Windjammers

Except for some wartime restrictions, U.S. yachtsmen will steer their usual course this summer--not only for their own pleasure but for the convenience of the Coast Guard in case a mosquito fleet is needed during an emergency.* Some restrictions:

> There will be no coastwise racing on the Atlantic or Pacific.

> New London and Los Angeles harbors are closed to pleasure boats.

> Yachtsmen must carry identification cards; take along no cameras, firearms or enemy aliens.

What will happen to pleasure motorboating if gas rationing becomes more stringent is anyone's guess. But for windjammers and skippers who are content to stick close to home waters, the approaching season looks sporty enough.

For years East and West Coast races have taken the wind out of the sails of inland yachting. The annual Newport-to-Bermuda and biennial Los Angeles-to-Hawaii races made all inland thrashes seem like a swan-boat ride in Boston's Public Garden. This year, with all coastwise races called off, Great Lakes sailors are rubbing their horny palms. At last their beloved Chicago-to-Mackinac race, scheduled for this weekend, is the No. 1 offshore event of the year.

"Making the Mackinac" (pronounced mackinaw) is the dream of every inland yachtsman. Not only is it the world's longest fresh-water race (331 miles as the duck paddles), but according to old salts it is no less hazardous than the longer, more spectacular ocean races. In 35 thrashes to Mackinac since 1904, no lives have been lost, but enough boats have been disabled to give the affair a fearsome reputation. One year only eight of 42 starters reached the finish line. Often the winning boat takes nearly four days. Once an all-female crew took two weeks to get there.

This Saturday some 30 thirty-footers (and over) will answer the gun for this year's tussle with Lake Michigan's temperamental airs. Many an old reliable will be missing. But inland sailors will get a squint at four formidable newcomers recently purchased in the East: Falcon, last of the famed Marblehead Q Boats; Barquita and Gentian, a pair of New York 32s; and Onaway, designed by famed Designers Sparkman & Stephens.

* So far, the Coast Guard Auxiliary has enlisted some 5,000 yachts and 7,500 yachtsmen for patrol of waterfronts, other coastal duties.

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