"We encountered a season's worth of conditions in one race," said the 81-year-old Deakyne, who has competed in every Governor's Cup since 1981.

Indeed, the weather forecasters were all wrong. Predictions of a downwind start were off base while the predicted pressure was also not entirely accurate. It was pretty much an upwind beat the whole way for the nearly 140 boats in seven classes that competed in the 35th annual overnight race between the historic ports of Annapolis and St. Mary's City.

Skippers saw winds that fluctuated wildly from 3 to 14 knots for most of the 70-nautical mile voyage. Those boats that did not finish before around 9 a.m. were hit by a severe thunderstorm that brought heavy rain and 30-knot gusts.

Zaraffa, a Reichel-Pugh 66-footer crewed by members of the Naval Academy offshore sailing team, captured line honors despite running aground for 40 minutes. The Midshipmen got free when skipper Steven Carter swam the anchor approximately 100 yards away and used it to pull the boat off.

Donnybrook, a custom-designed 72-footer owned by Annapolis Yacht Club member Jim Muldoon, sailed into a windless hole about three miles from the finish and was also parked for about 45 minutes.

"It was a great race until the last three miles," Muldoon said. "Hats off to Zaraffa, which ran aground and still beat us over the finish line."

Several Anne Arundel County entries captured class honors. Der Baron, a C&C 41 skippered by Don Wagner of Shady Side, was winner of PHRF A2 with a corrected time of 13 hours, 33 minutes, 7 seconds. That was nearly a half hour ahead of runner-up Jubilee, a Beneteau 36.7 owned by Keith Mayes of Tracy's Landing.

"I've sailed this race for more than 25 years, and it's always a thrill to win," said Wagner, who had two sons and a daughter aboard.

This was at least the seventh class victory for Wagner, who made his Governor's Cup debut with a C&C 30 named Red Baron. Bruce Wagner called tactics while Steve Wagner shared steering duties with his father. Cathy Wagner-Farnan was also part of the crew along with Robin Heinz-Anderson (foredeck), Gary Schmidt (main), Rob Mackie, Doug Smith and Frank Dickey.

Der Baron hugged the western shore during the early portion of the race to stay out of the flood tide. After ducking into the mouth of the West River, the C&C 41 tacked and was lifted onto the rhumb line.

"We ran the rhumb line, rode the tide and held that starboard tack from Herring Bay to Point Lookout," Don Wagner said. "It was a strange race because other than a close reach for a short time in the Potomac River, it was a beat the whole way."

Trinity, skippered by David Way of Shady Side, took top honors in the Multihull division. Bumblebee, sailed by Mark and Loren Walker of Severna Park, was the winner of PHRF Non-Spinnaker.

Meridian, a Taylor 40 sailed by members of the St. Mary's College of Maryland offshore team, placed first in PHRF A0. Senior Jeremy Hutchinson skippered Meridian, which beat Annapolis-based Sjambok by 35 minutes on corrected time.

Teddy Turner Jr., a former member of the St. Mary's College Board of Trustees, crewed aboard Meridian and was very impressed with the skills of the collegiate sailors.

"I think it's fantastic that a St. Mary's team would win this race," said Turner, a Charleston, S.C., resident and son of the former America's Cup champion of the same name. "It was an upwind race and fortunately (Meridian) happens to go upwind very well."

Governor's Cup Results

(Boat, owner, hometown, corrected time)

Multihull

1, Trinity, David Way, Shady Side, 14:16:40

2, Airtime, Mark Anstey, Arnold, 14:30:16

3, Temple of the Wind, Doug Dykman, Arnold, 14:45:48

PHRF A0

1, Meridian, Jeremy Hutchinson, St. Mary's College, 12:42:30

2, Sjambok, Michael Brennan, Potomac, 13:17:54

3, Donnybrook, James Muldoon, 13:18:25

PHRF A1

1, Valkyrie, David Andril, Arlington, Va., 12:20:55

2, Dame Blanche, Othmar von Blumencron, Great Falls, Va., 12:39:05

3, Lanikai, David Kim, Annapolis, 12:44:14

PHRF A2

1, Der Baron, Don Wagner, Shady Side, 13:33:07

2, Jubilee, Keith Mayes, Tracy's Landing, 14:02:48

3, Lakahi, Jim & Kris Young, Callaway, 14:06:07

PHRF A3

1, The Riddler, Clarke McKinney, Solomons, 13:24:18

2, Incommunicado, Ed Tracey, Severna Park, 13:38:37

3, O'Yeller, Tom Moulds, St. Inigoes, 13:45:47

PHRF B1

1, Still a Gorilla, Gordon Latrobe, Baltimore, 13:26:42

2, Blitz, Scott Ward, Patuxent River, 13:28:10

3, Smokey, Daniel Gummere, Washington, D.C., 13:28:10

PHRF C/D

1, Age of Reason, Stovy Brown, St. Leonard, 13:20:12

2, Finn, Andrew Eyring, Baltimore, 13:26:40

3, Sandpiper, Arne Fliflet, Alexandria, Va., 14:41:30

PHRF N

1, Bumblebee, Mark & Loren Walker, Severna Park, 13:46:45

2, Southern Cross, Bill Roos, West Chester, Pa., 14:03:16

3, Serefe, Sam Baker, Upper Marlboro, 14:16:37