grew by the hour yesterday, city officials were bracing for a jam-packed weekend.

Chessie Racing, the Maryland entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, led the fleet a few miles after leaving Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sunday. Last evening, the 65-foot racing boat with the mythical sea monster emblazoned on its bow sailed into the Inner Harbor next to last."

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- For the crew of Chessie Racing, the end of the Whitbread Round the World Race was anticlimactic. Sitting at the finish in next-to-last place, it couldn't even return to the docks for its celebratory homecoming because the tide was out.So the team left its boat behind in the high water and came to shore in an inflatable motorboat. The sailors' faces told it all -- tired, resigned, straining to smile as they stepped to shore."It was brutal," said bowman Jerry Kirby, who, like other Chessie sailors, had barely eaten or slept in two days of all-out racing.

JUST OVER a month ago, Mike Lannon learned that Christmas in April-Anne Arundel County Inc. would build a wheelchair ramp for him at his Cape Cod-style Eastport home. A group of volunteers built the ramp in a day's time less than two weeks later. "One day, a construction man was here measuring," Lannon says. "He set everything up, and a couple of weeks later a crew of about 10 people showed up at 7:30 in the morning to build the ramp. They were done by 5 p.m." Lannon, who had been a volunteer firefighter in Annapolis for nearly four decades, is grateful for the ramp, which is discreetly located behind pine trees in front of his home.

The Whitbread Round the World RaceStart: Today in Southampton, EnglandFinish: May 24, 1998, in Southampton, EnglandEntries: 10 Whitbread 60sDistance: 31,600 nautical milesLegs: NineCrews: Maximum 12 members per leg. Crew can vary from leg to leg.New ports: Baltimore/Annapolis and La Rochelle, FranceWater crossed: North and South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, South Pacific, Southern OceanTV: ESPN and ESPN2 will do more than 28 hours of coverage including two...

The Whitbread Round the World Race is yet a year and a half from the starting line in Southampton, England, and 25 months from the sailing fleet's arrival in Baltimore, but race organizers and educators already are moving preparations into high gear.A tentative schedule has been set for activities during the fleet's layover in Baltimore and Annapolis, and Chessie Racing, a formative Chesapeake Bay team, has been added to the list of 37 syndicates who have paid registration fees for the 1997-98 race.

With less than six weeks before Whitbread Round the World sails into local waters, event organizers have navigated some unexpectedly stormy waters to bring the prestigious international race to Annapolis.First, Whitbread Chesapeake officials were dismayed to discover last month that the annual boat show would compete against their four-day event, which will begin April 30.Then, several downtown residents packed two city liquor board hearings to oppose what they described as a noisy beer party-carnival that officials were proposing for Annapolis.