left New York for Bermuda on November 9.

Mr. Robert Smith, the skipper of the 25-foot sloop Decision , is the son of Mrs. Mildred Grace Smith of Smith's Island and has other relatives in Bermuda.

Mr. Smith, 43, and Mr. Charles King are believed to have set out for Bermuda from Petersen's Boatyard in South Nyack nearly three weeks ago.

They have not been seen or heard from since. Friends and relatives are worried they may have been caught in the tail end of Hurricane Gordon. The boat was not equipped with an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB).

"We're pretty worried about what's happening,'' said Mr. Smith's uncle, Mr.

Wilfred (Buster) Hayward of St. David's. "It gets pretty rough out there.'' As of last night, the United States Coast Guard had not sent up a plane to look for the Decision , a white, wooden, single-masted boat built by Folk of Sweden.

"We have a major communications search going for the vessel,'' said Petty Officer Rich Perry of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area Command Centre at Governor's Island. "We are broadcasting urgent marine information from New York and Bermuda Harbour Radio is also making broadcasts.'' A separate broadcast was made to more than 100 merchant vessels, asking them to try to locate or contact the sailboat, he said.

As for a search with aircraft, "we're re-evaluating information on Monday (today),'' P.O. Perry said. "With this being a holiday weekend, we weren't able to contact some people regarding information on the vessel.'' The departure date was still not confirmed, he said.

But Mr. James Merritt, a friend of Mr. Smith's in New York, said he called his brother Mr. John Smith on November 9 and said he was setting sail for Bermuda.

"I'm a little concerned they haven't already activated the search,'' Mr.

Merritt said. "If the hurricane hadn't come around, I wouldn't be that concerned.'' Hurricane Gordon, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, moved up the eastern seaboard earlier this month after pounding Florida. Mr. Merritt became worried after "hearing that a lot of people have been taken off boats as a result of that.

"In my experience sailing, the trips that I've made to Bermuda, it doesn't really take three weeks to get there,'' he said. At three knots an hour, ten days would be "a heavy outside amount of time''.

Mr. Smith is a retired contractor and experienced sailor, Mr. Merritt said. He frequently visited Bermuda to stay at the family home on Smith's Island in St.

George's Harbour but had never sailed here before. "I sailed with him a couple of years ago from Bahamas to North Carolina,'' Mr. Merritt said. "It seemed to me he was a pretty competent sailor.'' Mr. King is an American friend of Mr. Smith's with no known ties to Bermuda.

The boat, formerly known as the Wind Rose , contains a hand-held VHF radio, a global positioning system satellite navigation device, a radar, and an outboard motor, he said.