Light conditions this Thursday. Kept the boat moving as much as possible. 9/12, not a great performance but I still had fun.
Century Club: Jonathan Nepini
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Great performance this week and a 2/8 finish. A great downwind start, tight crew work all around, and predictable, fast sailing. We’re really tightening the boat up nicely and sailing great together.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
A nice solo paddle to Greenwell State Park and back on account of the glass-like conditions. I enjoyed the variety of scenery and many beautiful river houses. Longer than intended as the weather was great and I was enjoying the trip.
Monday, August 12, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Tonight's paddle group
A nice paddle off Forest Landing this evening. A good sized group, and we decided to be a bit ambitious and paddle out to Clarke’s Landing. A fun group and another great way to start the week.
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
After a trip to Ocean City and a break from sailing I decided to get back out on the Meatball today for a singlehanded sail. Nice, if somewhat light conditions for a run to the bridge and back. I found Vlad on his Nacra and he chased me up to the bridge. I kept going north and turned around at Myrtle Point.
Halfway back down conditions lightened and I decided to set a spinnaker to make some progress. While it can be done solo, it was a bit of a handful getting it rigged and launched, and I wouldn’t want it up in anything but very light conditions.
The wind gave out completely and I resigned myself to paddling in, but thankfully I found a bit more breeze at the end of the island and was able to sail the rest of the way in. A great way to spend an afternoon on the water.
Friday, August 2, 2024 to Saturday, August 3, 2024
Number of days:
2 days
The Dangerous and Barba Roja crews
Off on a heavy beat
Ducking Barba Roja
Gov cup 2024! A wild ride if there ever was one.
After a bit of a rocky start getting to the line, with a soft grounding and a broken fuel connector on our motor, we made it and started the race under conditions in the high teens. We settled on playing the eastern shore as much as possible, and worked to get over that way early in the race. Conditions briefly dropped enough for us to shake out a reef and put the Genoa up, before building again. We did a couple driver rotations, and as evening fell the waves and sea state built again with storms in the vicinity.
At its peak around and for the first hour after sunset, conditions built into the high 20s, gusting into the low 30s. Even with just the reefed main up, we struggled to keep the boat on her feet and on course as we pounded hard into heavy sea state.
After about an hour of what felt like getting our teeth kicked in, the breeze backed off somewhat and we were able to re-hoist the jib and sail a close reach to Point No Point. As we hardened up to head to Point Lookout, we discovered the jib had a tear across the entire top of the sail. Without a spare, and with it still trimming and making power, I convinced Dewey to leave it up for the remainder of the race. Once we rounded Point Lookout we were able to crack off and enjoy more reasonable conditions for the remainder of the race.
In the St. Mary’s, the breeze clocked aft and we were able to set a spinnaker in the last mile of the race, making for a great photo finish.
4th of 7 boats so not our best performance ever, but the crew were all troopers and I felt like we got almost everything out of the boat we could’ve given the challenging conditions. Definitely a gov cup for the books, but maybe not one I’d like to repeat very soon!
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Rafted up with Barba Roja before the race
Pleasant, fast delivery up to the South River in glassy conditions towed by our friend on the Barba Roja. We did a couple small maintenance tasks and rigged a nice shade canopy for the ride. Getting excited for Gov Cup tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
The fleet headed downwind before the storm
Was hoping for a nice easy race before Gov Cup. We got out and RC set a two-lap windward-leeward in light-ish conditions. However, as the race progressed a squall line started moving in. Boats started dropping out, until RC finally abandoned the race, and shortly afterwards the 30kt squall line hit while we were headed in. We fought to get the main rolled and put away, and all sat on the back of the boat to keep the motor in the water and get in. Exciting, but not the nice easy pre-delivery day I was hoping for.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
Trimming the main on Incorrigible
Up in Baltimore today after a concert last night, so I decided to tag along with Michael for BCYA Tuesday night racing on Incorrigible, a j/35. After getting the boat fully rigged and ready to sail we found out the race was cancelled due to chance of scattered thunderstorms. After some deliberation and looking at the forecast, we decided to go out for a practice sail anyway. I trimmed main, and did my best to keep the boat on her feet with breeze in the mid teens and the light #1 up. We did a little spinnaker work, then headed in. Interesting to spend time with a different crew on a new boat.
Photo by Lynn Radbill Crosby
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Number of days:
1 day
A quick paddle up Back Creek off SMSA before going out of town for a few days. Beautiful morning conditions and scenery.