Capturing the Race One More Time
Posted by Jeffrey Clark
JefClarkArt
Choose Local
Photo by Jeffrey Clark
Sometimes it seems like you don’t need to boat up the St. Mary’s River from St. George Island one more time to catch the drama and pageantry of the Governor’s Cup – until you do.
There is always something incredibly thrilling about seeing the endless parade of beautiful and graceful sail boats with their spinnakers puffed out and their crews silently determined to get across the finish line at Church Point in Historic St. Mary’s City. And it helps a lot if it is a beautiful day with lots of brisk breezes, as was the case last week.
Photo by Jeffrey Clark
August 3 and 4 marked the 39th version of the Governor’s Cup, the oldest and longest overnight sailboat race on the Chesapeake. Scores of boats made the overnight trek from Maryland’s current capital to its first. The warning gun blared at 5:55 pm in Annapolis, and, 13 hours and 27 minutes later, the first boat crossed the finish line at St. Mary’s City.
Anchored off Church Point was The Dove, the replica of one of the two ships that first brought settlers to Maryland in 1634. The Dove served as the official boat of the Racing Committee which organizes the race each year.
Festivities on the banks of the St. Mary’s River add an element of celebration to the race’s finale, though in truth a lot of the sailors appeared to be a little too exhausted to add much to the party.
JefClarkArt was happy to cover the Governor’s Cup one more time and already has plans for GovCup 2013!
Stories: