Century Club: Jonathan Nepini

Took my friend Lelia from college and my brother out today on Dangerous for a run to Hooper's Island Lighthouse. Heavy conditions in the Bay, with winds in the high teens and several foot chop. We ran the boat very conservatively with only a main up for a long broad reach out to the light. Took some pictures, gybed around, and put up the #3 headsail to beat back up to Solomons. A heavy, wet beat through 3 foot rollers made for an exhilirating ride. Once back in we sailed up to the bridge, and then motored home in light air.

A fantastic way to spend a Sunday on the water, and Michael and Lelia learned a lot about running the Olson and how a responsive boat performs.

Good racing conditions tonight on Dangerous with a crew of 4 and enough breeze to really get moving. A decent start to the race, followed by a tactical upwind leg. The second leg evolved and we ended up putting a kite up, and made good progress to the second mark. Twisted off the top of the genoa a bit to manage power and heel as we tackled the third leg back upwind, followed by a close reach along the shoreline of the base. A very fast spinnaker run to a second place finish. The basics are getting very solid on the boat, now it's time for us to focus on nailing the details.

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 with John again on the Interlake. Nice moderate conditions for the evening. Drove the boat out and to the start and crewed for the races. A slow spinnaker set cost us the first race, but I got my act together and we scored two bullets for the next two races. A great evening of sailing as always.