Sailing

Terrance Harshaw says of Rick LeFevre: "He depends on me. " LeFevre is 56, a weathered man. Harshaw is just 17, a senior at Martin Luther King High School in East Germantown. They found each other on the Delaware River, wrestling sails in the wind off Penn's Landing. "Sailing forces people to work together," LeFevre said. "A boat's not going to sail if you don't work together. " Six years ago, LeFevre, an electrical engineer, founded Philadelphia City Sail with the notion that if you plucked children from the city's less-forgiving corners, plunked them down in sailboats, and pushed them out onto the river, they would be better for it. "There's nothing in life you can't teach through sailing," said LeFevre, who directs the nonprofit corporation, which aims to recruit future sailors from the poorer homes of the city's African American and Latino neighborhoods.

Hilary Lyons remembers when men were men and sailing was a man's sanctuary. In his youth, he and fellow members of the Red Dragon Canoe Club in Edgewater Park raced and sailed small craft, and a few built their own. On many an afternoon, men in fine-tailored suits pitched horseshoes on the clubhouse lawn. Although some of the mystique may be gone, the art and sport of small-craft building and racing that were so much a part of the club for more than 100 years are back, according to Roger Allen, a Red Dragon member and curator of small craft at the Philadelphia Maritime Museum.

Here's something you wouldn't ordinarily do in the middle of the winter: Pack up the car and head to the Shore for some sailing. This weekend through next, it's a good idea. Sail Expo will take over the Atlantic City Convention Center with exhibitors and hot craft from all over the world. The showpiece will be the 40-by-100-foot sailing pool, which will feature a learn-to-sail program and remote-control boat races. A whole room of high-tech equipment will show off the latest in navigational technology and sailing simulators.

David Dunn of Merion and Glenn Cook of Fort Washington have been close friends for years, but they don't plan to let that slow them down today, when each is set to race for a chance to compete in the national Interscholastic Yacht Racing championships in Annapolis, Md., next month. The high school sophomores sail their own Lasers - single-handed, 14-foot racing boats - in all seasons and all kinds of weather. About a month ago, Dunn raced through a snowstorm on the Delaware River.

Edward Ingham of Delanco will be 91 tomorrow,, and he would love to spend his birthday sailing his boat on the Delaware River, manning the tiller while his buddy Jack Clark, 69, wrestles with the rigging. But Ingham, long a sailing enthusiast, will have to make other plans for the day because his sailing partner will not be available. "He's been painting his house all spring, and we've only been out once. I hope the bum gets the job done soon," Ingham complained good-naturedly and adding that the two usually go sailing at least once a week.

Old Orchard won the Cherry Bowl swim meet Saturday, but that wasn't the good news for the Otters. The good news was that the win didn't give anybody heart problems. Last year, Old Orchard and Cherry Valley went down to the last event before Old Orchard won, 901-900. (And the Otters actually thought they had lost the meet until the scores were announced.) This year, there was no such tension. Old Orchard led the 38th annual event all day and won with 972 points, 85 more than second-place Kingston Estates.

One of the Delaware River's best-known landmarks is the Riverton Yacht Club's clubhouse, which has stood like an offshore sentinel for 118 years. As a means of transportation, sailing on the Delaware had just about come to an end in 1852 when nine wealthy Philadelphians decided to build summer homes in this riverfront community. But memories of the days of sailing remained strong, and when the Civil War ended, Riverton's summer residents thought the time was right to form a yachting club.

What started as a way to kill time during the summer has turned into a serious hobby for K.C. Johnston. The Shawnee senior admits to being hooked on sailing, a sport in which competitors rely on speed, strength and smarts. "It's a fun sport,' he said. "To go out on the water and not need gas is something. I originally got into it to pass some time during the summer. The more I got into it, the more I liked it. The good thing about the sport is that I'm always learning. " Johnston, 17, began sailing at the age of 12. Two years later, he began sailing competitively.

Rick LeFevre left his Mount Airy home at 15, after watching his mother stab his abusive, hard-drinking father. He lived with an aunt and uncle for a while but eventually dropped out of high school to join the Army. His mother later killed herself, and his father died of alcoholism. His sister, his only sibling, had a fatal car accident in 1977. Not exactly a charmed life. "I was angry as hell," he recalled in an interview. But LeFevre proved a survivor. He got a diploma in the Army, later went nights to Drexel University, earned a degree in electrical engineering, took up sailing and skiing and entered the business world - last working as a widely traveled field-service director for Reading-based Gai-Tronics, a maker of communications equipment.

Brenda and I are eager to start another day in La Jolla. The balcony drapes open to reveal a brilliant panorama - tall, thin macaw palms, in front of whitecapped waves crashing on cliffs; the pale blue Pacific fading into a distant blue-gray horizon. This breathtaking view evokes visions of leaping and diving whales. These playful leviathans will surely be the highlight of our San Diego vacation. We board JADA - a handsomely athletic, 71-foot, yawl-rigged wooden sailing yacht, vintage 1938 (one year my senior)