SAILING OUT TO `SEE'; BLIND AND SIGHT-IMPAIRED STEER BY WIND ON FACE.

Byline: JEREMY BAGOTT Latitude 34

Talking with crew at the main mast of his 40-foot ketch, Fairwind, skipper Tim Bercovitz watched as the boat merged with other vessels at the mouth of Newport Harbor.

That was when a disturbing thought popped into his head, something about a crew change he had forgotten about.

``Oh, my God,'' he mouthed, ``my helmsman's blind.''

About to hop down into the cockpit and unceremoniously wrest away the wheel of his beloved wooden ketch, Bercovitz checked himself. Why should he?

``She was holding the course beautifully, steering by the wind on her face,'' the Newport Beach skipper said of blind sailor Becky Porter, also of Newport Beach. ``She told me she was able to hear the boats around her, so I let her stay at the helm.''

Bercovitz was taking part in the American Legion Yacht Club's eighth annual Sail for the Blind in Newport Beach; he spoke of Porter while fondly recounting his first experience entrusting his boat to a blind person.

The Oct. 24 day sail, co-sponsored by the Women's Ocean Racing Sailing Association of Orange County, combined about 200 blind sailors and sighted volunteers of all experience levels with the skippers of 26 vessels - mostly big, impressive sailboats.

Crew on each boat decided where they wanted to go. Some chose to tack inside the harbor; others took to the open ocean.

Jeff Clarke of Anaheim has spent much of his 34 years around water. He's done a lot of boating at Lake Havasu and on the Colorado River but not a whole lot of sailing.

``With a powerboat, you just point and shoot,'' said Clarke, who has lost most of his sight to diabetic retinopathy. ``Sailing is just a whole different thing.''

During the day sail aboard the Fairwind, he tried to remember which way the genoa sheet is wrapped around the winch drum, while Bercovitz experienced a mix of exhilaration and anxiety.

Like Clarke, most of the blind crew are avowed dilettantes to sailing. Some would sail more if they could; others are happy to do it one day a year and satisfied having to relearn the points of sail and sailing lingo each time they go out.

Then there are those who are really happy not to sail more than once a year. Their eyes might not work, but their inner ears do. Yes, blind sailors get seasick just like everyone else.

The idea for the annual sail was born somewhere off the U.S.-Mexican border during the 1990 Ensenada Race. A group from the Women's Ocean Racing Sailing Association was strategizing aboard the ocean racer Stella Maris when the talk turned to their professional lives. One of them taught computer classes to blind adults and mentioned that two of her students had once done some sailing and were interested in the race.

Bonnie Gibson, skippering the Stella Maris, contacted the students after the race. She and her crew took 12 blind passengers for a day of sailing in Newport Harbor. The following year they got the American Legion Yacht Club on board.

Back on the Fairwind, Janice Wright, 39, of La Habra, carefully walked the length of the deckhouse, using the boom as her guide as she undid the mainsail ties.

``I'd love to do more sailing,'' she said as her guide dog, Naples, a yellow Labrador retriever, stood watch. Wright, who has a condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, has been blind from the beginning. She also grew up around boats, water skiing and canoeing at San Luis Obispo County's Lake Nacimiento with her family.

As for Clarke, his biggest lament is what blindness has done to his sense of balance. He is completely blind in his right eye and has tunnel vision in his left.

``Imagine holding a toilet-paper tube to your eye,'' said Clarke. ``That's what I see in my left eye.''

There are also benefits for the sighted skippers and volunteers who mark the day sail on their calendars each year and make their boats and knowledge accessible.

``Sailing with the blind gives you a different perspective on sailing,'' Gibson said.

``Sighted sailors think they see the wind, but they really don't,'' she said. ``They only see telltales and weather vanes.

``You understand that when you sail with people who have to feel it.''

Skippers, sighted volunteers and blind or visually impaired sailors of all experience levels wishing to take part in next year's day sail can contact the American Legion Yacht Club in Newport Beach at [phone].

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4 Photos

PHOTO (1--3--Color) The American Legion Yacht Club's annual Sail for the Blind brought enjoyment to 16 sailors not ordinarily found making sea voyages. Top, Rob Martin of Anaheim checks out the mast of the Electre, a 60-foot ocean racer. Middle, Ray Fialko of Anaheim takes the helm of the Electre. Left, unsighted participants in the American Legion Yacht Club's sailing day are led to their boats in Newport Harbor.

David Crane/Daily News

(4--Color) Blind sailor Jeff Clarke of Anaheim trims the jib sheet aboard the Fairwind out of Newport Harbor.

Jeremy Bagott/Daily News