Racing Team: Jonathan Nepini

SMSA Wednesday Night Series A - Getting some new crew up to speed and getting the boat going for the season

Helped with some projects around the club on spring clean-up day.

Raced SMSA spring frostbites on 3 different boats as my primary ride wasn't available for a couple of the races. Enjoyed generally mild temps and good, if heavy, conditions throughout. 

I serve as SMSA's communications program chair and manage club communication platforms and create our annual yearbook.

Raced in Bucctoberfest, an annual fun race at SMSA. Due to some creative scoring and finally closing on my boat at the event I managed a first place.

Heavy, challenging conditions kept us from being competitive in the race, but we did complete the course and it was a good exercise in running the boat in demanding breeze and sea state.

Governor's Cup 2023!!! Always a major highlight of my sailing year.

Delivered the boat up to Annapolis under heavy downwind conditions and following seas. Flew a spin 3/4 of the way there until we broached and sucked a little water into the cockpit. Consistent 7kts and the fastest trip to Annapolis I've ever done by boat.

After a restful night at a friend's house in Edgewater and a last-minute electrical repair and bottom cleaning we set out for our big adventure. After fretting about heavy upwind conditions forecasted all week we were instead met with light conditions at the start. We just barely drifted to the line, and set about making the most of light and shifty winds. We favored the western shore for the first few hours of the race to avoid a significant adverse current. We hung close to our main rival Diablo, and eventually passed them. We traded a couple tacks to cover until night fell. After the adverse current never materialized, we made for the rhumb line and sailed down the middle of the Bay around Cove Point. Conditions became very light around midnight in the vicinity of Cedar Point, and we worked hard to keep the boat trimmed correctly and moving. Our work in this part of the race helped us put some distance on our competition. A major shift south of Cedar Point allowed us to carry a spin all the way to our rounding of Point Lookout at sunrise. It was champagne sailing for the rest of the race, with plenty of breeze up the St. Mary's, and an elapsed time just over 18 hours. 

Our efforts were rewarded with a second in the PHRF B/C class. I couldn't be happier with the way every member of the crew worked together and talked strategy the whole race and stayed laser-focused on our goal. 

Dewey and I delivered the boat back to Solomons Saturday evening and got in during the wee hours of Sunday morning.

I'm already looking forward to next year!

Back out for my first distance race on Dangerous and my first SMSA distance race since Sharp’s last year. The race started with wind in the mid teens, and we elected to go with a #3 for the beginning. As we were crossing to the Eastern Shore conditions lightened and we executed a peel to the #1, our first on the boat. Did our best to play the shoreline and stay out of the current, but much of the rest of the fleet played the western shore to a greater advantage. Conditions continued to lighten throughout the day until the wind shut off late in the afternoon. Our patience was rewarded as the breeze slowly came back later in the day and we made the top mark. We retired from the race at 9pm due to persistently light conditions that showed no sign of improvement. We got back to the dock shortly after midnight.

The race was a great tune-up for Governor’s Cup, I got to practice helming, and we uncovered a few issues to be addressed before the big race in two weeks.

Out on Dangerous for the SMSA Summer Invitational. A pretty experienced crew of 3 for light-ish conditions. RC set up two W/L races out in the Bay. A tight start line made for tight, action-packed starts for both races. Austin coached Dewey and I on some light air tactics and we kept the boat moving pretty well in the conditions. I earned my keep on the bow with four sets and douses. Learned a lot about how to get through that process and managed to do it successfully all four times. We all put in a ton of work getting the boat around the course on two tight, action-packed races. 10th out of 13 so not particularly impressive results but we sailed very well together and got the boat around the course clean and we were all happy with the results.

Sailed on Dangerous for the SMSA Frost-Goode Race. Light conditions at the start, but we caught a good breeze and had a very nice upwind sail for the first hour. Nearly missed a mark and had to make a big move, costing us a bit of time. The wind slowly ground to a halt near the top mark and we drifted up to it over the course of an hour or more. As we rounded the mark at St. Leonard Creek the owner was concerned about running aground, so we briefly fired the motor (unknowingly forcing our retirement). Eventually the wind filled back in and we sailed another nice upwind leg back down to the finish. Overall a nice day on the water, but frustrating that our effort couldn't be counted as we would've been first in nonspin class.

Helped out as the "store" boat for the SMSA Fun Run race. Had a great time facilitating a fun new event.

Joined team Barba Roja today for the SMSA Spring Invitational. A pretty good crew today, and nice moderate conditions out in the Bay off Solomons. RC set up a nice W/L course and we got two races in. The team worked very well together for the most part and we ran pretty clean races all around. We managed a first in class finish. I trimmed main and learned some tricks, and had a great time pushing the boat hard with all the new hardware. 

Starting out the 2023 season with SMSA Frostbites. Did most of the series on Neptune's Wager to train their crew and help get the program started. With the exception of the first race we had mostly heavy conditions out of the river as is typical for this time of year. By pushing the boat hard we broke some marginal parts and revealed several hardware shortcomings to be addressed before the next series, culminating in us having to sit out the last race due to rigging issues. I raced the last race on Elysium, another friend's J/33, and we put up a respectable showing despite needing much more crew weight for the fresh conditions. Looking forward to warmer weather and Wednesdays starting up in a couple weeks.

SMSA Fall Frostbites, Sundays from October 30-November 20. My last series as regular crew on the Barba Roja. Already won the SMSA High Point series for the season so keeping this series pretty casual, and I'm using it as an opportunity to get up to speed on foredeck skills for next season.

Helped out with Thursday RC on crash boat again. Ideal racing conditions until the very end of the race, and a nice time had by all.

Volunteered for race committee for Thursday night racing. Unfortunately the event had to be cancelled due to weather after an on-shore delay.

My favorite event of the year. Light wind at the start made for a challenging first three hours, and we worked hard to keep the boat moving and make as much progress as possible in the available breeze. A storm system moved in just north of the fleet, and we saw the wind jump from 2kts to gusts of 26kts in a matter of minutes. We suffered a big setback as a jammed halyard prevented us from getting out best light air kite down before it blew just north of Chesapeake Beach. However, we had great breeze nearly dead downwind the rest of the night and kept the boat moving very well running wing on wing. We rounded Point Lookout around 4:30am and started a crushing beat up the Potomac in stiff breeze and short chop. Conditions calmed as we reached the St. Mary's River a couple hours later, and we feathered the boat along into a classic light air finish. Our crew worked great together under pressure and pushed the boat to her limit. I'm proud of everyone's effort and perseverance.

Our efforts were rewarded with a 2nd place finish in our class. 

Helped out with RC for smallboat races this evening. The threat of storms led us to start a little late, but we had great breeeze all evening and were able to get four races in. We had an excellent turnout, with 10 boats on the line, and lots of interesting racing. 

This weekend I participated in the 30th running of the Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge. After poor perfromance on windward/leeward courses last year, we participated in the CRCA fleet, running longer distance races around mid-Bay government marks. 

We didn't end up getting to race Friday due to a lack of wind, but we got some sailing in while waiting on postponement in an effort to convince RC to start a race. No luck.

Conditions started out very light Saturday morning, but filled in and allowed a delayed start. In the meantime, several of the crew swam off the back of the boat and cooled off. The race started light, but wind steadily built throughout the day and we ended up with ideal racing conditions. We pushed a Bavaria 38 off the line at the start, and we had some friendly competition with them throughout the day, ultimately catching them on corrected time. We sailed a great, clean race, and managed a 4th place finish.

Conditions started light Sunday morning as well. We set up for a spinnaker reach at the start, but the wind shifted, and a strong current very nearly pushed me into the RC boat. After the hectic start, we carried our reaching kite at a very high angle, but still couldn't get high enough to reach our mark. We doused and ran two solid beating legs and two reaching legs. RC shortened course before our last mark, and we never got in a spinnaker run where we hoped to make up time. Great crew work from everyone on the boat, but we only managed a 6th place today.

All in all a solid weekend of racing. The whole crew worked hard and we sailed fast, clean races. I hope to see our place improve as we continue to tighten up details in our crew work and upgrade sails & equipment on the boat.

Helped out with smallboat RC this evening. Ideal conditions and a good number of boats on the line made for great racing to watch. We had to reset the course right before starting due to a big wind shift, but we got 3 races in and made sure everyone had a great time.

SMSA Smith Point Race. A 45nm course down to a mark off Point Lookout and back. A fairly light downwind start quickly shifted & filled in to a great beat all the way to the mark. Conditions slowly built throughout the day culminating in a great spinnaker run back up the Bay and into Solomons. Distance races are always long days on the Barba Roja (this one took about 11 hours) , but we had great food & enjoyable company, and the whole race was some of the best sailing I've done in a while.

(Photo courtesy of Steven Birchfield)

The second Wednesday night series of the summer. A wide variety of courses and wind conditions during these races. Several new crew members joined the boat during this series, and we continued to do lots of learning. I've been contributing more to tactical discussions as I'm developing my own skills, and the boat has been running farily well. Our competition remains stiff, and we had mid-pack finishes for most of the series.

Participated in the annual SMSA Fleet Building Night, held in between the first and second Wednesday Night series as a way to get new racers out on the course before the start of the new series. A small crew and a very tidy race.

A real drifter, and the first summer weather of the season. Lots of stringing together tiny wind lines, and a true test of patience. Still a great day on the water!

Heavy air for the Spring Invitational. A small field of competitors, with 4 boats on the line in two classes. I handed off the helm to Steve given the very heavy conditions. As is often the case, we won by sheer perseverence, beating out a J/70 by encouraging the race committee to run a second race.

SMSA Spring Frostbites ran Sundays from March 13-April 3, with 4 races total. This was my first series as full-time helmsman on the boat, and heavy air for every single race gave me lots of practice working with our main trimmer to keep the boat under control and going fast.