Well geared for the America's Cup

Just as Intrepid is a good exercise in trimmed-down efficiency (SI, June 26), so, too, is the official uniform of the crew. Skipper Bus Mosbacher, a stickler for detail, asked Abercrombie & Fitch to help him create a sailor's wardrobe to meet America's Cup competition needs. The results are not only extremely practical, they present a fresh look in boating gear. Mosbacher is a Dartmouth man (class of'43), and the colors he picked for the clothes are Dartmouth green and white. This change from sailing's traditional blue and white prompted spectators at trials earlier this month to shout the Dartmouth cheer: "Go, Big Green, Go!" The green jacket (far right) is water-repellent and has a quilted lining for the many cool days found even in early fall off Newport. It has a high collar, pleated action back and two side-stretch plackets for snug fit. There are no buttons on the tapered sleeves to catch on winches, but there is a knit inner cuff for warmth. Sweaters and socks are of fast-drying Orion. The sweater has a nylon zipper that turns the collar into a turtleneck. The deck shoes, made by Top-Sider, are of nylon instead of the usual canvas. There are white slacks and shorts of Fortrel and cotton, green cotton-knit shirts, green-and-white cloth belts, hats and leather sailing gloves. The foul-weather gear would keep you dry in a typhoon. The pants go to the armpits, and every pocket and zipper is double-sealed. They are not Dartmouth green but air-sea-rescue yellow. And what would Mosbacher do if an Intrepider washed overboard in his yellow suit? Says one crewman, half seriously: "He'd drown you with a dirty look and sail on!"

Intrepid's" crew, with Bus Mosbacher at the helm, wears new uniforms during prerace shakedown. The clothes of Dartmouth green and white were designed as carefully as was the boat itself.

Foul-Weather gear (left) by Mighty-Mac is double-layered pliable nylon stitched with rot-proof thread and sealed at the seams. Rustproof nylon zippers are covered with flaps scaled with Velcro. Fair-weather jacket (below) is for Newport's cool September. Gear is available at Abercrombie & Fitch. New York. Chicago and San Francisco.

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THREE ILLUSTRATIONS