WET BOTTOM, DRY HAT FOR SANDY

In a salty do-or-die boast, the windjammer skippers of yore promised to "sail her in or sail her under." As these pictures of nautical catastrophe show, Skipper Raymond (Sandy) Bourne of the eight-foot pram Forrestal inadvertently chose the latter course during a dusty race in Florida's Biscayne Bay. "I was coming down to the second mark on a reach," explained 13-year-old Sandy after his rescue by a spectator boat some minutes later, "and the centerboard was up when I jibed round the mark, but I forgot to put it down again."

Such contretemps are not uncommon among the eight-footers, but few skippers in any class can claim a cooler courage than Sandy's, who managed under circumstances trying and adverse to keep not only his head but the jaunty hat that adorned it.

PREMONITION OF DISASTER FLOODS OVER SAILORMAN SANDY BOURNE DURING THE LAST LEG OF A WET RACE ON BISCAYNE BAY

HIS EIGHT-FOOT CRAFT "FORRESTAL" HALF FULL OF WATER, SANDY TRIES BRAVELY TO SAIL HER TO THE FINISH LINE...

BUT THE SEAS TAKE OVER AT LAST AND THE YOUNG SKIPPER, ALMOST SUBMERGED, IS LEFT WITH HIS ARDOR DAMPENED

FOUR PHOTOS

JOHN WALTHER