YACHT BOOM: With the boating season now...

YACHT BOOM: With the boating season now underway, yacht brokers report that the healthier economy and this year’s repeal of the luxury tax has meant increased sales. . . . “I think people got tired of acting poor,” says Newport Beach broker George Steinemann, who has sold more big boats so far this year than all of last year. The best clients used to be developers, he says, but now they are doctors and high-tech executives. Doctors “traditionally have money (despite) the recession,” says Sheila Wood of Newport Beach’s H&S; Yacht Sales.

SAIL CHANGE: While naval architects fret about hull design, sail designers are using computers and space-age materials in search of the perfect sail. The latest twist: creating seamless sails using molded Mylar and Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof jackets. “It makes them work better,” says Jaime Malm of North Sails Newport Beach. . . . These new sails weigh less, allowing the boat to stand up straighter and go faster. But they’re not cheap. Cost of a single main sail on the hottest West Coast racing yachts: $12,500, and most skippers will replace them after only 40 hours of use.

IN 80 DAYS?: An Orange County team has begun to organize for yachting’s most grueling competitive event, the 33,000-mile Whitbread Round the World Race in 1997. The team is led by Dr. Neil Barth, above, an Orange County yachtsman who recently won the Transpac race to Hawaii. With offices in Newport Beach, the syndicate hopes to build a specially designed 60-foot yacht at a Costa Mesa boatyard. Fund-raising goal: $5 million, mostly through corporate sponsorships.

OCEAN CHALLENGE: Last month’s race from Orange County to Ensenada gave some valuable seagoing experience to a group of sailors with physical disabilities. . . . “We had five disabled guys, including myself,” said Duncan Milne, a paraplegic who skippered the 29-foot sailboat “Out Patient.” The crew “did not have a lot of experience,” says Milne. “I picked these guys because they were really enthusiastic.” Milne’s Access to Sailing program for the disabled has drawn dozens of participants since its founding in 1990.