Sailing

It rained, it poured, the current was vicious and a cruising boat that got too close to the action impaled its rigging on the bowsprit of the committee boat during the starting sequence.But Shearwater Sailing Club's Hospice Cup XII on Saturday was a great experience nevertheless, for organizers, racers and a large group of sponsor/spectators aboard the Spirit of Baltimore and other vessels.The regular racing fleet of 83 starters in seven classes was augmented by a special 15-boat Hospice Class, made up of boats -- and crews -- that do not normally race.

I played tourist in my own town this week. Thursday morning I went down to the Inner Harbor to watch the tall ships of OpSail 2000 leave port. I am not a sailor. A long time ago my wife and I took a few sailing lessons, but after ramming most of the docks of Anne Arundel County, we abandoned the water and retreated to high ground and asphalt. Frankly, I have since regarded sailing as a rich man's hobby, something stressed-out upper-incomers do to unwind. Having said that, I gotta admit that Thursday's sendoff was quite a spectacle.

It was the kind of day sailors don't exactly appreciate. Hot, and nary a breeze. Which meant very slow going for participants in the 18th annual Sail for Sight Regatta, staged every year by the Magothy River Sailing Association and Baltimore City Yacht Association to benefit the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The big fight on this particular afternoon, however, was just trying to stay in the race. Good thing there were coolers of iced beer and trays of hot dogs and hamburgers waiting for the frazzled sailors as they slowly made their way to the regatta party at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Marine Center.

With 18-knot winds and 5-foot swells, competitors in the Rolex Women's International Keelboat Championship yesterday found themselves living the motto of another watch company - they took a licking and kept on ticking. Sixty-one boats rolled and bounced around on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River on the first of five days of racing. For many of the world-class sailors, the Rolex race is a chance to size up the competition with an eye toward the 2004 Olympics, which will include keelboat racing for the first time.

His friends and fellow sailors often refer to Jim Brady as "Diamond Jim," although he bears no resemblance to the blustering, ostentatious gambler.The title acknowledges the glittering string of victories he has amassed, especially over the past year, in which nearly every event he sailed became another jewel in his sailing crown.Today, shortly after noon at the august and elegant New York Yacht Club, the 27-year-old Annapolis resident will be named the 1990 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.Brady will receive an engraved Rolex watch and see his name engraved on a diamond-like Steuben crystal trophy permanently displayed at the NYYC as he joins American sailing's most elite class, whose achievements have shone above the competition.

ST. MARY'S CITY - In blustery conditions, 52 athletes with developmental disabilities competed in the Special Olympics Maryland sailing regatta over the weekend. For two days, the sailors were partnered in "unified teams" by non-disabled skippers. The round-the-buoys racing produced close starts, exciting finishes, and several capsizes. The competition was on two levels: At level one, the special athletes were responsible for handling the jib while the skippers controlled the boats; at level two, the athlete shared the sailing control with the skipper.

St. Mary's College in Southern Maryland went to a national sailing championship earlier this month and brought home its first national athletic title from the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association Sloop Nationals.The team from the college in St. Mary's City qualified for the competition by winning the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association championships last month.Sailing for St. Mary's were All-America Tim Healy of Niantic, Conn., Bob Oberg of Westmont. N.J., and Peter S. Thompson of Annapolis.

Navy's Intercollegiate Sailing Team members were impressive in acingfour regattas last weekend, including the prestigious Admiral's Cup at King's Point and the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Spring Windsurfing Championship at the Naval Academy.At the Admiral's Cup, Navy was first among 16 colleges racing 420s, Techs andLasers, marking the fifth consecutive year the academy's sailors wonthe event.Winning the A Division were Midshipman 2nd Class Brad Rodi and crew Heather Keane and Reid McLaughlin.

Annapolis officials have learned that the city failed to make the initial cut to host an international sailing festival that could have added to the city's famed history in the sport. Officials had been optimistic that "America's sailing capital" would be among the contenders after learning that no other U.S. city made a bid for the event marking the celebration of the International Sailing Federation's 100th anniversary. In an e-mail to city officials Friday, Arve Sundheim, secretary general of the federation, wrote: "ISAF recognizes the valuable commitments made in the bid from Annapolis, the experience the city offers and its reputation in hosting outstanding sailing events.

George Fisher, a Baltimore businessman and yachting enthusiast, died of a heart attack Thursday at Northwest Hospital Center. The Mount Washington resident was 93. Mr. Fisher was born in Baltimore to Russian immigrants and raised near Lombard and High streets. "In a 1999 family video, he said he was named George because his father thought this was `the greatest country in the world, and he revered George Washington,'" said his daughter, Barbara Fisher Steinke of Mount Washington. He worked in his family's Chester Street grocery store while attending school, and graduated in 1928 from City College.