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This 1958 wooden 12-meter class sailboat once raced the America’s Cup. An Annapolis man is giving it new life.

  • From left, Dean Wickline, Tom Gabs, and Scott Bernard, work...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    From left, Dean Wickline, Tom Gabs, and Scott Bernard, work with the rest of the crew to raise the sail for the first time this season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Elizabeth Hartge, center, adjusts a line during the Easterner's shake...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Elizabeth Hartge, center, adjusts a line during the Easterner's shake out sail. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Holly Vrotsos, left, is at the helm as Scott Bernard...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Holly Vrotsos, left, is at the helm as Scott Bernard sits to the right. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Holly Vrotsos works to adjust the main sail. Annapolis resident...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Holly Vrotsos works to adjust the main sail. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Grant Schneider leaps to the dock to secure a line...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Grant Schneider leaps to the dock to secure a line after the boat comes back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the first time this season and get her ready. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Boat owner Scott Bernard at the helm of his boat...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Boat owner Scott Bernard at the helm of his boat with Grant Schneider behind him. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • Totch Hartge, left, and Scott Bernard work to crank up...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    Totch Hartge, left, and Scott Bernard work to crank up the sail for the first time this season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the first time this season and get her ready. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    A crew of volunteers take out the Easterner for the first time this season and get her ready. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

  • The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back...

    Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette

    The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.

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Scott Bernard, his friends and several strangers worked together Friday to hoist the mainsail of the Easterner, a 1958 wooden 12-meter class sailboat that raced in the America’s Cup, traveled from West to East Coast and ultimately found its way to City Dock.

The retired Naval officer, who bought the boat last year, said he couldn’t believe the boat was in Annapolis waters with its mainsail up.

He guessed it must have been 15 years since Annapolis had seen anything like it. Its sloping, mahogany hull was a stark contrast to the white, sharper lines of nearby power boats.

Passersby waved and complimented the boat.

One man shouted from a water taxi: “Is that the Easterner?!?”

Nobody paid him to say that, Bernard said with a chuckle. Once the mainsail was up, the Annapolis resident said he was “overwhelmed.”

“This is a dream come true,” Bernard said. “That’s the story.”

City Dock is where the Easterner will remain over the next few summers. Bernard has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center, letting the organization use the vessel for its educational programs. The vessel will be part of the center’s sailing camps and outreach efforts.

Bernard has been encouraging anyone, even random people walking by, to step onto the vessel and learn a bit of its history.

“We want to reach out to people who have never been on the Chesapeake Bay,” said Lee Tawney, Executive Director of Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center.

Holly Vrotsos, left, is at the helm as Scott Bernard sits to the right. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.
Holly Vrotsos, left, is at the helm as Scott Bernard sits to the right. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel’s history.

Friday was a high-point in Bernard’s year-long journey to restore the boat he loved as a child.

Bernard grew up in Newport Beach, California, where Easterner was moored in front of his family home. His parents instilled in him a love for the water — which he continues to this day — but over the years Bernard grew up, and the Easterner had a journey of its own.

Designed by the great boat designer, C. Raymond Hunt, the Easterner was built 61 years ago. The vessel participated in the America’s Cup — the prestige international competition dating back to 1851 — but the crew didn’t perform well enough over the years and was sold. It was renamed Newsboy and won almost 100 offshore racing trophies.

These types of boats aren’t raced anymore, said Dean Wickline, who just met Bernard Friday morning. He compared sailing the Easterner to driving an old-fashioned car, but a fast one.

“Who gets to sail on a 12-metre?” Wickline said with a laugh.

Over the next several decades the boat was dropped, sunk, refit, donated to Sail-to-Prevail and eventually pulled out of the water where it sat for about five years.

That’s where Bernard comes in.

He was looking to buy a boat when he came upon the Easterner. It had weathered on land and wasn’t ready for the water. But Bernard said the price was good so he dipped into his paychecks and savings to buy the $140,000 vessel. He said they typically go for $300,000. It took about six months to get it refit and back on the water. In total, it will take three winter to spring periods, with two of those done already.

The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel's history.
The Easterner is secured to the dock after coming back from a shake out cruise to get it ready for the season. Annapolis resident Scott Bernard has bought the 12-meter boat the Easterner, the same one he coveted as a child in Newport Beach, California and has partnered with the Annapolis Waterfront Sailing Center to let people visit, sail and learn about the vessel’s history.

His fiancee, Michele Geary, said she thought it was a great idea. She was part of the nine-person crew Friday. About two-thirds of them had just met Bernard and Geary that morning.

“It is fantastic,” Geary said. “It is exciting.”

The crew eased the Easterner back to City Dock after about an hour on the water. There is still more work to be done before the restoration is finished, but Bernard was hopeful they could have the boat ready for the Classic Wooden Sailboat Race on Sept. 22.

“I hope we can do this for many more summers to come,” Bernard said. “The goal is to share her.”