Das Boot 3.0 captures class honors twice In both Leukemia Cup, Labor Day Regatta Sailing

It was a unique weekend doubleheader of sailboat racing off Annapolis this past weekend.

Normally, the Annapolis Labor Day Regatta would have raced on multiple courses both Saturday and Sunday. However, coronavirus forced postponement of the 28th annual Leukemia Cup, which was supposed to be held May 30.

Annapolis Yacht Club and Eastport Yacht Club, which partner to organize the Annapolis Labor Day Regatta, agreed to hold Leukemia Cup that weekend. That reduced the ALDR to a one-day event, which was not a big deal this year since the Annapolis stop of the National Offshore One-Design series was held the weekend before.

A record fleet of 108 boats in 14 classes competed in Leukemia Cup, which was held Saturday. Most classes sailed a pursuit-style race around government marks, a first for this popular annual regatta.

Because of the pandemic, Eastport Yacht Club was unable to host the renowned post-race party this year. Eliminating the social aspect did not impact fundraising efforts with Leukemia Cup co-chairman Patrick Shannon reporting that giving remained on par with past years.

Through sponsorships, donations, registration fees and a successful silent auction, more than $150,000 was raised for The Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That total does not include approximately $25,000 worth of in-kind contributions that lowered overall expenses for the event and allowed as much money as possible to go to the mission of funding cures for blood and other cancers.

"The 28th annual Annapolis Leukemia Cup Regatta planning committee navigated the tricky shoals of the pandemic and delivered exceptional results on and off the water," Shannon said.

"While the support was amazing, we were not surprised because our community has consistently exceeded all expectations for charitable and community support no matter how high the bar," co-chairman Chris Munson added.

Shannon offered special thanks to sailors who normally support the Leukemia Cup of New Jersey. That regatta was canceled so a large contingent of New Jersey sailors traveled south to support the Annapolis Leukemia Cup, contributing $46,000 in additional fundraising.

The turnout was not quite as good for the Annapolis Labor Day Regatta, which featured windward-leeward buoy racing. Only 28 boats participated with organizers completing three races for the ORC 1, ORC 2 and PHRF Non-Spinnaker classes.

Winds were light all weekend with Leukemia Cup competitors racing in a northerly of 4-5 knots. It was hard to make headway against a foul current and 31 boats either retired or failed to finish before the time limit. Pressure was only slightly better Sunday for the ALDR with 6-8 knots from the southeast.

It was a great weekend for the Das Boot 3.0 team led by owners Jay and Cindy Muller. The Chicago couple, principals of the architectural firm Muller & Muller, topped PHRF A2 class in the Leukemia Cup then was victorious in ORC 2 class for the ALDR.

The Muller family campaigned a Beneteau 40.7 named Das Boot for 18 years out of Chicago Yacht Club. Cate Muller was responsible for getting her parents into sailing after learning the sport while attending an after-school sailing program at the Columbia Yacht Club.

She sailed at Hobart/William Smith and Marquette before eventually joining the family firm that is also known as Muller2. She is now Cate Muller Terhune after marrying Allan Terhune, veteran professional with North Sails-Chesapeake.

Facing the prospect of cruising double-handed more often, Jay and Cindy Muller decided to downsize and donated the Beneteau 40.7 to the Warrior Sailing program. A couple trips to the Düsseldorf Boat Show led the couple to choose an Italia 9.98 as their next boat.

Italia Yachts chief designer Matteo Polli optimized the 34-foot racer-cruiser for the ORC (Offshore Racing Congress) rating rule. Das Boot 3.0 was shipped from Genoa, Italy to Baltimore then motored to Annapolis by David Walters Yachts broker Erik Haaland.

With their daughter and son-in-law based here, the Mullers decided to sail the Italia 9.98 out of Annapolis for a while and could not have imagined a better debut. Jay steered, Cindy trimmed the jib and Cate trimmed the mainsail as Das Boot3.0 won two regattas in two days. Terhune called tactics and worked the pit for his father-in-law, who was racing on the Chesapeake Bay for the first time.

"It was kind of amazing, to be honest. We're learning about the boat as we go, so we had no expectations," Jay Muller said. "After doing one-design for so long, I have no real concept of who is winning a time on time race. I just sort of smile and go wherever Allan tells me to go."

The Mullers had two members of their Chicago-based crew come out for the weekend in Justin Falconer (bow) and Hays Fomella (mast). Annapolis sailor Jake Doyle (spinnaker trim) completed the crew aboard Das Boot 3.0, which earned the City of Annapolis Trophy for most outstanding performance in the ALDR.

Chessie Racing, the Tripp 62 owned by former Gibson Island resident George Collins, was launched from Bert Jabin's Yacht Yard for the first time in more than a year and promptly took first place in PHRF A0/A1 class for the Leukemia Cup.

Collins, who now has homes in Florida and Connecticut, was unable to make the regatta so boat captain Ian Gordon filled in as skipper and helmsman. He put together a strong team of current or former professionals with Scott Nixon of the Quantum Annapolis loft serving as tactician and grand-prix circuit veteran Greg Gendell handling the foredeck.

Matt Beck (main trimmer), Ted Kaczmarski (navigator), Billy Jenkins (jib trimmer), Jay Herman (trimmer) and Scott Dodge (pit) were also aboard. Gordon was thrilled to welcome a pair of female collegiate sailors in Sara Alexander (USC, strategist) and Meredith Krissoff (Hawaii, trimmer). Completing the crew were a couple of up-and-coming junior sailors - 12-year-old Ben Gendell and 11-year-old Paul Bannen Kaczmarski.

"We worked really hard on the second upwind leg to keep the boat pointed up tide and toward the mark. Scott and Matt were superb finding the breeze and keeping me honest making sure we kept the boat moving," Gordon said.

Meanwhile, the husband-wife team of Ed and Cindy Hartman sailed their J/122 M'am'selle to a convincing victory in ORC 1 for the ALDR. Hartman was thrilled to have North-Chesapeake pros Cole Allsopp and Jonathan Bartlett aboard as tactician and mainsail trimmer. His wife trimmed the jib, while the "Irish Mob" of Keenan Hilsinger (headsail trimmer), Sean Harr (pit) and Liam Harr (bow) completed the team.

M'am'selle was among the slower boats in ORC 1, which included the Naval Academy Varsity Offshore Sailing Team's Ker 50 Wahoo and the Carkeek 40 Rival. Ed Hartman III had no idea his boat was victorious when racing ended.

"It is kind of an odd experience racing these days. There is no regatta party and no awards ceremony, and with complex handicapping we didn't even know we won," he said. "We sail around in circles, go home and put the boat away, and look up the results on line."

Midshipman first class Katie Boyle, who skippered Wahoo to third place in ORC 1 for the ALDR, was presented with the Ruth Wilcox Trophy for sailing excellence by a female participant.

Annapolis Leukemia Cup

Time on Time Division

Multihull B (1 boat)

1, Narrow Escape, Trimaran 25, Ben Corson

Pursuit Division

PHRF A0/A1 (6 boats)

1, Chessie Racing, Tripp 62, George Collins; 2, Endorphin, Melges 32, Scott Steele; 3, Mummbles, Farr 30, Brad Kauffman

PHRF A2 (8 boats)

1, Das Boot 3.0, Italia 9.98, Jay Muller; 2, Mama Tried, Beneteau FC 10, Andrew Noel; 3, Patriot IV, Melges 24, Steve Young/U.S. Patriot Sailing

PHRF B (2 boats)

1, Chill, J/80, Will McCollum

J/30 (4 boats)

1, Avita, Daniel Watson; 2, Shamrock, Bruce Irvin; 3, Pogo, Charles Lutz

J/35 (3 boats)

1, Aunt Jean, James Sagerholm; 2, Abientot, Roger Lant; 3, Valhalla, Mike Wood

J/105 (9 boats)

1, Smoke-n-Oakum, David Scheidt; 2, Chessie, John Kircher; 3, Tenacious, Carl & Scott Gitchell

Leukemia Cruising (7 boats)

1, Ingenuity, Ranger 28, Joe Lombardo

PHFRF N (8 boats)

1, Kokomo Express, Express 35, Terri High/Brett Sorenson; 2, Seaya Later, CS34, Craig Lisk

CRCA Spinnaker (12 boats)

1, Quintet, Cal 25, Mike Miller; 2, Pegasus, C&C 35, Patrick Hylant; 3, Committed, J/22, Warren/Tracy/Richter/Golde

CRCA Non-Spinnaker (9 boats)

1, Mojo, Wauquiez 40, Julian Bigden; 2, Anneliese, B-40, Joseph Zebleckes

One-Design Division

Alerion 28 (4 boats)

1, Caroline, Kevin McNeil, 2-1=3; 2, Hero Squad III, Andrew Eyring, 1-2=3; 3, Escape, James Kizziar, 4-3=7

Harbor 20 (21 boats)

1, Sugar, Garth Hichens, 1-1=2; 2, Blackout, Ron Steele, 4-2=6; 3, Skimmer, Margaret Podlich, 3-6=9

Herreshoff 12.5 (4 boats)

1, Hubcap, Cynthia Weber, 1-1=2; 2, Raven, William Museler, 2-2=4; 3, Pot O'Gold, Terrell Otis, 3-3=6

Annapolis Labor Day Regatta

ORC 1 (10 boats)

1, M'am'selle, J/122, Cindy & Ed Hartman, 1-1-1=3; 2, ZUUL, Aerodyne 38, Benedict Capuco, 2-3-4=9; 3, Wahoo, Ker 50, Katie Boyle, 4-4-2=10

ORC 2 (11 boats)

1, Das Boot, Italia 9.98, Jay Muller, 3-1-1=5; 2, Monkey Dust, Tripp 33, Craig & Dotty Saunders, 1-2-2=5; 3, TOTALed MAYHEM, J/30, Doug & Amy Stryker, 2-3-7=12

PHRF Non-Spinnaker (3 boats)

1, Kokomo Express, Express 35, Brett Sorensen & Terri High, 1-1-1=3; 2, Spin Doctor, C&C 110, Babak Rajaee, 3-2-3=8; 3, Bingo, New York 36, Brent Allen, 2-6/dnc-2=10

Quaran Team Pursuit Race (4 boats)

1, Lucky Eights, J/124, Keith Cole; 2, Revolution, CS30, Doug Ellmore Sr.

Caption: Das Boot 3.0 is a family affair with owners (from left) Jay and Cindy Muller sailing along with their daughter and son-in-law - Cate and Allan Terhune.

Courtesy Photo