THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407150693
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN GORDON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Saturday's seventh annual Cock Island Race has a yacht to offer - 313 of them, to be specific.
It's not quite the biggest race ever; last year's entries numbered 320. But it is one of the largest events on the East Coast, according to sailing authorities.
To a newcomer, even imagining more than 300 vessels milling about in the relatively restricted confines of the Elizabeth River before the morning starting sequence is mind-boggling.
Most of them will be trying to stay out of the way of spectator boats, commercial traffic and each other because a collision can ruin the whole day.
One person responsible for ensuring a safe and fair race is M.P. ``Red'' Davis, a senior chief boatswain's mate who is the officer in charge of the Portsmouth Coast Guard station and the patrol commander for the Cock Island Race.
Although this will be his first Cock Island Race since he relieved Master Chief Lorie Pruitt in April, Davis is no stranger to yacht races. His last big race was none other than the America's Cup in 1992 off San Diego.
He was executive petty officer of the 110-foot patrol boat Tybee, which helped keep spectator boats back, served as one end of the finish line and escorted the winning vessel through a maze of boats back to port each day during the best-of-seven series.
``Our main job is crowd control and safety,'' Davis said. ``Out in San Diego, we had more than 1,000 spectator boats - everything from kayaks to 100-foot yachts.''
His task here will not be as demanding; there won't be anywhere near 1,000 spectator vessels. But he and his staff of two dozen Coast Guardsmen and auxiliary personnel will have to make sure those 300-plus skippers keep from running over each other.
``Actually, we'll just stay out of the way and try not to get run over,'' Davis said. ``However, we will keep the race and the commercial traffic separate.''
Davis is not concerned about the regular skippers, who he said know what they're doing. And the separation of the fleet into 10 classes will help considerably.
``The fact that the race has gone so smoothly in the past is a real tribute to the skippers,'' he said. ``But we will be looking for the occasional wayward boat.'' by CNB