Show Boats

For those who prefer to stick to land, the two-story Ericsson Pavilion, which looks a lot like a yacht and is actually a bit larger than its seagoing sibling, will be open to the public Thursday through April 30. The 11-section "experience center" has up-to-the-minute information on the progress of the fleet, theatrical simulations of life aboard ship and even the risk of a bout of seasickness in the wave tunnel, with its 33-foot video wall of ocean water and wind. (Like an Epcot pavilion, it combines the fun with more than 50 promotional displays and demos of cutting-edge Sony and Ericsson technologies.)

Each team has an official tent set up on Rash Field. ABN Amro has a sailing simulator that re-creates 10 minutes on the open seas. And the most cautious landlubbers can stroll to Harbor Point at Thames and Block streets to try out blo-karts -- sail-driving go-karts, in effect -- for a taste of the wind-blown life.

During the Annapolis festival May 4-7 there will be no in-port races, but there is an Optimist Class regatta May 5 sponsored by the Annapolis Yacht Club; a regatta named in Gary Jobson's honor May 6 at City Dock; and several chances to meet the crews, including the Annapolis Salutes the Volvo Ocean Race blowout May 5. The crew party for the 1997- 98 race was dubbed by Sailing magazine the "best sailors party in history," and this year's festivities, headlined by country blues singer Joanna Cotten and featuring a half-dozen other acts, sprawls across the joint properties of the Eastport Yacht Club and the Severn Sailing School ($25 advance, $35 at the door; 410-263-0415).

Tactics and logistics are the subject of a "Meet the Skippers" public forum May 6, moderated by Jobson and featuring the crew chiefs of the 70s.

City Dock festivities will include daily concerts by local entertainers and the Naval Academy Band. The exhibits of the new National Sailing Hall of Fame and Museum, housed in a semi-permanent tent on the waterfront while permanent housing is constructed, honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the sport.

More lighthearted events include a BYOB event -- build your own boat -- May 6, in which teams of two are challenged to build a water-worthy plywood vessel (some materials but no tools supplied; call 410-268-2114 for information); the first Black Pearl Treasure Hunt with first prize of a three-night adventure cruise aboard a luxury catamaran (410-280-1821); and dress-up contests for both human and canine pirates-in-waiting May 6 and 7, respectively.

The Governor's Bay Bridge 10K run May 7 begins at 8, but contestants must be at Sandy Point State Park at 7 to take shuttle buses to the starting line on Kent Island (registration closed). The Chesapeake Bay Bridge walk kicks off at 9; shuttles for that event leave beginning at 8:30 from Anne Arundel Community College, Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and Chesapeake Business Park in Stevensville (877-229-7726).

Meanwhile, the last formal event, the blessing of the fleet, is at 10 that day at City Dock, after which the Volvo 70s proceed to the race restart at the mouth of the Severn.

Eve Zibart's mother once boomed her father off a sailboat into Long Island Sound in his three-piece white linen Sunday suit.