In this start of the YRA Jr. Waterhouse offshore race we just barely squeezed ourselves into the start line at the boat end! It looks like Ventana was pinching just a bit, so I don't think we fully barged, but I also think they could have put us in a bad spot if they wanted to. Thankfully the Owner of Ventana is really nice! It's always good to race against friends 😅.

We're almost always the only boat anchored at this beautiful anchorage north of San Francisco bay: Drakes bay. It's a beautiful place to drop your anchor and enjoy some barely touched landscape, and an abundance of wild life. #ourladydefiant #sailboat #anchor

While sailing down the coast of California I went up to the bow of the boat to get some insta360 footage and Ira pulled into a fatty! With a double reefed main and 100% jib, we still got the boat up to 15 knots on this one. Tons of fun! #ourladydefiant #yachtracing #sailboat #liveaboard #insta360 #Jboat #J133

#ourladydefiant #yachtracing #j133 #jboat

@UK-Sailmakers-International Thanks for making us our amazing new spinnaker! Hot pink and hotter angles than anyone else! We love it!

On our trip back into the bay during the Lightship race, we clocked one surf up to about 17 knots. We had a great time coming back into the bay under kite!

At the start of the 2025 Lightship race, Hana Ho, a Santa Cruz 50, came down and just barely fit between our bow and the stern of the boat in front of them. If we had come down with them and sped up, we'd have closed the gap and put them in an unenviable spot. With 4 minutes left to the gun, it wasn't worth collecting the foul, but boy, this is right on the line between skill and just a dumb move, especially in PHRF where the boats accelerate and decelerate differently.

Ira just wrapped up photographing the F18 Americas Championship, and I drove for her one of the days. Those things haul ass!!! We were in a 18 ft. rib with a 90HP, and to get ahead of these things or do a ride-along with them involved some moderate butt-pucker... down wind OR up wind. The other challenging thing as a photo-boat driver is figuring out their bail-out angles. I want to get close, but if then need to come down hard in a puff the change in direction is a good amount larger than what a mono would do (understandable as the range of apparent wind angles are broader because the range of boat speeds are also larger). It was a ton of fun playing out on the SF bay with these rocket ships!

Ira was taking photos from the back of a local powerboat for the finishers of the Pacific Cup (the fun race to Hawaii!) and got pooped as all heck by 15-20 ft swell. And that's not just any swell: it's middle of the pacific, nothing in it's way, huge, powerful groundswell! What she does to get the shots, eh?!