Helped out with the SMSA Fun Run today. I ran a skiff as the "store", where boats had to stop and pick up beverages during the race. Anchored off Back Creek, then followed the fleet around to deliver additional beverages as requested. The breeze disappeared for a while during the middle of the race, but filled back in nicely before the end. A good collection of boats on the line, great weather, and a superb steak fajita dinner back at the club afterwards. A great event and a fun way to spend a Saturday.
Century Club: Jonathan Nepini
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Yours truly running the "store" during the race
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Motoring out to the start
Dangerous lived up to her name in her first SMSA Wednesday night effort. Despite the heavy-ish conditions we sailed under a heavy #1 and full main. A mix of green and expereinced crew, but no one who had worked together before. It quickly became apparent that we didn't have the weight on board or the crew experience to make that combo work. After a couple crash tacks and some mild chaos we decided to try and put in a reef. The crew assigned to that task had a difficult time, and during that process Dewey pulled the plug and retired before the start. The boat is a real handful in a blow and getting the crew up to the task will be an interesting challenge to work through this season.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
At the helm
Took my turn driving Elysium this week. Three of us on the boat, so just enough to go and we ran non-spin. Light to moderate conditions meant a realitively short w/l course today. Got a decent start but a little low on course, and made an iffy tactical call to put in a tack to improve our position. Third in class at the windward mark, but we ran wing on wing and caught one boat coming back down. Interesting to get a feel for the helm of the J/33 and get some more experience skippering.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Safely at the slip
A quick trip across the harbor to deliver Dangerous to her new home. Got halfway across only for the motor to cut out and we couldn't get it started again. Turned out to be a bad spark plug. Called in a tow from a friend and managed to glide into our slip easily enough. Spent some time rigging the boat to get her ready to race next week.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Sunset at the dock
Out today on Ben's relatively new-to-him Pearson 26, "Knot Enuf". Heavy breeze and some ongoing hardware issues meant we just tooled around under main alone. The boat performed shockingly well with just the one well-worn sail, and we were able to make it up to the bridge and back. The more time I spend around boats, the more I think an easy little boat like his might be what I'm after.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Shortly before race start
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.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Glad to be back out on Wednesdays
Wednesday nights are back! Still wrapping up projects on Dangerous so Dewey and I rode with Sean on Elysium today. Dewey took the helm, I trimmed main, and Sean & Tommy worked headsails. A brief grounding in the start sequence got us off to a rocky start, but we recovered quickly and set off to L. Made great progress on the upwind leg, and got in a tacking duel with Steve & company on the newly refreshed Barba Roja (He can outpoint us now!). Managed to get an advantageous position on them to round L, and the wind slacked off as soon as we rounded the mark. Did lots of tweaking to find the sweet spot on the downwind leg, finally settling on going wing-on-wing at Sean's recommendation. A spiffy upwind leg to a shortened finish at K, and a second place in the non-spin class. On both upwind legs we fought some strange sail shape problems on the headsail, unclear whether it's just worn out or if there's something else we could've improved on. A beautiful evening and fun to finally get Elysium on her feet and moving a bit.
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
The Barba Roja has never looked or sailed better
Test sail on the Barba Roja with all the new goodies. Fresh main & headsails and a new suite of B&G instruments. Blowing in the upper range of the headsail's limits but we decided to try our luck anyway. The boat has picked up about 5 degrees to windward and accelerates like never before. Took a quick tour around the river basin and up into the harbor so a friend could take some pictures. Shame the boat has all the goodies now that I have a new ride for the season...
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Sean & I as we pass Shamal
SMSA Frostbites #4. Neptune's Wager has some ongoing rigging issues that prevent sailing in heavy air conditions so I went out on Elysium, another friend's J/33, today. We sailed the boat with a crew of 4. A slightly late but clean start, and it felt great to be on a boat fast enough to hang with the fleet. A tidy but heavy beating leg up to the bridge, and we had to work to keep the boat on her feet without much weight on the rail. Made up some time on the downwind leg, and managed a nice reach across to the following mark. A beat to the finish and a rights situation with Shamal, but still decent. Solidly in last place for a finish but we all had a great time and I was satisfied with our performance given it being a small crew on a big day on a boat that was new to most of us. Elysium managed 12th out of 15 for the series.
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
Coasting into the finish
At the helm of Neptune's Wager today for Frostbites #3. Wind was blowing significantly harder than forecasted and we kept busy warming up before the race. A tight start as is always the case for frostbites, so I tried to play it safe by running away from the line at the start of the sequence and heading back to make the start. Misjudged the timing and ended up over about a boat length early and had to turn back, wasting about 5 minutes at the beginning of the race. We made up a great deal of time on the first two legs, gaining back most of the lost time. Lost time running deep on the downwind leg, and had to fight to keep the boat moving as the wind fell off towards the finish. The team worked together really well and is starting to gel nicely as we start to put some races under our belts and really learn the boat.