A truly fantastic weekend of racing on the Barba Roja.
The weekend started with a ferocious delivery to Deltaville on Thursday. Started out before dawn, right into heavy conditions and gusts into the 20s while still in the Patuxent. Conditions continued to build in the Bay, where we saw consistent 5-7ft rollers with occasional sets at 10ft. I spent a couple hours at the helm and it was a real fight to keep the boat on course and avoid a roundup or accidental gybe. We did a lot of surfing, and I set a new speed record of 13.7kts. It's really something else to feel 31ft of boat go noticeably downhill and to look up and see waves above the boat in the troughs. It was an interesting and somewhat humbling expereince to get a little taste of what offshore sailors deal with on a regular basis. Steve and I were both feeling pretty green by the end and were glad to make it to Fishing Bay.
The ferocious wind died down to a very pleasant level for our Friday race, and we enjoyed ideal weather and winds at 8-12kts for the distance race. We sailed an "L" shaped course, with two reaching legs, an upwind, and a run. We made lots of ground on the reaching leg, pulled off a tidy beat, and executed a perfect spinnaker set for the run and subsequent spinnaker reach. Our efforts were rewarded with a first-in-class finish. Truly one of the finest sailing days I've had this year.
Saturday and Sunday were light, but we were able to get two buoy races in. We raced hard and did our best against several very competitive local boats, resulting in a 3rd on Saturday and a 4th on Sunday, for a 4th overall in the regatta. Downtime between races left time for swim calls and drink deliveries, and in perhaps our most impressive feat of the weekend we sailed into the impossibly narrow Jackson Creek under spinnaker, including a gybe at the turn.
The crew worked great together all weekend and put in a ton of effort to sail the boat to her fullest potential.
I logged my 100th day for the year Saturday, making my second consecutive Century Club year.
Time ashore was spent camping, grilling, swimming in the pool, and enjoying spending time with SMSA friends. The club took home a bunch of hardware from the weekend and showed us well to our Virginia neighbors. This event was a big highlight of this season and I hope to do it again next year, whether on Dangerous or again on the Barba Roja.
Our motor home was uneventful, and I took the early AM shift and drove from the Potomac back to Solomons.
Trimming the spin during the distance race