A Nacra F18 Infusion named Slippery When Wet, skippered by Paul Mikucki, was the overall winner of the Two Bridges Fiasco regatta hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club on July 31. (Courtesy of Willy Keyworth / SpinSheet Magazine)

Paul Mikucki has wanted to compete in the Two Bridges Fiasco ever since he heard about the wild and wacky event hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club.

The West River Sailing Club member was finally able to make it happen this year and was stunned to come away as the overall winner. Mikucki steered his Nacra F18 Infusion across the finish line first in the third annual pursuit race held on the Chesapeake Bay and Severn River on July 31.

“I knew we’d been passing a lot of boats because the F18 is so quick, but I never expected to finish first,” Mikucki said. “We were very happy and excited to come out on top.”

Annapolis Yacht Club established the Two Bridges Fiasco in August 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. It was held on the weekend left vacant when the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Governor’s Cup was canceled.

It is so named because boats must round marks set just shy of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Naval Academy Bridge on the Severn River. What makes the Two Bridges Fiasco unique is that competitors can sail the course in either direction.

This year, the bulk of the 54-boat fleet chose to sail the leg toward the Bay Bridge first. A small smattering of boats crossed the finish line in the opposite direction and headed toward the Naval Academy Bridge.

All participating vessels started the race based on a handicap, from slowest to fastest entries. Mikucki’s catamaran was the second-to-last vessel to cross, followed only by a foiling windsurfer. Slippery When Wet got underway 1 hour, 9 minutes after the first boat started.

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Having watched the trend, Mikucki and crew Beatrice Waterman also headed for the Bay Bridge on a reaching point of sail in south-southeasterly winds ranging from 6 to 8 knots. There was a slight hiccup at the turning mark set by the bridge as Mikucki rounded too close and wound up hitting the inflatable buoy.

Both the daggerboard and rudder got caught up and it took time to free the F18. “Luckily, the whole incident, including re-rounding the mark, only cost us maybe 40 seconds,” said Mikucki, who was fortunate to have caught a window in which no other boats were rounding.

It was a beat back to the Y marker off Greenbury Point with the wind steadily building. Mikucki and Waterman enjoyed a thrilling downwind spinnaker run to the Naval Academy Bridge with the breeze piping up to 12 to 14 knots. By then, almost the entire fleet was in the Severn River and Mikucki felt a bit nervous dodging boats at high speed.

“Things got really crowded quickly and I felt like we were holding on,” he said. “I was running out of room to drive down on the gusts, and the traveler was nearly all the way out.”

Mikucki was forced to join Waterman out on the wire to keep the F18 from capsizing and savored the moment of blasting downwind, flying a hull while in double trapeze mode.

“It’s one of those moments that keeps you coming back, that will stay in the memory bank forever,” said Mikucki, a Baltimore resident who works as a mechanical engineer in Hagerstown.

Waterman said from the outset the fleet of Viper 640 sportboats were the primary competition, and Slippery When Wet started to reel them in during the final leg back to the finish line set in the middle of the Severn River.

A Nacra F18 Infusion named Slippery When Wet, skippered by Paul Mikucki, was the overall winner of the Two Bridges Fiasco regatta hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club on July 31. (Courtesy of Willy Keyworth / SpinSheet Magazine)

Slippery When Wet passed the Viper 640 entries Evil Hiss and Robot Flamingo on approach to the finish line, crossing with a corrected time of 3:57.11. That was just 21 seconds ahead of Evil Hiss, skippered by SpinSheet Magazine publisher Mary Ewenson.

“We could tell the Vipers were really overpowered since the wind filled and they had half the crew weight,” Mikucki said. “Most of those sailors can run circles around me, so it was grin-worthy when we reached the finish line well ahead of second place boat — double-trapped and flying the hull in proper cat fashion.”

Mikucki bought his Nacra F18 from fellow West River Sailing Club member Sam Carter, who teamed with Jahn Tihansky to earn overall victory at the inaugural Two Bridges Fiasco aboard an F18 Scorpion.

All three Viper 640 entries sailed with a crew of two instead of three with Ewenson admitting that made a difference. She steered while Rob Gorman kept busy trimming the headsails, hoisting and dousing the spinnaker while also calling tactics.

“When it got super puffy and shifty on the last upwind leg, Rob trimmed the main as well so I could just focus on driving,” Ewenson said.

Ewenson figures Evil Hiss crossed paths with Slippery When Wet going in opposite directions on the Severn River but said she was “too busy trying to keep the keel under the boat” to spot the catamaran. “We saw them for the first time when they flew by us a few minutes before we finished,” said Ewenson, who crossed seven seconds ahead of fellow Viper 640 skipper Jimmy Praley aboard Robot Flamingo.

Jeff Todd steered his J/22 Hot Toddy to fourth place while National Sailing Hall of Famer Gary Jobson finished fifth with his Hood 32 Whirlwind.

1. Slippery When Wet, Nacra F18 Infusion, Paul Mikucki, West River Sailing Club, 3:57:11; 2. Evil Hiss, Viper 640, Mary Ewenson, Annapolis Yacht Club/Eastport Yacht Club, 3:57:32; 3. Robot Flamingo, Viper 640, Jimmy Praley, Severn Sailing Association/AYC, 3:57:39; 4. Hot Toddy, J/22, Jeff Todd, AYC, 3:58:38; 5. Whirlwind, Hood 32, Gary Jobson, AYC, 3:58:49; 6. Her Universe, J/22, Guillaume Seynhaeve, AYC, 3:59:01; 7. Bangor Packet, J/24, Tony Parker, AYC, 3:59:19; 8. Deep State, Viper 640, Walt Pletcher, AYC, 3:59:26; 9. Rush Hour 2, J/24, Mike Coe, SSA, 3:59:30; 10. Seamonster, Daysailer, Erika Seamon, SSA, 3:59:35