The old adage "they don't make 'em like they used to'' perfectly sums up Stephen Sherwin's feelings about yachts.

Through the eyes of the 45-year-old Bermuda doctor, modern sailboats cannot compete in the beauty stakes with the likes of Borderlaw , his vintage 1965, 43-foot, English-made Camper Nicholson.

As he strode proudly towards his lovingly maintained vessel moored in Newport harbour on the eve of the Newport-Bermuda 2000 race, Sherwin spoke as if of a cherished girlfriend.

"Look at her, now you must be able to see what I love about her,'' he said.

"I mean, look at that shape.'' To Sherwin, Borderlaw is a curvaceous beauty. The skippers of the streamlined, modern maxi-yachts in ruthless pursuit of the Lighthouse Trophy would probably prefer to describe her in less flattering terms -- chubby or bulbous, perhaps.

But Sherwin was in love with the boat from the time he first laid eyes on her at the shipyard of John Anderson in Camden, Maine, last September. So what is the appeal of the older designs to Sherwin? "It's not just the aesthetics,'' said Sherwin. "It's something about the way they sail. There's nothing quirky about them, they get set in a groove and there's a lovely feel about them.

"A lot of people would find a modern boat more exciting, but I think there's something really `sea-kindly' about these old boats.'' Borderlaw oozes class and style from an era gone by. Her hull is made of double-planked mahogany on laminated mahogany frames. But at the same time she has a robust appearance, giving the impression of being able to remain stable in high seas.

Before the race, Sherwin had never brought the vessel home to Bermuda and preparing her involved much travelling, hard work and investment over the past nine months.

"This is a low budget boat, I can assure you,' said Sherwin. "It has taken a lot of time, rather than a lot of money to get her ready.

"I've made three trips to Maine -- one to find the boat, the second to get my wife to approve the deal and the third to spend two or three weeks working on her.'' Sherwin then sailed Borderlaw 250 miles down the New England coast from Camden to Newport.

Sherwin and his crew of navigator Jeremy Asson, watch captains Greg Vasic and Rick Hornett, cook Derek Pedro, Tim Astley, Liz Pedro and Robbie Horne, a friend of Sherwin from Glasgow, Scotland, sailed Borderlaw in the Newport race's new non-spinnaker Classic Yacht Division.

The skipper had absolute confidence in his crew, particularly Asson, whom he described as "co-manager of the project''.

"We could get rough conditions and get thrown around a bit, but I'm not worried at all about the passage,'' he said. "I feel more elated than nervous. That's mainly beacuse we have put so much planning into it.

"And the team we've got has not been beaten by any problem yet. Each problem that comes along, we've cracked it. It's a very reassuring feeling.'' Sherwin said he had been sailing since the age of five or six and most of his early experience came on the Clyde in Scotland. He moved to Bermuda 10 years ago, married an Island girl, Mary-Beth, and settled down.

In the meantime, he has competed frequently in races run by the Bermuda Offshore Cruising Association. Competing in the Newport-Bermuda race is the realisation of a long-held ambition for him and his love of sailing is clearly as deep as ever.

"Sailing is an amazing feeling,'' said Sherwin. "Just sitting there and feeling the power in the sails when you're banging along at seven knots is fantastic. And when you get to where you're going, you get a great sense of achievement.

"It's a bit of a cliche, I know, but sailing does make everyday matters drift away and seem irrelevant. It makes you feel alive.'' In his element: Stephen Sherwin makes some last-minute preparations aboard his 35-year-old yacht Borderlaw on the eve of the Newport race.

On her way: Wind fills Borderlaw's sails as she makes the fastest start in the Classic Yacht Division.

SAILING SLG