Annapolitan Peter Gordon and his newly purchased Farr 44 Gaucho swept the 1992 Southern Ocean Racing Conference series to rack up a second solid string of aces for the yacht.

Gaucho, built on specifications in Argentina to naval architect Bruce Farr's first IMS-specific design, also was indisputably the overall champ of January's Yachting Race Week at Key West in her racing debut, winning each of the five races in that event.

Sailing with a nearly all-Annapolis crew, including Geoff Stagg, Tink Chambers and Jim Donovan of the Farr operation, sailmaker Bruce Empey, Dave Heller, Brian Lees and his 15-year- old son Ian, Gordon said Gaucho won each of the four races out of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area she started by substantial margins.

Gaucho won the paired buoy races on March 6 of the Mark Baxter Regatta, those of the Lipton Cup the next day, and the round-the-buoys Ocean Race on the 8th.

She also won the event's final race, the 104-mile chase offshore and back, which is the Gulfstream Race, March 9.

"I would have to describe the conditions as light, generally in the 8- to 12-knot range," Gordon said, adding that the breeze occasionally puffed up as high as 14 or so.

"I'm ecstatic about (the boat). I knew it would be fast,and I think it's the state of the art as far as IMS boats go. I'm also very impressed with the cooperation of the Farr organization in support of the yacht."

The once-legendary SORC routinely drew dozensof internationally known sailing greats such as Dennis Conner and Lowell North, and large numbers of Annapolis-area sailors, racing in huge multiclass fleets over several weeks of a meandering competition circuit from St. Petersburg on the northwest coast of Florida down to Miami and Fort Lauderdale. But this year it drew only 42 starters in four classes.

Of this number, three, in addition to Gaucho, have strong local ties. All were competing in the seven-boat IMS class.

In this class, only four teams completed the four of five races minimum requirement for series scoring, including three of the four Annapolis-area boats.

Gibson Island sailor George Collins and the team aboard his new Tripp 47 Moxie placed third in the class, while Bill Steitz and his team on his Concordia 42 Dancer were fourth when a points tie for third broke in Collins' favor.

With only three races on her dance card, including two seventh-place finishes and a fourth, Robert Crompton's 50-footer Full

Cry was not scored in the overall tally when she did not start the Gulfstream Race.

The series began the week previous to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area events, includingthe Baxter, Lipton, Ocean and Gulfstream races, with triangle racingoff St. Petersburg. Scoring for this regatta counted as one race, and because the series was scored based on one throwout, many sailors did not trek up to St. Petersburg but only sailed near Miami later on.

S.O.R.C. final results

IMS (7 starters/4 scored): 1) Gaucho, Peter Gordon, Annapolis, 3 ((DNC)-1-1-1-1); 2) Kropp Duster, Charles Kropp, Sarasota, Fla., 8.75 (1-2-3-3-(5)); 3) Moxie, George Collins, Gibson Island, 19 ((DNC)-6-6-5-2); 4) Dancer, William Steitz, Pittsburgh/Annapolis, 19 ((DNC)-5-5-6-3).

PHRF A (14 starters/4 scored): 1) Presto, Peter Goltra, (address unavailable), 6.5 (1-3-1-2-(4)); 2) Runaway, Anthony Dellechiaie, Paterson, N.J., 11.5 ((DNC)-1-5-1-5); 3) Top Gun, Charles Schulman, Palm Beach, Fla., 14 ((DNC)-6-3-3-2); 4)Brigadoon V, Braxton/Tarwick/Roth, Pensacola, Fla., 22 ((DNC)-7-4- 8-3).

PHRF B (14 starters/3 scored): 1) Big Time, Lee Imbrie, (address unavailable), 4.25 ((DNC)-1-1-1-2); 2) Polar Bear, Gaylord Wood, (address unavailable), 9 ((DNC)-2-2-2-3); 3) Ariel, Peacock/Rinkel, (address unavailable), 16 ((DNC)-6-4-5-1).

PHRF C (7 starters/6 scored): 1) Flak, Brian Rikley, Hudson, Quebec, 8.75 (2-4-2-1-(DNC)); 2)Mr. Green Jeans, Ross Bechard, Sarnia, Ontario, 9.5 (5-1-1-3); 3-(DNC)) Zoo, Ron Sisson, Holland, Mich., 10.75 (1-3-5-2-(DNC)); 4) CannedHeat, Charles Lawrence, Port Huron, Mich., 17 (3-6-3-5-(DNC)).

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The rumors that are just starting to hit the airwaves are true, Yachting Race Week press officer Roger Kennedy confirmed Friday afternoon.

The plans for this year's Yachting Race Week at Solomons have changed to link up more closely with the annual Annapolis-to-St. Mary's City Governor's Cup Race.

Here's the new lineup:

Gov Cup leaves Annapolis on Friday evening, July 31, for the overnight race downthe bay and up to St. Mary's College.

Then, on Sunday, Aug. 2, Yachting Race Week, now titled Yachting Race Days, will begin with a race from St. Mary's to Solomons, venue for the next three days of round-the-buoys racing.

Plans call for Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday racingonly, with up to five races in total, allowing for two each on Monday and Tuesday, depending on wind cooperation, and a final contest on Wednesday to wrap up the event.

The rescheduling virtually eliminates all conflict with other CBYRA-sanctioned club races, such as the Friday-Saturday Tred Avon Yacht Club race to Oxford and Oxford Regatta the same week, and helps the Yachting event fit more neatly into analready full CBYRA calendar.

It also solves the problem of getting there from here with a layover in the middle. The logistics of doing Gov Cup, coming back to Annapolis or the Magothy to race a couple of more weekends, and then heading back down to Solomons, or of finding a place to park the boat for a couple of weeks in between the two has been a deterrent for many sailors who might otherwise have taken part in the Yachting event.

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Yo, sailing junkies! Starting tomorrow, and running every Monday and Tuesday night through October, the15 color television sets at Buddy's Crabs & Ribs on the Market Spacein Annapolis will feature sailing videos from the 4 p.m. start of happy hour until 9 p.m.

Using footage shot by Annapolis' own RichardBreed of Sail U.S.A., formerly host/producer/etc. of "Sail Annapolis" on the local cable-access channels, Buddy's will feature coverage of the weekend racing when it starts at the end of April.

Nancy Noyes is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association and hasbeen racing on the bay for about five years. Her Sailing column appears every Wednesday and Sunday in The Anne Arundel County Sun.