Sport: Faster Through a Loophole

When the fleet set sail out of Stamford, Conn, for the 25th annual round-trip race to Martha's Vineyard, skippers blinked at the sight of Bill Luders' 39-ft. Storm: she was carrying no boom and no mainsail. But when the fleet made it back to Stamford, Luders had sailed off with the race. Storm's win dramatized the fact that in distance racing these days, victory often goes not to the fastest but to the designer who gets the mostest out of The RuleĀ—the complex, 27-page system of handicapping spelled out in detail in 1934 by the Cruising Club of America to even...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!