The following was written by Perseverence owner Steve Kent:

After moving to San Francisco a little over a year ago and buying Perseverance to race in Fleet 1, we won our first regatta at the SFYC Summer Keelboat event this past weekend. Without a doubt, this is one of the most competitive fleets I’ve had a chance to sail in. As we expected, over the last year we struggled to learn the boat, assemble a team, figure out the rig, etc. We tore up some gear making the transition from SoCal relatively light air sailing to the breeze on The Bay. What a great experience! Guys from the top of the fleet like Mojo, Donkey Jack and Arbitrage were generous with advice, and a new jib and main from Quantum have all helped us improve. A couple things made all the difference this weekend. We forgot about ‘winning’ the start, and instead focused on being at full speed with a hole to leeward anywhere on the line. We also worked hard at a ‘quiet boat,’ not something easy for me but Alex Steele was a great coach on this aspect. In the end, it was a close regatta with Bruce Stone’s Arbitrage team just two points back (after two bullets on Sunday), and Ryan Simmons’ Blackhawk team challenging at every mark in third.

Looking forward to the J/105 North Americans at StFYC Rolex Big Boat Series next month and a full four days of racing against the best!