RACE WEEK

The cream of the eastern class-racing fleet comes to Larchmont for eight straight days of competition

With the firing of the first gun July 16, sending off the majestic sloops of the 12-meter class, the 57th annual regatta of the Larchmont, N.Y. Yacht Club gets under way. From that moment until the last race ends eight days later, some 300 skippers, like those jockeying their Lightnings and 110s on the opposite page, will compete in races for more than 25 different classes. To the sailors, it will be a week of stiff competition, punctuated by cocktails (every morning at 11:30), parties (every evening after the races) and climaxed by one final, glorious blowoff at the Wind-Up dinner. To the Race Committee it will be a week of pure misery, emphasized by bitter protests and starting guns that may occasionally misfire, and climaxed by the tricky business of having to decide who came in first among the 20-odd boats in three or four different classes all going over the finish line at the same time. For more about the complex sport of class-boat racing, turn to page 17.

THEIR BRIGHT SAILS DOTTING THE BLUE-GRAY SURFACE OF THE WATER FOR SEVEN MILES, MORE THAN 150 OF LARCHMONT'S 300 ENTRIES ARE SCUDDING THROUGH THEIR TRIANGULAR COURSES OFF THE SWEEPING CURVE OF THE WESTCHESTER SHORELINE

JIBING AROUND A LEEWARD MARK, A MISHMASH OF INTERNATIONALS, EIGHT-METERS AND ONE NEW YORK 40 HEADS FOR THE FINISH

THREE PHOTOS

MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE