Pre-Marriage Racing Program — Not Recommended for Everyone

Taylor Joosten, a keelboat sailor in Seattle, and her friend JD were fortunate to gain the use of a J/80 for the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s Monday night beer can races. They were short a crew for one of the races, so JD brought one of his roommates, David. Taylor assigned him to the middle of the boat, the usual spot for beginners. He politely nodded and smiled as she explained how to launch and gather the spinnaker while they motored to the starting area.

Things went wrong during the first takedown as voices were raised and nearby boats screamed for room. David immediately reached across to blow the tack and pole lines and stood out to gather the flailing spinnaker, effectively saving the rounding. “Oh, this guy knows what he’s doing,” thought Taylor, realizing the newbie was no novice. Like Taylor, David Rogers was also an experienced Seattle area sailor. They had much in common and were quick to hit it off. They started sailing together regularly as their relationship blossomed.

Seattle’s J/80 class also helped bring David and Taylor to a new sailing friend: Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski. Standing even taller than David, Marc-Andrea is an avid sailor who relishes the technical aspects of racing and making sailboats go fast. He and David jelled while crewing shorthanded on a J/80 during the bleakest months of the COVID pandemic, when no more than three were allowed on a boat.

Marc-Andrea aspired to buy a boat to race doublehanded in the Pacific Cup race to Hawaii. Initially, he was considering a Moore 24, but his friend Alex Simanis urged him to consider a larger 26-footer with Hawaii-race pedigree that was about to come on the market. That boat was the legendary Moonshine, a hard-chined plywood ultralight described as a Moore 24 on steroids. Marc-Andrea bought the boat and trailered it to Seattle with the intent to compete in the 2022 Pacific Cup. For crew, Marc-Andrea was happy to enlist his friend David Rogers. Marc-Andrea and David proved to be an excellent pairing and added another division win to Moonshine’s impressive list of awards.

By 2023, David and Taylor were engaged and making wedding plans. Marc-Andrea was intent on entering the 2024 Pacific Cup but realized he had too many competing demands. So he offered the boat to David and Taylor, knowing they wanted to race doublehanded as a couple. His offer to use Moonshine was the best engagement gift imaginable.

David and Taylor put their wedding plans aside, and Marc-Andrea resolved to ensure the boat was ready. The team signed up for California Race Week to get in more practice and further dial in the boat. Racing on Moonshine as a doublehanded crew during the Spinnaker Cup race from San Francisco to Monterey, David and Taylor experienced an epic wipeout that put the mast fully in the water. They managed to cut a sheet in time to save the spinnaker, but limped to the finish with shaken confidence.

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