Century Club: Jonathan Nepini

Bucctoberfest 2024! This year we decided to get bold and do the race in costume as Men in Black. Conditions were quite gusty as we got the boat rigged and launched and claimed our strategic spot at the end of the dock. We started the race strong with a sprint to the gazebo to collect the SI's. We ran to the boat, got everything rigged as quick as possible, and were on our way to the first mark, where we collected a water bottle with a baloon on it. Next, our course took us to Back Creek, and after passsing the second mark we became confused by the SI's and sailed far past the mark, allowing most of the fleet to pass us by prior to admitting to our mistake and turning around. We sailed up Mill Creek, found our mark, and headed out to the river. Despite the puffy conditions, Dewey talked me into launching the spinnaker, and we took off on a powerful broad reach to the finish in record time. 

The remainder of the day's races found us battling very gusty conditions and struggles to get the boat to go to windward effectively despite ample crew weight. The conditions made it difficult to consistently carry crew weight where needed, and we spent the day working to find balance. 

A fun way to close out the season on the meatball, do some sporty sailing, and take some fun pictures - and much to our surprise, the suits weren't a bad choice of attire!

I wasn't feeling it at all today and was underdressed for the weather, but took a quick paddle off Forest Landing nonetheless. Not my best paddle ever, but I was glad to get out there and did feel a little better when I was finished.

Paddling off Leonardtown Wharf today, and I headed over to the Medley's Neck side of the Bay. Surprisingly, I was able to hear the high school marching band practicing all the way down on the water. Got back to the dock just in time for a perfect sunset.

A great, warm day for the SMSA Fall Invitational. I brought my friend Nate on the boat for his first sailing race, and he learned to trim main. We got off a decent start, and fought in light conditions to make consistent progress and stay in an advantageous place on the course to maximize breeze. Nate had his work cut out for him, constantly tweaking the main to keep us in the groove. There was a ripping current at the windward mark, and it took us a couple swings to make the rounding. We executed a fast, flawless set, and sailed a straightforward downwind leg to a mid-pack finish. It was a perfect, sunny day on the water and we all enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards SMSA hosted their annual Chili Cookoff, where our team was also well represented by Randy for a 4th place finish.