" 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.. we are all  clear.Butch,  the

          speed is down so we should heat it up; we have 20 thousand pounds

          on the backstay, the jib halyard is on number 4 and the traveller

          is  on  number 2. The true wind is blowing from 225 at 13  knots,

          the apparent on this leg is 19 knots, current is running  345  at

          2.7 knots.  Our current heading is 250,and we are 15 minutes from

          the right-hand layline so I think we should tack early to protect

          ourselves against a shift.  We are 2.5  miles and 22 minutes from

          the mark.   Ready-about hard-to-lee.  You are alittle slow coming

          out of the tack so heat it up ...ok that's better.   The  compass

          course is 180 which is 5 above the start; I wonder if the wind is

          cycleing to the right?   The  apparent  wind speed is up to 23, I

          wounder  if  we should use the #3 jib?...Well it  seems  to  stay

          closer to 20 and we are only 5 minutes from  the  mark;  I do not

          think we need it.  We are almost on the left hand  layline.   Ok,

          ready- about, hard-to-leg.  The apparent wind  on  the  next  leg

          will be 14 knots and  90  off of the bow.  Ok let us have the Fat

          Cat then.  Ease sheets...  pop the shoot.  The course to the next

          mark is 120 for  134  minutes.   We are alittle slow, then let us

          set the staysail.  That's better, the  speed  and  the  VMG  have

          risen."




                                        - 1 -










            The vignette describes the conversation  during  the  beat  and

          reach of a sailboat race.  A few years  ago,  it  seemed unlikely

          that exact data of this sort would now be used during a race.  In

          this months Yachting magazine, a skipper that survived  when  his

          trimaran capsized during a race  across  the ocean in 1976 said,"

          he,  like  the  other  competitors,  did  not  even  have  a  VHF

          radio."[1] which is  used  by  every  owner of a sailboat over 25

          feet today.  A few years ago, experience was essential to winning

          races because the  older  sailors  had  a  better  "feel" for the

          optimal performance of the  boat.   Yet  the  new  generation  of

          sailors tend to  be  younger  because  they  can  understand  and

          utilize the computer's precise calculations.  This has eliminated

          the guess work of finding  the  correct  "feel".   Computers  are

          applied in many more ways in perfecting Sailing than in any other

          sport.


            "In most sports, the computer is used  primarily  to  calculate

          and record statics, such as baseball's earned  runs  and  batting

          and pitching averages.  The teams in the National Football League

          use computers to keep statistics of prospective players,  and  to

          work  on  plays; yet  the  NFL  has  outlawed  their  use  during

          games."[2]


            Computers are limited to similar  applications  in  all  sports

          except sailing because the  body  performs  the principle action,

          such  as  throwing  and  hitting  a  ball.  Yet, Sailing has  two

          supplies of action--the vessel including all its  parts  and  the




                                        - 2 -










          human body.   And,  computers can be used in many ways to improve

          the performance of the first by designing the hull rig and sails,

          and by computing the optimal course.


            Computers  have  increased  sail  production  productivity  and

          accuracy and the sail's effectiveness.   It  often took a two man

          crew a couple of days to construct one  sail.   They  started the