A few years ago I got to sail with Bebop in the J/30 North American Championships in our home waters of Annapolis MD. The regatta was 3 days of intense racing in a competitive fleet and we were leading going into the second day. With the current in the bay in a strong ebb, we misjudged a layline and got swept with the current forcing us to duck nearly the whole fleet before being able to crawl back to the windward mark. If I recall we placed 12th in that race. Amazingly, we were only out of first place by a couple points going into day three and we won the first race placing us in striking distance of the win. But somehow, we let another local boat come between us and the win we had worked so hard for and we took home 3rd place overall.
With the bad taste in our mouths from 2011, we have wanted another shot at the North Americans but it has been in other regions since then. Until now that is. This coming weekend the regatta is being held at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport Connecticut on Long Island Sound. Bob and Mike have secured a charter boat named Pale Rider that is set up very similar to Bebop and we will be once again pursuing a National Championship, something that has eluded Bebop since the early 90s.