Sailboat

If you compete in serious - or even semiserious - sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay, chances are you've been exposed to the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association. The group is in charge of racing and runs regattas, establishes rules and puts on various clinics for Bay racers. We talked to Angelo Buscemi, 40, of Washington, who recently became the group's new president, about its role: What is CBYRA, and who belongs? We're the local governing body for the sport of sailboat racing for the Chesapeake Bay area.

The event that will set this year's Volvo Ocean Race apart from the previous competition is something called the "in-port race" - a sailboat contest in which spectators will get to see the fleet of seven 70-foot- long boats tacking back and forth as they race around a set of buoys. "Nothing quite like this has happened on the bay," said Lee Tawney, who works for Ocean Race Chesapeake, which is organizing events for the Volvo race during its four-week stop in Baltimore and Annapolis. "It would be like having the America's Cup here."

While listening to a panel of Volvo Ocean Race skippers and big-wigs do damage-control at a news conference last week, it occurred to me that this year's round-the-world race feels a lot like drag racing. Those low-to-the-ground land vehicles go more than 330 mph and break speed records. The cars are on the forefront of design. New technology is tested right out there on the race track. Of course, there are accidents. "Anytime you are on the ragged edge of trying to get the car to get to the top of its performance, there are things that can happen," said Anthony Vestal, the media relations director for the National Hot Rod Association.

GOCEK, TURKEY - - As a light breeze propelled us away from the mountainous coastline toward the sparkling Mediterranean Sea, the first real hint about the week ahead came from a grinning middle-aged guy offering us a snack. It was the ice cream man. And he was on a boat. Here in the Gulf of Fethiye, off a southwestern sweep of Turkey justifiably called the Turquoise Coast, the ice cream man plans his day around a principle adventure-seeking vacationers quickly learn: The best way to enjoy the rocky cliffs, secluded beaches and ancient ruins of this part of the world is by boat.

Sailboat show -- The 36th annual U.S. Sailboat Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday to Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday in Annapolis. The event will feature hundreds of boats in the water and onshore; an in-water sailing multihull display; nautical equipment, accessories and services; and racing machines. Tickets are $14, and $7 for ages 12 and younger in advance; and $16 for adults, and $8 for children at the gate. Signs for parking will be posted.

HERE ARE a few places conventional wisdom suggests we don't want to be in a thunderstorm: On a golf course. Under a tree in an open field. Attached to a kite with a copper wire (thank you, Benjamin Franklin). And ... er ... sitting on a sailboat in the middle of the Chesapeake? Skippers aboard roughly 160 sailboats - all with lightning rod-shaped masts - defied that final piece of conventional wisdom last weekend. The boats started the annual Governor's Cup regatta between Annapolis and St. Mary's amid rumbles of thunder and multiple marine advisories from the National Weather Service.

Years of woodworking whetted Doug Scherbarth's appetite for a more challenging project. So, nine years ago, the Hampstead resident decided to build his own sailboat. What started as a pile of lumber became a 43-foot-long monohull sailboat that Scherbarth admits made a "tight squeeze" in his backyard. As he watched the large boat sway idly among others docked at Middle River near Dark Head Creek recently, Scherbarth reflected on how he built Apparition, which he set sail locally for the first time last week.

Most years, Memorial Day is to the calendar what the Bay Bridge is to carloads of hopeful vacationers: a beguiling gateway, a last threshold to that place and time where the days are finally longer, the skies sunnier, where the sand sticks between your toes, burgers sizzle on grills, and more sailboats than you could ever count fill the waters all the way out to a blissfully receding horizon. It's summer, the holiday says. It's starting now, and you're invited. At least, that's the way it's supposed to be. What weather forecasters call a "sizable trough in the upper atmosphere" has made things unseasonably cool all over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this year.

Briefing scheduled on opportunities of Volvo Ocean Race The city of Annapolis will hold a briefing on the impact and opportunities the Volvo Ocean Race will bring to the business community. Gary Jobson will discuss the race and its economic opportunities for the city and county at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Annapolis City Hall on Duke of Gloucester Street. Program offers tips on promoting business The Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce will present a program, "What Can the Chamber Do For Me?

35th United States Sailboat ShowTrade/VIP day When: Oct. 7, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: $30 per person General admission When: Oct. 8-Oct. 11. Oct. 8-Oct. 10, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: Tickets purchased in advance are $14 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under. Tickets purchased at the gate are $16 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. 33rd United States Powerboat ShowTrade/VIP day When: Oct. 14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: $30 per person General admission When: Oct. 15-Oct.