Ski's Last Cruise

The U.S. Navy proved last week that it can still climb the rigging or set a sail with the best of the world's yachtsmen. Grizzled Frank Siatkowski, 56, a onetime (1922) chief boatswain's mate and postwar "commander" of the Naval Academy's small-boat fleet, figured, after 39 years in the Navy, that this year's Newport-Bermuda yacht race would be his last cruise. He made it a good one.

His crew for the 71-ft. blue-and-white yawl Royono was a strange mixture: seven green ensigns and eight other hands, including officers from the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, plus Commander Ken Read, electronics instructor at Annapolis. Shrugging, old "Ski" said with a grin: "I believe in unification."

Bucking & Rearing. The first night out on the 635-mile course, battling squalls and 25-knot winds, Ski's green crew botched everything. Four sails blew out and wrapped themselves around the rigging. It took three hours to straighten the fouled-up gear. Wallowing in heavy seas that broke over the deck, the Royono plunged so deep that Navigator Read grumbled: "We should have gotten submarine pay." The next night the Royono's bucking and rearing tossed Read against a bunk and knocked him cold.

The third day, reeling under a brisk quartering breeze, the Royono buried her lee rail as the crew spent the hours "standing on the bulkheads and bracing on the deck." Then came a dead, flat calm, and the crew sat for hours staring glumly at the idly flapping mainsail. Finally, the Royono picked up a breeze. Ski routed out all hands, and, one after another, five sails were set. Shouted Ski: "We'll put 'em on and let the Lord take 'em off."

Weary & Bleary. The crew, weary and bleary ("It's a hard way to have fun"), missed another night's sleep, but the kick of pounding along at up to 9.5 knots kept everybody's spirits high. Meanwhile, air and sea observers reported that it was another two-boat race between the Baruna and Millionaire John Nicholas Brown's slickly outfitted Bolero, which fought it out two years ago. The Navy's Royono boiled up to the St. David's Head finish almost unnoticed. On elapsed time (four days 1:16:28.5) the Royono beat all Class A contenders, finished more than two hours ahead of second-place Bolero (Baruna was fourth). With her handicap allowance, the Royono beat the Bolero by almost 3 1/2 hours. All in all, Ski's last cruise was a success.

The Class C and overall winner, based on the complicated handicapping system which takes in hull dimensions, weight, waterline length and sail area, was the 46-ft. yawl Carina, owned by Richard S. Nye. The Carina finished 19th in the fleet of 58, but her 18-hour-plus handicap allowance gave her a 45-minute winning margin.

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