WITH the wind at its stern and two fireboats to welcome it, the Godspeed sailed into the South Street Seaport yesterday as part of the 400th anniversary commemoration of the nation's first permanent English settlement, in Jamestown, Va.

The 88-foot, three-mast square rigger is a new replica of the original Godspeed, which carried 39 settlers and 13 crew members during the more than four-month crossing from England ending in 1607. The new Godspeed, which is visiting cities that were among the nation's earliest settlements, is making its voyage now to open 18 months of events marking the anniversary.