People

By Guy D. Garcia

She was christened Alcyone, after the daughter of the Greek god of wind, but the ancient Greeks never saw her like. The sailing ship harnesses the wind with a superefficient system of cylindrical aluminum "turbo sails." The 72- ton vessel also has engines and was developed by Neptune's modern descendant, Jacques Cousteau, and two other French designers who hoped to show that the sails could save some conventional ships up to 35% on fuel bills. Setting out on her maiden voyage from France five weeks ago, the ship made stops in the ! Azores and Bermuda before arriving last week in New York harbor to a welcome of fireworks. Cousteau, who celebrated his 75th birthday two weeks ago at a party in Washington, was on hand to introduce the Alcyone. She is "just like a woman," he said, "difficult to understand. But once you succeed, it's worthwhile."