Light conditions for today's race. We got a slightly late start, and by the time the race got going the wind had clocked to make the first leg a tight reach. We rounded into a gybe set, sailed very tight with the spinnaker for a bit, and dropped back to the genoa, and reached to the finish. Not an especially exciting race, but always great to be out there, and a beautiful evening anyway.
Century Club: Jonathan Nepini
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Headed out this evening for a sunset paddle in glassy conditions after catching up on chores. A nice way to relax & unwind, as always.
Monday, August 10, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Hopped on the board for a quick paddle today before the coming thunderstorms. Hot and sunny, and no sign of trouble until after I got in. Nice to get some fresh air and take a lap to unwind after work.
Sunday, August 9, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Dewey met me early this morning to kayak over to Broome's Island. We had a nice 6.5mi lap in pleasant conditions despite not beating the heat like we'd hoped, and got to see some pretty scenery, lots of wildlife, and a nice J/80 someone had in the creek. A great way to start a fun Sunday.
Friday, August 7, 2026 to Saturday, August 8, 2026
Number of days:
2 days
Stowaways from Red Baron
Due to a last-minute travel snafu Dion was unable to return from work travel in time for the Oxford race this year, so I ended up accepting an invite on Diablo for the race. I figured since they're so difficult for us to beat I might learn something. I spent some time on the helm and some time trimming headsails as we sailed a fast, mostly downwind race. I worked on some fine detail on my helm skills, and talked a lot of strategy. Diablo is a well-prepped boat and quite fun to sail on. Ultimately we ended up fourth of 11 boats. After a leisurely dinner at Tred Avon YC, we turned and burned back to Solomons, getting in a little after midnight. I was disappointed Red Baron couldn't race, but I ended up having lots of fun on Diablo and got to learn from a talented and experienced skipper.
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Being a thorn in Diablo's side
Dion was out of town this week, so we took the boat out for our usual Wednesday night ride without him. Chris called tactics, and helped me with some very aggressive positioning on course. We stayed left on the first leg, and were the second boat to arrive at the top mark. We quickly set a spin to head downwind, and sailed a clean, fast leg. We called the douse a bit early, and ended up losing some time rounding the bottom mark. On the next upwind, we fought to cover Diablo at every tack, and kept them off us until we encountered some traffic trying to lay the next mark on port tack. On the downwind, we executed the gybe set we had planned for, but the wind had shifted and it ended up being less advantageous than we'd hoped. A clean race with good tactics that ultimately didn't quite pan out the way we wanted it to. I'm continuing to learn every time I step on the boat.
Friday, July 31, 2026 to Sunday, August 2, 2026
Number of days:
3 days
On the podium
Sailing on the Bay close to the Potomac at sunrise
Finishing under spinnaker with the Dove
Gov Cup! As always, a major highlight of my sailing year. This was Red Baron's first time making the run from Annapolis, and we were joined by Dion's good friend and frequent cruiser to help us run the race. After some delicious pit beef sandwiches on the way up, and stripping the boat of all non-essentials, we headed out of the West River and towards our start. Light conditions prevailed for the first couple hours of the race, and we put a lot of tactical thought into maximizing what breeze did exist. The breeze finally started to build as we approached Thomas Point, and we found Diablo had gotten ahead by going west. We sailed a long starboard tack down to Rose Haven, and tacked east at moonrise. A few more legs back and forth, and by the wee hours of the morning we found ourselves skirting the shallows on the Eastern Shore. We started to encounter some wave state, so we tacked in towards Cedar Point, and the breeze dipped a bit as we went west. We tacked back out, and stayed in the middle of the Bay until south of the targets. One more ill-advised tack in and back out, and we were ready to round Point No Point by daybreak. We continued plodding south, and finally hit the Potomac in the morning. As the breeze dropped off, we worked hard to keep the boat moving and make the junction mark. We were able to fly a spinnaker in the St. Mary's River, and sailed hot angles to keep the boat moving. We squeaked by an A boat right at the end, and ultimately managed a third place finish in our class.
Overall the race as an excellent first effort for Red Baron's first full-scale Gov Cup run, and we had a good crew and enjoyed the race.
Our delivery back Sunday morning was wet getting out of the Potomac, but pleasant once we made it to the Bay. We landed just in time to avoid the coming afternoon thunderstorms.
Thursday, July 30, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
A quick evening soiree
A quick paddle at the neighborhood ramp to relax before the big day at Gov Cup tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Half of today's team
I took a couple days up in Baltimore to go to a concert, and as part of that trip had the opportunity to hop on Eighth Deadly Sin for the MRSA Wednesday night race. We had a solid crew and unusually strong breeze for July. I ground a winch for jib trim, and we had a competitive race overall. We doused the spin early on the first downwind leg, but stayed in the mix, including a sportsmanly port tack crossing. A fun race and enjoyable to mix it up and see how a different boat runs.
Photo by Lynn Radbill-Crosby
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Number of days:
1 day
Today's route
Took a long paddle out to St. Thomas Creek with Michael. Pretty scenery as always, and a great place to chat and catch up.