B-School Student Will Cross Atlantic in 49-Foot Sailboat

Two thousand miles of open sea is a long way to go in a 49-foot boat, but P. Geoffrey DeSa 2B plans to sail that far in the course of a 15-month land and sea trip from Cambridge to his home in Somerset, England.

During spring vacation, DeSa will go to New York to talk to sailing enthusiasts about the voyage and to try to recruit a crew of at least four to man his onemasted cutter, the Viking.

The boat is now resting in Panama, where DeSa will travel by car after his June graduation. The ex-major in the British army wants to see more of the United States than New England before sailing for home.

Longest Trip Yet

The longest leg of the sea journey, from Bermuda to the Azores, will take him up to a month, he expects. It will be the greatest distance he has ever sailed at one time, although he has been sailing for close to 25 years.

"The Viking makes no claim to be a racer," DeSa said in explaining the length of time he will spend at sea. It will be almost a year from his departure at Panama till he anchors in Poole Harbor in England.

Along the way he will cruise the Caribbean and stop at the Bahamas and Palm Beach, Florida, before sailing for Bermuda. After leaving the Azores, he plans to coast up the shores of Spain and France on his way to Somerset.

DeSa needs a permanent crew of four persons to sail his boat and hopes to take along a mixed company, perhaps including a married couple. The cutter has sleeping room for six, and DeSa wants to find two more sailors to go at least part way with him. Each crew member will have to pay his own expenses, which will be about $1,000.

The Viking's previous owner sailed her in 1949 from England to Panama, where the boat remained until DeSa bought it this spring. He intends to rent the craft in September before his Caribbean shakedown cruise.