For Volvo 70s, Shipshape Designs

In previous years, the race, known until 2001 as the Whitbread, often had as many as 15 to 20 teams competing, with a high of 30 entries in 1981. (In those days, almost any sort of boat could enter.) The relatively smaller fields of the last several races reflect the enormous cost of financing such a team, hence the emergence of syndicate ownership. The fewer teams also reflect the difficulty not only of designing and manufacturing a new class of boat but of mastering its peculiarities: how it actually sails, how much drag it has, its best rigging and angles and so on.

Four of the entrees were designed by Farr Yacht Design of Annapolis, three of them -- Pirates of the Caribbean, Ericsson and Brasil 1 -- based on the same design, one that the firm already had worked up to be available for development. The fourth, movistar, was customized to the Spanish team's wishes and so is slightly narrower than the others. (One observer described the three as Marilyn Monroe and movistar as more Kate Moss.)

Farr senior naval architect Britt Ward says Volvo made the decision to go with the 70-foot design in September 2003, which didn't leave much time for construction and breaking in. "Pirates benefited from being built at the same pool as Ericsson, so the parts didn't have to be [molded] from scratch; it took them about four months, and Ericsson about nine."

The Farr boats have canting heels and single rudders that give them an edge in light winds; the ABN Amro entries have twin rudders and asymmetrical foils that designer Juan Kouyoumdjian believes gives his boats the advantage at 10 knots and above. These carbon-fiber vessels are created, one concept or one adjustment at a time, on computers -- virtual boats taking part in virtual round-the-world races in 12 years of simulated climatic weather patterns to find out what the boat does best.

Still, computer imaging goes only so far. In the old days, Ward says, you'd have had to do it all by intuition, "and intuition is still a big part of yacht design. You can't program how easy it is to handle at night or how hard it will be to take down the sails when a squall blows up" -- especially when the spinnaker alone is the size of two tennis courts.

The Farr group obviously can't play favorites, but, Ward admits, "we thought movistar would have an advantage because they'd already logged 22,000 miles on the boat, and time aboard is so valuable. But it had some mechanical glitches we hadn't expected," even without the vagaries of weather.

In addition to the basic crew, two additional crew members can be chosen to participate during in-port races; they may be inshore specialists or just friends ("Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp took a turn on the namesake vessel at the opening of the race in November.) Three nonparticipants are allowed at the in-port races, allowing for media coverage and a little sponsor cosseting. The points awarded for in-port races are included in the overall rankings.

On April 29, the Volvo 70s will head into the Chesapeake Bay, setting off at 10 for the area north of Love Point and west of the Chester River (exact route and exclusions zone to be announced). The race, which will start at 1, will cover a course of 20 to 30 nautical miles, depending on wind conditions, and probably will take two to three hours. The best viewpoint is at Downs Park in Pasadena. Prizes will be awarded when the ships return to the Inner Harbor at 6:30.