Despite gale wind warnings and a menacing sky, the weather cleared for the 131 yachts participating in the  St. Mary’s College of Maryland Governor’s Cup Yacht Race. Sailors in the 36th annual running of the overnight race had winds up to 20 knots for most of the course. Slower winds in the early morning caused some boats to take five hours to get from Point Lookout to the college. According to Jim Muldoon, chairman of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) board of trustees and skipper of the Donneybrook, “This was a really challenging race. Everything from dead winds to 20 knots…It was a fun race and fast until 5 a.m.”
 
In the A-0 class, Michael Brennan, of Potomac, Maryland, came in first on his boat, Sjambok. Blofish came in first in the A-1 class, with Dailey Tipton, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, as the skipper. Long-time competitor Don Wagoner, of Shady Side, Maryland, came in first in the A-2 class with his boat, Der Baron. In the A-3 class, Albert Holt, of Annapolis, Maryland, came in first place with his boat, Kestrel.  David Way, of Shady Side, Maryland, led the way in the multihull class in his boat, Trinity.
 
The largest boats in the fleet are in the A-O class. The first boat to finish, winning line honors, went to the Annapolis Naval Academy’s boat, Zarafa.
 
The race started at 6 p.m. on Friday in Annapolis with 15- to 20-knot winds from the northwest and 2 feet seas. Even with gale wind warnings looming, the thunderstorms went through early and the skippers were able to lead their crews down the Chesapeake Bay. “We ended up doing this race without a drop of rain on us,” said Muldoon. “There were rain cells to our front and behind us, but we were never hit.”
 
“The race is always magical, always different,” said Scott Reynolds, of West Friendship, Maryland, skipper of Scot-free, who came in fourth in the A-2 Class. “This is a race where you’ve got to be ready for everything – wind, heat, rain.”
 
“One of the things that I think is really cool about this race,” added SMCM race committee director, Adam Werblow, “is that you have to be a really good sailor. You have to be tactical and be able to weigh risks.”
 
Perhaps one of the most tactical crew members in the race was aboard Donneybrook. For the fourth year in a row, 39-year-old Special Olympics award-winner Ben Collins, of Rockville, Maryland, sailed in the overnight race. Blind since age eight, Collins sails by his sense of sound and touch. He is also a bronze medal winner in the Special Olympics World Games.
 
Charles Deakyne and crew won the award for the most improvement on Scrimshaw. Deakyne, of Severna Park, Maryland, (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. Deakyne has sailed the same boat since 1972. He recently saved four victims from a boat capsizing in the Chesapeake Bay.
 
Dan Shannon, of Leonardtown, Maryland, on The Doghouse (PHRF Non-Spin), 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. Shannon also came in first in the PHRF Non-Spin class.
 
Michael Brennan and crew on Sjambok (PHRF AO) won the Alumni Trophy. Participating alumni included John Loe and Walt Pletcher. To be eligible for the Alumni Trophy, two or more members of the boat’s crew must be SMCM 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. (Note highest percentage score is computed by dividing the number of boats defeated in a class by the number of boats registered in the same class.)
 
The Patuxent Partnership (TPP) trophy was awarded to Jim Keen and crew of FOXTROT CORPEN from Solomons, Maryland (PHRF A2). 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.
 
To view other highlights of the race, go to https://t2p.box.net/shared/73lm3el4of. Tucker Thompson’s seven-minute video footage captures the race in action, from start to finish line. Credit t2pTV for any commercial use of the video footage.
 
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.