Whitbread bids adieu to Maryland for France

 Crews of the nine yachts will leave Annapolis on Sunday for their 3,390-nautical-mile trek across the Atlantic Ocean to La Rochelle, France. From there, the final leg, which starts May 22, will be just a short sprint to Southhampton, England, where the odyssey began last September. 

 EF Language holds a wide -- but not necessarily comfortable -- lead. Because anything can happen along the way, from technical troubles to navigational missteps, the Swedish entry isn't a sure bet to take top honors. 

 The next four boats are fairly close behind: Swedish Match is in second place, followed by Monaco's Merit Cup, Norway's Innovation Kvaerner and Maryland's entry Chessie Racing. 

 Crews spent their 12-day stopover in Maryland repairing their boats after one of the most jarring legs of the race up the U.S. coast from Florida. They also basked in the unexpected attention from curiosity seekers in a state that had never before had a visit from the Whitbread yachts. 

 An estimated 300,000 people passed through the Race Village at the Inner Harbor on the Saturday after the fleet arrived, waiting in long lines to get a look at the sleek, 60-foot sailboats. 

 "This has without a doubt been the best stop by far," said George Collins, founder and part-time skipper of Chessie Racing. "It's the talk of the fleet." 

 Now, the crews must turn their attention to the expected 13-day trans-Atlantic journey ahead. 

 Once again, they'll cope with living on rehydrated food, little sleep and even less personal hygiene, as well as the possibility of broken bones and countless bruises, scrapes and boils. 

 "Everyone in the crew is complaining about being a bit weary," said Leah Newbold of Sweden's all-women EF Education team, which is in last place. "A lot of people have been getting sick, catching colds because your resistance is down." 

 But there's another obstacle on this leg: ice. 

 After leaving Chesapeake Bay, the boats will follow the Gulf Stream up the U.S. coast to Newfoundland and the Grand Banks, a treacherous area known for thick fog banks and "growlers" _ small chunks of ice. 

 The race committee has established a northern limit to the race course because of the danger. 

 "They've sort of boxed off an area we can't go into _ it's like an asteroid field," said Chessie Racing's Jerry Kirby. "It'll be heavy wind, big seas and extra cold. It's sure to be a hard leg." 

 Because of the unpredictable nature of the Gulf Stream, the crews say it's hard to know what to expect. 

 "It's going to be very tricky," said Stuart Quarrie of the Netherlands' BrunelSunergy, which won the race into Baltimore by taking a gutsy route east of the Gulf Stream and away from the rest of the pack. 

 Past Newfoundland, the Gulf Stream's power diminishes and the crews have to decide when to get out and latch on to a low pressure system to carry them to La Rochelle. 

 "That is the crucial decision -- when to leave the Stream and go chasing the lows," said Chessie Racing navigator Juan Vila. 

 Whitbread watchers were expected to pack the small coastal city of Annapolis for Sunday's race restart, along with an estimated 50,000 participants in the annual Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk. 

 The area "has taken the Whitbread to its heart and everyone involved in the race has benefited," said Helge Alten, president of the North American division of Volvo, the sponsor of the next race in 2002. 

 That excitement hasn't gone unnoticed by organizers and crews looking four years ahead to the next race, which will be called Volvo Ocean Race. Though organizers haven't decided on whether the Whitbread will return, race director Ian Bailey-Willmot made it sound like chances were good. 

 "We're delighted to have had the opportunity to visit," he said. "The only problem is, you're going to have to put your thinking caps on to figure out how to top it the next time."