Temple of The Wind, from Arnold Md., approaches the finish line of the 2008 Governor's Cup in St. Mary's City. The line between the Mast bearing the Race Committee flag on the Maryland Dove and the cross at Priest's Point on the shore marks the finish line. (Photo: D. Noss)
ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. (Aug. 2, 2008)—The weather forecasts were all wrong for the 2008 St. Mary's College of Maryland Governor's Cup Yacht Race, and skippers and crew were happy about that. Sailors in the 35th annual running of the overnight race had light winds between 3 and 14 knots and a flat sea for most of the course. There were no spinnaker runs. A few "holes" without wind were encountered by some but that changed with morning thunderstorms that brought 30-knot gusts. Just north of Point Lookout, where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay, the U.S. Naval Academy's Zaraffa ran aground, but pulled themselves off after 40 minutes when the skipper swam the anchor away from where the yacht had "parked it up." Zaraffa still managed to be the first boat over the finish line. But all in all, according to one skipper, it was "one of the most civilized trips we've ever had along the bay."
The largest boats in the fleet were in the AO class. For the first time in over a decade the college offshore racing team entered a boat in the Governor's Cup. Meridian, captained by Jeremy Hutchinson from Minneapolis, Minnesota ('09), won AO class with assistance from Teddy Turner Jr. David Andril, captain of Valkyrie, from Arlington, Virginia, won the prestigious A1 class. Don Wagner, captain of Der Baron, from Shady Side, Maryland, won the A2 class. He has raced in the Governor's Cup for over 25 years and won numerous trophies. Clarke McKinney's The Riddler out of Solomons, Maryland, took home first in the A3 class. Gordon Latrobe, on Still a Gorilla out of Baltimore, took home first in the B class.
The race started at 6 p.m. on Friday in Annapolis with 7- to 8-knot winds from the south and calm seas. The night sky was clear and "magical," according to racers, with perfect temperatures and Jupiter shining bright. However, racers coming into the St. Mary's River at the end of the race during mid-morning encountered a wall of rain that came straight down the river and winds above 20 knots. Racers coming into the river just after dawn had a less eventful trip. "It was a great race until the last three miles" said Jim Muldoon, skipper of the Donnybrook. According to Muldoon, Donnybrook hit "a dead spot and spent 45 minutes looking at the finish line," but still managed to be among the first three finishers. "Hats off to Zaraffa, which ran hard aground and beat us over the finish line," Muldoon added.
Returning to the race for the third was Ben Collins, of Rockville, Maryland. Collins is a Special Olympics sailor who is blind and developmentally disabled. He was aboard Donnybrook again this year.
Also returning this year was an all-high-school crew from Southern Maryland. On board Age of Reason, sailors from Leonardtown and Patuxent High Schools won in their class (C-D). Their boat is a centerboard model 1978 Bristol 355 captained by their coach, Stovy Brown, of St. Leonard, Maryland. Brown and his navigator said the highlight for them was the storm that hit as they were half way up the St. Mary's River. The skipper said he was proud of his crew and impressed by the "agility of these high school kids to work this boat in those conditions."
Gordon Latrobe on Still a Gorilla (PHRF B) took home the Waldschmitt Award for the best in fleet. The most competitive of the trophies, this award is presented to the winner of the class having the smallest corrected time interval between the first- and fifth-place finishers.
Jeremy Hutchinson and crew on Meridian (PHRF AO) won the Alumni Trophy. Participating alumni included Justin Bates, Colin Woods, Mark Allegrini, Walter Prause and Tyler Keyworth. To be eligible for the Alumni Trophy, two or more members of the boat's crew must be St. Mary's College of Maryland alumni. The award is presented to the yacht with the highest percentage score, which is computed by dividing the number of boats defeated in a class by the number of boats registered in the same class.
Andrew Eyring and crew on Finn from Baltimore (PHRF C/D) was honored with the Bickell Award, named for a racer who lost his life in a tragic accident sailing in the 1994 Governor's Cup. The trophy is awarded to the skipper and crew whose finish position shows the most improvement over last year's performance. The skipper must have commanded the same boat both years. "The Bickell Award is a fitting memorial for a man who enjoyed no greater challenge than making a boat and its crew into a winning combination," said Torre Meringolo, vice president for the SMCM Office of Development.
The Patuxent Partnership (TPP) trophy was awarded to Clarke McKinney and crew of The Riddler from Solomons, Maryland (PHRF A3). To be eligible for the trophy, a boat's crew must include two employees from a TPP-member company, active-duty military, or Department of Defense civilian personnel, and have the highest-class finish by a TPP boat.
The results of SMCM Governor's Cup Race are as follows, in order from first to third: (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) ratings are based on the speed potential of the boat. Handicaps are adjusted as needed on the boat's performance so that each well-sailed boat has an equal opportunity to win.)
| Racing Class: Multihull | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Trinity | David Way | Shady Side, MD | 0/14:16:40.5 |
| 2 | Airtime | Mark Anstey | Arnold, MD | 0/14:30:16.0 |
| 3 | Temple of the Wind Doug Dykman | Arnold, MD | 0/14:45:48.2 | |
| Racing Class: PHRF A-0 | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Meridian | Jeremy Hutchinson | Minneapolis, MN | 0/12:42:30.0 |
| 2 | Sjambok | Michael Brennan | Potomac, MD | 0/13:17:54.0 |
| 3 | Donnybrook | James Muldoon | Washington, DC | 0/13:18:25.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF A-1 | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Valkyrie | David Andril | Arlington, VA | 0/12:20:55.0 |
| 2 | Dame Blanche | Mueller von Blumencron | Great Falls, VA | 0/12:39:05.0 |
| 3 | Lanikai | David Kim | Annapolis, MD | 0/12:44:14.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF A-2 | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Der Baron | Don Wagner | Shady Side, MD | 0/13:33:07.0 |
| 2 | Jubilee | Keith Mayes | Tracys Landing, MD | 0/14:02:48.0 |
| 3 | LAKAHI | Jim/Kris Young | Callaway, MD | 0/14:06:07.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF A-3 | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | The Riddler | Clarke McKinney | Solomons, MD | 0/13:24:18.0 |
| 2 | Incommunicado | Ed Tracey | Severna Park, MD | 0/13:38:37.0 |
| 3 | O' Yeller | Tom Moulds | St. Inigoes, MD | 0/13:45:47.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF B-1 | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Still a Gorilla | Gordon Latrobe | Baltimore, MD | 0/13:26:42.0 |
| 2 | Blitz | Scott Ward | Patuxent River,MD | 0/13:28:01.0 |
| 3 | Smokey | Daniel Gummere | Washington, DC | 0/13:28:10.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF C/D | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Age of Reason | Stovy Brown | St. Leonard, MD | 0/13:20:12.0 |
| 2 | Finn | Andrew Eyring | Baltimore, MD | 0/13:26:40.0 |
| 3 | Sandpiper | Arne Fliflet | Alexandria, VA | 0/14:41:30.0 |
| Racing Class: PHRF N | ||||
| Rank | Boat Name | Skipper | Hometown | Elapsed Time |
| 1 | Bumblebee | Loren Mark Walker | Severna Park, MD | 0/13:46:45.0 |
| 2 | Southern Cross | Bill Roos | Westchester, PA | 0/14:03:16.0 |
| 3 | SEREFE | Sam Baker | Upper Marlboro, MD | 0/14:16:37.0 |