Nautical Miles

For the first time in the Whitbread Round the World Race, Maryland-entry Chessie Racing is leading the fleet on the third day of the 2,250-nautical-mile Leg 3 across the Great Australian Bight from Fremantle to Sydney.Chessie skipper George Collins, the recently retired CEO of T. Rowe Price, and tactician John Kostecki piloted the boat through the fleet to establish a 1.9-nautical-mile lead over their nearest rival, Toshiba, the other American boat.Their rivals are strung out in a fan-shaped formation some 50 nautical miles wide.

On a sultry morning, Dave McNally exits Smith Point Marina and aims his 24-foot Carolina skiff toward 1 o'clock. There, his destination, a faint, gray shadow, protrudes above the Chesapeake Bay horizon. Within minutes, the shadow resolves into the Smith Point lighthouse, a formidable octagonal structure with the haunting allure of a Victorian pile. This is McNally's weekend retreat. For the Minnesota resident who has spent his life exploring the Mississippi by boat, the notion of "going to the Territory" has an entirely different meaning than it did for fellow river rat Huck Finn.

Status: Day 4, Leg 5Standings:Boat Nautical miles to finish1. Merit Cup 5,862.02. Chessie Racing 5,863.03. EF Language 5,864.24. Silk Cut 5,865.45. Toshiba 5,869.76. Swedish Match 5,870.87. EF Education 5,892.88. Innovation Kvaerner 5,892.89. BrunelSunergy 5,941.9@(as of 00: 3: 16 GMT)Boat beat: The nine yachts were making slow progress down New Zealand's east coast in light winds. Toshiba has sailed just more than 600 nautical miles since the fleet left Auckland, with almost 6,000 nautical miles remaining of the 6,670-nautical-mile leg to Sao Sebastio, Brazil.

In a move it hopes will revive private aviation nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday it is easing airspace restrictions that have been in place around 30 major metropolitan areas since Sept. 11. The decision is effective immediately and, the agency says, has the greatest impact on the Baltimore-Washington region, where six airports have been closed and about two dozen more have been operating under restrictions for three months. "There is a good feeling here at the FAA, because we have been saying for weeks that our goal has been to restore flying to what it was before Sept.

Today in waters off Southampton, England, 10 boats begin a journey of 31,600 nautical miles - the Whitbread Round the World Race - a test of courage and skill for the globe's best sailors. They will battle the elements and each other in a chase that runs through the tropics and skirts Antarctica. And by late May, after a stop in Baltimore, a new champion will be crowned back in Southampton.Pub Date: 9/21/97

EF Language, the overall leader in the Whitbread Round the World Race, won the 6,670-nautical-mile Leg 5 last night, arriving in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, 508 nautical miles ahead of its closest rival in the nine-boat fleet and 23 days after leaving Auckland, New Zealand.With American Paul Cayard at the helm, the Swedish entry won its third of five legs raced so far, and the victory gave it a commanding lead in the standings.Maryland entry Chessie Racing was in third position and making a run on second-place boat BrunelSunergy of the Netherlands.

In a move it hopes will revive private aviation nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday it is easing airspace restrictions that have been in place around 30 major metropolitan areas since Sept. 11. The decision is effective immediately and, the agency says, has the greatest impact on the Baltimore-Washington region, where six airports have been closed and about two dozen more have been operating under restrictions for three months. "There is a good feeling here at the FAA, because we have been saying for weeks that our goal has been to restore flying to what it was before Sept.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The boat that Annapolis sailing professional John Bertrand will co-skipper in the MTN Cape-to-Rio 2000 yacht race starting today is a gleaming 75-foot speed machine, known as a turbo-sled. The boat that Sieraj Jacobs, amateur sailor from a depressed area of this port city, will sail is a borrowed 10-year-old, 41-foot sloop, patched up, repainted, and crewed mainly by "previously disadvantaged" teen-agers -- as blacks and people of mixed race are known in post-apartheid South Africa.

Status: Day 6, Leg 8Standings:Boat, Nautical miles to finish1. Toshiba, 1,767.12. Merit Cup, 1,767.83. EF Language, 1,777.44. Innovation Kvaerner, 1,778.15. EF Education, 1,783.66. BrunelSunergy, 1,792.57. Swedish Match, 1,793.38. Silk Cut, 1,830.09. Chessie Racing, 1,840.6(as of 00: 04: 37 GMT)Boat beat: The American yacht Toshiba grabbed the lead from Merit Cup yesterday during the eighth leg of the race. Toshiba, seventh in the overall standings, was just 0.7 nautical miles ahead as the boats sailed through the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Heading to its home port at last, Maryland-based Chessie Racing hovered near the top of the fleet yesterday as the Whitbread Round the World Race began its sprint to Baltimore.All nine competitors were within mere boat lengths of each other yesterday afternoon, with Chessie in second in this 870-nautical-mile leg to the Chesapeake. Under powder blue skies, scores of spectator boats watched and attempted to keep up with the sleek racers as they began one of their last races in this marathon trek.

With the freezing furies of the Southern Ocean weeks behind them, the fleet in the Whitbread Round the World Race has entered Leg 6 from Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and during the first four days the racing has been as close and heated as the weather."

EF Language, the overall leader in the Whitbread Round the World Race, won the 6,670-nautical-mile Leg 5 last night, arriving in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, 508 nautical miles ahead of its closest rival in the nine-boat fleet and 23 days after leaving Auckland, New Zealand.With American Paul Cayard at the helm, the Swedish entry won its third of five legs raced so far, and the victory gave it a commanding lead in the standings.Maryland entry Chessie Racing was in third position and making a run on second-place boat BrunelSunergy of the Netherlands.