The winners of the annual Annapolis Sailboat Show Grand Prize Drawing are Bob and Eve German of Virginia. The couple, who is relatively new to sailing, won a Beneteau ASA First 22 courtesy of the Annapolis Boat Shows and Beneteau America. The new vessel will join the family’s growing fleet, which will soon total five boats.
“What I’ve learned is that you never have just one boat,” says Bob, who also owns a 40-foot Beneteau sailboat, a Sunfish, and a wooden kayak that he built himself. In addition, he’s just recently purchased materials to build a dinghy for the big Beneteau.
When we spoke with Bob in December, the couple hadn’t yet taken delivery of their new boat, but their plan was to keep it in a slip at the Rappahannock River YC (RRYC), along with their bigger Beneteau Pegasus. Selling either boat does not seem to be an option. When their sailing friends at RRYC learned of the prize, they all insisted the couple keep the boat, so club members could have the opportunity to crew on it.
Bob and Eve joined RRYC and learned to sail approximately three years ago. They purchased Pegasus about a year and a half later, and they’ve jumped right into racing as well as day and overnight cruising. Their teenage children, who often sail with them, have been sailing a little longer; they started in sailing camps about 10 years ago.
Bob hopes that good things really do come in threes. After winning the Beneteau, the couple won tickets to see the Grateful Dead in Madison Square Garden. And the day we interviewed him, Bob was knocking on wood as he entered a raffle for a Tesla. Good luck, Bob. And come take us for a spin if you win!
