Southern sailors

Local boats represent Southern Md.

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JESSE YEATMAN The crew of American Flyer, captained by Dan Schneider of Lusby, celebrates after crossing the finish line Saturday morning. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

The Meridian, a boat with a crew made up of St. Mary’s College of Maryland students and alumni, finished first in the PHRF A-O class. Before the race began Friday evening in Annapolis, captain Jeremy Hutchinson said he expected the race to last between 12 and 16 hours. His team nearly beat his own expectations, finishing with a time of 12 hours, 42 minutes, 30 seconds.

‘‘We were in it to win it for sure,” said Nutt Hankins, a St. Mary’s student crew member from the Meridian. ‘‘We’re not going to go into it with any other expectations.”

Hankins said the Meridian was a purely amateur boat, something that put it at a disadvantage compared to many of the other boats in the race. But, due to excellent preparation and strategy, the Meridian pulled through for the win.

‘‘We were up against some professional crews,” said Hankins. ‘‘It was kinda bizarre in that sense. All these guys with fancy boats –– they’re all professionals for the most part or at least some of them are. We’re just a bunch of good ol’ buddies trying to do what we could.”

Another amateur boat with St. Mary’s College connections was the Donnybrook, a custom-built yacht raced by Jim Muldoon, chairman of the board of trustees at the college.

The Donnybrook finished with a time of 13:18:25, good for third place in the A-O class. The boat hit a dead spot near the end of the race that snarled the Donnybrook for 45 minutes. The boat subsequently missed placing second by only 31 seconds.

Muldoon said racing in the event hosted by the college gave him a little extra personal desire to perform well.

‘‘Darn right,” said a chuckling Muldoon. ‘‘I want to win every race, I do, but the Governor’s Cup is fun. And the trouble that everyone goes through to make sure that the after-race activities are the best also makes you want to be involved.”

Callaway residents Jim Young and Kris Dennie-Young, owners of the Lakahi, finished in third place in the A-2 class. The husband and wife combo both work at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and are annual participants in the Governor’s Cup.

‘‘It was a beautiful night,” said Dennie-Young. ‘‘The breeze was nice. There was a lull in the middle of the night where it got a little soft and it was a little frustrating. But it was an awesome night –– not too hot and enough breeze to keep us going.”

Combined, the Youngs have raced approximately 35 Governor’s Cups, and this year proved to be their most successful adventure, the second year in a boat they owned.

‘‘With the overnight race, it’s completely different because it’s such a long run, you never know what the bay is going to do,” said Dennie-Young. ‘‘In daytime races you pretty much know what the weather is going to be, the current is going to be, but at night, that stuff changes all night long. ... You have to be on top of it –– if you get lackadaisical about it, you’ll fall behind.”

Another local boat was the American Flyer, captained by Dan Schneider of Lusby. American Flyer finished tied for fourth place in the A-1 class, only 10 minutes out of a third place finish.

‘‘It was a great night,” said American Flyer crew member Angie Bayles. ‘‘We actually had pretty good wind most of the night which is better than what we normally have in the Governor’s Cup.”