Sailors Dismast Under 5 Bridges In Opening Race

Some fancy gymnastics and a fair wind marked the Yacht Club's first spring race yesterday, as the Interclub Dinghys spryly dipped their masts to clear five brigcs which studded the course from Weld Boathouse to the Charles Basin.

A score of cold observers on the Weeks Bridge watched eagerly as the eight boats jockeyed for the start opposite Weld, and then headed full tilt for the bridge, blown by a brisk 20-knot wind from astern.

The first boats were neck-and-neck, and their skippers eyeing each other pervously to see who would be first to heave to and lower his mast and sails. A lead boat swung around and dropped her mast about 25 yards from the bridge. The crew began paddling furiously. Several other crews profited from this hasty decision and waited until they were still closer to the bridge before unstepping.

Remarkably, there were no casualties; every boat safely cleared Weeks and the remaining bridges and the winning boat, skippered by Andy Kittler, did a remarkably coordinated and quick job of getting its mast and salls up and down.

Several boats tried to avoid the dismasting problem by replacing their masts by their booms--which cleared most of the bridges. With their salls thus shortened, however, they were quickly outdistanced by the other boats, and finished well behind.

The only mishap of the afternoon occurred when the boat skippered by Bob Whitsides was hailed over by the MDC for "sailing without a license."