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Two Decades of Great Racing on Apparition
K
nown for her classic lines, shiny blue hull, and “Big Red” spinnaker, Apparition (USA 41841) has retired from racing after competing for nearly 20 years on the Chesapeake and beyond. Apparition is one of only two opentransom versions of the popular Frers 41 built by Carroll Marine in 1988. That same year, the Frers 41 won Sailing World’s Boat of the Year. Apparition demonstrated her racing prowess on the Great Lakes and was featured in Willard Bond’s painting “First Around” and an advertisement for the NOODs in Sailing World. In 1998, Steve and Arlene Bowes purchased Apparition and brought her to Annapolis from the Chicago Yacht Club.
62 January 2018 SpinSheet.com
By Shirley Franko
Over the years, Steve and Arlene built, compiled, and cultivated a talented crew who have stayed together for decades, with many of the first crew still onboard for the final race. Marshall Patterson arrived with the sailmaker Jorden Owen and was still trimming the main on the boat’s last race. Jude Brown, a teammate from Steve’s King’s Point sailing days, was invited to join early on. Jim McDevitt, Jim Comegys, Leah Quinn, and Sean Reilly were recruits from the early days and stayed with the program over the years. Eric Glaser joined the crew in 2002, and was still doing tactics on Apparition’s last race. Laura Davis came aboard as the spin trimmer in 2003 along with her brother Jamie Davis.
Larry “Blue” Shaw became the bowman in 2002 and trained many of the team’s bowmen including Cathy Zebrowski and then Keith Scala, who joined the team from “Whiskers” and stayed through the last race. In Apparition’s later years, Dave Ginsburg (jib trim), Brian Hetherington (bow), Shirley Franko (spin trimmer), Kevin McKee (jib trim), and Doug Martin (mast) joined Apparition’s regular crew, which they described as more than just crew— it’s family. Apparition’s first race on the Chesapeake was the 1998 Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC) Annual Regatta, and she won first place in the 2000 AYC Fall Series. She competed in the 2000 Annapolis to Bermuda Race and returned