The 37th Annual Governor’s Cup, a 70 mile overnight sailboat race stretching a significant portion of the Chesapeake Bay, took place Friday, August 6, and concluded Saturday, August 7, the following morning. Separated into seven classes based on hull type and length, 123 vessels made the trek from Annapolis to St. Mary’s City.
Assisted by strong, southerly winds, the fleet began to arrive early Saturday morning, and the majority of the fleet had finished by 10:00 a.m. Skippered by Peter Gibbons, Invictus and its crew of US Naval Academy offshore sailors, was the first to cross the line at 1:49 a.m. However, due to a lower time rating, Charles Engh’s Stray Dog edged out the Midshipmen by 20 minutes in Class A0, despite finishing nearly a half hour later.
Because there were no one-design divisions, finishing position in each class was based on handicap adjusted time. Winners of the other classes were Wild Card, of Class A2, Incommunicado, from Class B, Class C/D’s ACTAEA, Vagabond from the non spinnaker class, and Wild Card, who topped the multihull class.
The Waldschmitt Award, going to the Cup’s overall winner, went to Captain Greg Leonard’s Heron, who topped Class A1, finishing at 4:40 a.m. The award is given each year to the First Place boat in the most competitive class, meaning closest handicap adjusted time between first and fifth place.
Other awards included the Alumni Trophy, which was awarded to Jim Muldoon’s Donnybrook, given to boats with at least two former St. Mary’s College Alumni. The Patuxent Partnership Trophy, for boats with at least two Patuxent Partnership employees, active duty military servicemembers, or Department of Defense civilian personnel, was bestowed upon the race’s unofficial winners, Invictus. While meeting criteria for both awards, winners were required to have the best overall handicap adjusted time, regardless of class. The Bickell Award, granted to the race’s most improved overall finisher from the previous year, was given to Lady Grey, captained by Joe Laun.
This year’s Governor’s Cup continued its tradition of sailing excellence and camaraderie and was considered a success by race chairman and St. Mary’s College head sailing coach, Adam Werblow. “It seemed like it was a good Gov Cup.”
