'Men of Good Stature'

The 800 members of the Circumnavigators Club in New York City include Senator Barry Goldwater, who walked around the world both ways at the South Pole; Astronaut Neil Armstrong, who holds the record for the highest circumnavigation; and Admiral James Calvert, who circled under the North Pole's icecap aboard the nuclear submarine Skate. But last week the 76-year-old club snubbed a sailor who traveled around the world alone in a 53-ft. sloop because the mariner was ineligible to join the club, which restricts membership to "men of good stature."

Naomi James, 29, a native of New Zealand, made the voyage in 272 days aboard the Express Crusader, accompanied by her kitten Boris and a stack of Rod Stewart tape recordings. Upon hearing about her feat, Explorer Tristan Jones, who has circumnavigated the globe three times, urged club officials to wire congratulations to James. When they refused, he huffily withdrew his application for membership and denounced the members as "bloody old fogies who've gone around the world once in a steamer."

As far as Naomi James is concerned, she needs neither the club nor Jones to make her world go round. Said she: "I've never heard of the Circumnavigators Club or of the people who are making all the fuss. It seems to be a lot of men stirring up trouble among themselves."

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