To most landlubbers, Long Island Sound is an unromantic place, but to amateur sailors, it is a paradise. They like it best when a spanking sou’wester blows up the Sound, spraying white caps over the slippery decks of their boats. Then, from every cove and harbor from Throgs Neck to New London, they skim out into open water, ready for an overnight race around Block Island or for a shorter sail around a triangular course near their home port. Along the shores of the Sound are more salt-water yacht clubs (well over 100) than along any comparable coastline in the world.

Today, as for 75 years, the Sound is the hub of American yachting. Gone are most of the huge steam yachts, gaff-rigged sloops and professional crews of the days when only the very rich could afford to sail. In their place are thousands of smaller boats, costing less but sailing faster. One of the first of these newer boats to be built was a schooner Niña, shown here boating to windward. A fast and sturdy ocean racer, the Niña cost about $30,000 and is now owned by D Coursey Fales, a New York lawyer. Smaller and more popular are the International Class yachts shown on the following pages.