Smooth sail for Kennedy and crew

Senator steers to second place in Figawi Race

Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his crew returned to Hyannis Port after completing the return trip from Nantucket in the Figawi Race yesterday. From left are Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Kennedy's wife, Victoria. His sons, Ted and Patrick, were also with him. (Vincent Dewitt for the Boston Globe)

HYANNIS PORT - As usual, he was barking orders and grinning widely, gripping the helm as the Mya rode 20-knot winds and cut smoothly across the Nantucket Sound.

Under pristine skies, Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday steered his 50-foot Concordia schooner from Nantucket to his beachfront compound in Hyannis Port, among the first sailboats to finish the final leg of the annual Figawi Race.

The senator, who came in second in his division, took just two hours and 28 minutes to make the 20-mile voyage that many thought he would not take after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last week.

"It couldn't be a more beautiful day," he said after arriving at his dock in a blue windbreaker and Red Sox cap, with his friend Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and sons Ted and Patrick at his side. "We're with friends and family, and it's a great tradition out here. We always enjoy it."

The senator skipped the first leg of the trip Saturday but decided Sunday night to make the return sail, taking the 6:30 a.m. high-speed ferry to Nantucket yesterday, race officials said. His crew sailed the Mya over Sunday night.

J. David Crawford, chairman of the Figawi board of governors, greeted the senator and his family at the dock in Nantucket and took them to breakfast at the Even Keel, where Dodd met them. Crawford then drove the senators on a golf cart to their launch.

"Senator Kennedy is definitely part of this tradition, and we're very happy he came out," Crawford said. "He's one of the guys out there. This is his family."

Tom Duggan, the chief race officer, said the Mya crossed the finish line just 19 minutes after the first boat to enter Hyannis waters. He watched as the senator started and finished the race.

"They were whooping and hollering," Duggan said of Kennedy and his crew. "They were really excited. I think this meant a lot for them to be out there - and they were really humming. I think the boat looked spectacular."

In a brief interview after the race, Dodd wore a big smile, his normally perfectly coifed hair a mess. "He was bellowing and screaming on the water," Dodd said of Kennedy. "He was really in his form. We had a lot of fun. . . . It couldn't have been a better day to sail."

At the award ceremony at the Hyannis Yacht Club, Ted Kennedy Jr. said his father was resting at home but looking forward to returning next year.

In an interview afterward, Kennedy said his father was eager to get back to work. "You know him: As soon as he's able, you'll see him back," he said. "He's on the phone with his colleagues, directing traffic from his front porch."

Asked about his father's plans to fight cancer, Kennedy said the family was weighing its options.

"You have to think positive," said Kennedy, who lost a leg to cancer when he was 12. "It's obviously a real shock to our family. But we've been through bigger challenges. I'm living proof."

He added: "He has great doctors. . . . They're trying to figure it out. I don't think he has made any decisions."

Race officials presented the Kennedys a banner that read, "Smooth Sailing, Ted." Members of the club and race participants scrawled hand-written messages such as: "It wasn't the same this year without you." "We still owe you that cocktail from '05." "Know how much you have touched the lives of strangers." And "It's how you cross the finish line that counts."

Kennedy's sons later traded jibes with the crew of the Perfect Summer, which finished about 3 minutes ahead of the Mya and won their division.

Mike McNamara, skipper of the Perfect Summer, said he felt a tinge of guilt passing the Mya about a half hour into the race. But not that much guilt, he said, because the Mya "usually blows us out of the water." This year the two were rarely more than three boat-lengths from each other.

"My crew kept yelling at me to stop looking at him," McNamara said. "We're looking forward to racing him next year."

Doug Mitchell's boat passed the Mya about halfway through the race and finished first. He was happy to see Kennedy on the water, but he didn't feel badly for leaving the Mya in his wake.

"We were competing to win," said Mitchell, skipper of the Cone of Silence. "No guilt, but lots of respect."

Mark Hayes was a guest on the committee boat and watched as the Mya and about 37 other boats crossed the finish line. More than 200 competed in the first leg of the race. He said he never doubted that the senator would join the race, an annual rite here since 1972 that the senator has competed in for nearly as long.

He watched in awe as Kennedy steered the Mya home.

"He had a big grin," Hayes said. "He looked great, like he was where he was supposed to be."

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.