By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer

Annapolis Capital, August 26, 2004

There's an interesting dynamic at work within the law offices of Lochner and Schwenk. Todd Lochner and Dirk Schwenk are partners during the week, competitors on the weekend. In addition to practicing maritime law, Lochner and Schwenk are diehard Jet 14 sailors. Both are among the better skippers in the venerable class and thus routinely square off on the course.

"We have an inner office rivalry that makes Monday very long for one of us," Lochner said. "We are both ultra-competitive and neither of us wants to hear the other gloat." Lochner had bragging rights for most of this summer after winning the prestigious Parramore Memorial out of Severn Sailing Association. However, Schwenk reclaimed the title of office champ by placing second at Jet 14 Nationals last week.

Severn Sailing Association member Brent Barbehenn captured the class national championship 10th time in impressive fashion - winning all eight races then dropping one of the bullets for a low score of seven. Schwenk placed second or third in five of eight starts but was still a distant second with 23 points. Lochner was right on his partner's tail, taking third with 27 points.

Lochner entered the last race needing to finish four places ahead of Schwenk in order to overtake him in the standings. It came down to the final upwind leg, but Schwenk finished fourth while Lochner was fifth. "I was ahead of Dirk and could easily have covered and beat him in that race, but I decided to roll the dice and try to put four boats between us," Lochner lamented.

Schwenk couldn't get too cocky about the result since it marked the third straight year he has been runner-up to Barbehenn at Jet 14 Nationals. "Brent is completely sound in every facet of the game. We had the lead in two races and he closed us down pretty quickly," said Schwenk, who had 14-year-old Adam Gilbertson aboard as crew. "I quiz Brent all the time about why he's so fast in all conditions and I think the key factor is that he's just a fantastic sailor."

Barbehenn, who learned to the subtleties of a Jet 14 while crewing for his father, tends to sail lighter than most skippers. He's also a stickler for preparation, showing up several days before a major regatta to get a feel for the local conditions. "I went out Tuesday to practice for a couple days and Brent had been there since Monday," Schwenk said.

Jet 14 Nationals was held on Lake Erie out of Edgewater Yacht Club and attracted 31 entries. Lochner, who sailed with Severna Park resident Jen Campbell, posted his best finish in four trips to the event - beating past national champs Marion Zaugg and Bill Buckles in the process. "I think the key for me this summer is that I'm having fun again," said Lochner, whose previous best result was a seventh. "I had begun to burn out so I took some time off from sailing. It seems to have done the trick."

Lochner and Schwenk met while both were sailing instructors for the Brendan Program out of Annapolis Sailing School. They decided independently to attend law school with Lochner going to Tulane and Schwenk enrolling at Maryland. Schwenk joined the West River Sailing Club Jet 14 fleet in 1995 after reading about it in The Capital. He bought hull No. 398 from class aficianado Michael Parramore and steadily evolved into one of the top skippers on the Chesapeake Bay.

Lochner joined the class in 1998 at the urging of Schwenk and now both are extremely competitive on a national scale. Their rivalry has been particularly close this season with the winner being decided by tiebreaker three times in local events. That makes for some fun discussion and debate at the law firm, which Lochner and Schwenk opened in 2001.

Several other SSA members fared well at Jet 14 Nationals. Ted Reshetiloff finished seventh while Parramore placed 11th in the overall standings. Joanne Beaver was first among women's skippers while Clark Kennedy took third among juniors.

Jet 14 Nationals

1, Brent Barbehenn, SSA, (1)-1-1-1-1-1-1-1=7

2, Dirk Schwenk, SSA, 7-3-(8)-2-3-2-2-4=23