Suburb skipper hoists sail to retrace Columbus' trip

It's an ordinary office in a Chicago suburb until Richard W.Gilbert unfolds his big map of the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly you areback in 1492 on the pitching deck of the Santa Maria with ChristopherColumbus.

Or just as suddenly you're in 1992, in the near future, aboardthe ketch Empresa with Gilbert and five friends, retracing Columbus'first voyage to the New World.

This is no ordinary map in Gilbert's hands. This one gives thespeed and direction of the currents and the winds at various pointsin the Atlantic.

Gilbert and pals, all good amateur sailors, intend to use thistype chart when they sail from the harbor of Palos de la Frontera,Spain, exactly 500 …