Smooth sailing for One Trick Pony in victory

Many wives try to discourage their husbands frombuying fancy fast cars— or boats.

Jacki Meiser isn’t like part of that group. She actually encouraged husband David to upgrade to a Melges 32 sport boat after the couple sold the Colgate 26 named Easy Button that they campaigned hard for nine years.

“My wife was the driving factor for getting the Melges 32. She told me that we were getting older and, at some point, the two ofus aswell as our crew would be too old for such a performance-oriented boat,” Meiser said. “I love my wife!”

That decision paid dividends last weekend as the southern Maryland couple sailed One Trick Pony to victory in ORC 2 class during the third annual Annapolis Yacht Club Race to Solomons. David steered while Jacki worked the bowas the Melges 32 beat the Aerodyne 38 ZUUL (Benedict Capuco) by just under six minutes on corrected time.

The Meisers have been sailing for almost two decades with the same crew, including another husband-wife tandem in Shawn and Laura Stanley. Since moving into the Melges 32, another couple was added in Scotty and Lynn Roland.

Shawn Stanley trimmed the main while his wife handled the sewer. Scotty Roland worked the pit with his wife at the mast. Henry Meiser was aboard as headsail trimmer for his parents, teaming with Barry Freidman in that role.

“Our team has been our COVID bubble this year. We have a lot of fun together both on and off the boat,” David Meiser said.

Wind forecast for last Saturday was all over the place due to competing weather systems with predictions anywhere from medium fromthe north or east to light from the south. Some competitors contacted Annapolis Yacht Club in advance to ask whether therewould be a postponement or cancellation.

Principal race officer Bruce Bingman started the race on time and conditions proved more than adequate with a northerly breeze ranging from 8 to15 knots for almost the entire race.

This point-to-point distance race works well for the One Trick Pony team as the entire crew lives in Solomons. Since the start is at Thomas Point Lighthouse, David Meiser only had to deliver the boat to the West River, a much shorter trip than all the way into Annapolis.

A regular crew member recently purchased a luxury recreation vehicle and shuttled the entire crew from Zahniser’s Yachting Center in Solomons to Pirate’s Cove on West River.

There was an ebb current on the Chesapeake Bay when the race started so One Trick Pony stayed in the middle of the course initially. After hugging both the eastern and western shores for a while, the crew decided to pick a side after the current flipped to flooding.

“We went right because we did not want to have to cross the channel again in adverse current, and it also seemed that the further right we went, the stronger the wind was,” Meiser said. “In short, we found the west side of the course, south of Poplar Island, paid off due to wind and current.”

Upon entering the Patuxent River, One Trick Pony hoisted the A3 spinnaker and was able to carry it all the way to the finish line. The Melges 32 was the second boat across the line and posted a better corrected time than any of the larger boats in ORC 1 class.

Zaraffa, a Reichel-Pugh 66-footer crewed by members of the Naval Academy varsity offshore sailing team, captured line honors.

Rival, a Carkeek 40 owned by Bob Cantwell, had the second-fastest elapsed time.

“We were very excited to be able to keep ahead of all but one of the faster ORC1 boats that started 15 minutes behind us, as well as correct over the other well-sailed boats in our class such as Zuul, Aunt Jean, Cheetah and Monkey Dust,” Meiser said. “The crew did a great job of keeping the boat moving fast all day as well as watching the weather and other boats to help decide where to be on the course.”

The Race to Solomon now serves as a feeder for the Screwpile Lighthouse Regatta, which was once one of the largest regattas onthe Chesapeake Bay but has seen dwindling numbers in recent years.

A total of 54 boats in eight classes competed in the Race to Solomons, a 35-nautical mile voyage.

Aah, Breeze, a Beneteau 331 skippered by Robert Marino, was winner of the CRCA True Cruiser division. Itwas the first victory this season for Marino, who lamented he’s been finishing third quite a bit.

Michael Lehmkuhl trimmed the spinnaker, Andre De Klerk trimmed the mainsail and Dave Malfoy worked the bow aboard

Aah, Breeze. That is an extremely experienced crew that has one circumnavigation, two trans-Atlantic passages and12 Bermuda races to its credit.

“Our boat goes downwind much more efficiently than it does upwind, so I feel that was a big advantage for us,” Marino said. “We sailed a clean race with great jibes and we were able to keep the much faster boats within sight, allowing us to correct over them. It was a great team effort and we had a great socially distanced barbecue celebration in Solomon’s after the race.”

Skipper Paul Jervis led the Naval Academy varsity offshore sailing team to victory in ORC 1 class aboard the J/133 Wasp. Jervis and jib trimmer Joseph Garcia shared navigational and tactical duties, while Madelyn Ploch steered. Nicholas Walden (spinnaker trimmer), Adam Lance (main trimmer), Matthew Malone (bow) Cory Street (mid bow), Larry Frazier (mast) and Carson Hillier (pit) comprised the crew.

“Paul pushed his crew hard during practice leading up to the race, which paid off in their excellent performance,” Navy coach Jahn Tihansky said.