Seattle NOOD Debuts J/70 Class!

(Seattle, WA)- This year’s Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta brought tears of joy and smiles all around to the sailors for one simple reason- wind!  At least enough of it so that most fleets got in a least six if not ten races over the three day event.

Friday was a rather auspicious start for the regatta.  A consistent 10-15 kts southerly allowed some classes to complete as many as five races.  For the second day of sailing, there was still wind, but just a bit less.

Sailing ten races in the regatta were the inaugural J/70 class.  Clearly, the fleet loved the first day of sailing with a combination of planing and soak modes all day long.  Sailing super-fast out of the box on that day was the experienced team aboard DaSPENCER, skippered by Mike Pitt, taking two bullets to lead the fleet after day one.  However, as the wind dropped off over the next two days, so did Team DaSPENCER’s fortunes.  In the end, JUST LISTED sailed by the Sail Northwest team took top honors with 13 pts.  They were followed by Andrew Mesher’s PERIDOT in second with 24 pts and in third was DaSPENCER with 27! Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.  Sailing World video interview - Dave Reed and Chris Snow   For more Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD regatta sailing information

Seattle NOOD Regatta Preview

(Seattle, WA)- From May 16th to 18th, the one-design focused Sperry Top Sider Seattle NOOD regatta will be held in the waters of Puget Sound.  One hopes the sailors will be blessed with great sailing on Friday with sun and good breeze since the weekend forecast looks very “classic” Seattle (a bit of wind, some rain and misty southerly breezes.

Joining the fray are one-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and J/105s.  The most significant fleet happens to be the venerable J/24s, with a dozen of the area’s veterans going at it hammer and tong.  Potential fleet leaders could be Chris Snow & Pat Dore on BABBA LOUIE, Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH (a past NOOD 24 winner) and Jasper Van Vliet from Mill Valley, CA sailing EVIL OCTOPUS!

The J/70s are starting to prosper in Seattle and this will be their debut in the Seattle NOOD.  Hard to know how it will shake out for this fleet other than the fact that Mike Pitt’s DaSPENCER has the most experience so far.  Andy Mesher’s PERIDOT and Bill Henry’s RIP VAN WINKLE will be doing their best to overcome their experience deficit in the 70s with plain smart sailing.  Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson and Tim Wilkes.com.  For more Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information

SAVASANA Overall Annapolis NOOD Winner!

J/Crews Enjoyed Awesome Weekend of Sailing
(Annapolis, MD)- With 200+ boats participating in the Annapolis NOOD the crew at Sailing World officially announced the end of winter on the East Coast. Earlier this year, Ken Read challenged the sailing community to step up and build better events. “Field of Dreams” was not referencing sailing when that voice whispered to Kevin Costner “if you build it they will come,” but that is a great movie and sailing should take the advice. Build a better regatta experience and chances are your event’s participation will grow.

The Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regattas is a perfect example of an event that is working hard to grow participation. With three down and three to go, NOOD Regattas are working with partners to add more onshore activities to the regatta program. Event organizers, Sailing World and long-time event supporter North Sails have teamed up to offer sailing performance analysis, One-Design Dock Talks, awards for the top performing local sailor, and after sailing parties.

The end goal? Make regattas fun for all sailors. Because who doesn’t want to have fun?

Annapolis NOOD got off the a soggy start as eager sailors crammed into the tent on Thursday night to attend a local weather knowledge talk with North Sails’ Chris Larson. “North Sails Local Knowledge is a program we added to the NOOD Regattas this year,” said Larson. “It’s an opportunity for both local and out-of-town sailors to brush on local conditions. May offers the most diverse and enjoyable sailing conditions in Annapolis. As the ‘local guys,’ we want to arm people with as much knowledge as possible so they can maximize their regatta experience.”

If you were sailing a J-Boat during Annapolis NOOD, chances are you had a chance to join one of the many scheduled Dock Talks. The highly competitive J/70 class boasted the event’s highest entry list with 54 boats. Rumor is 70+ sailors almost sunk the dock during a post race chat with North Sails’s Tim Healy and Will Welles!

For the first day of racing on Friday, breezy conditions on Chesapeake Bay welcomed the sailors. The favorable winds granted a full day of racing for competitors with most classes getting in three races.

With 56 entrants, the J/70 class is by far the largest of the regatta, and one of the most competitive. As expected, mark roundings were crowded, putting a premium on boat-handling and positioning. Skipper Martin Kullman from St. Petersburg, Fla. improved race-by-race throughout the day, culminating with a first place finish for Touch2Play in the final race of the day and holds the class lead. Skipper Joel Ronning and crew aboard Catapult, one of the class’s top professional teams won the first two races, but stumbled slightly in the third race, and currently sits in fourth place overall. The Minneapolis-based team is keen to avenge a narrow defeat in last year’s regatta to Bennet Greenwald, the regatta’s overall champion in 2013.

On Saturday, when southerly winds finally filled in the afternoon, racing got underway and most classes completed one race. The light-winds and strong current, however, made it extremely challenging, even for the most experienced local teams that are accustomed to such conditions.


The J/70 class finally started after two general recalls, sailing in extremely challenging conditions that required boat speed and patience. Brian Keane’s Savasana showed their experience early in the race as they built a lead that no other team came close to challenging. Keane’s win put them solidly in the series lead going into the final day of racing.


For the third and final day skipper Brian Keane on SAVASANA had a single goal to preserve his lead in the J/70 class- to avoid any “dingers.”  “It was the biggest flood effecting the Chesapeake in 15 years, which meant there would be a lot of current ripping out, and the wind was all over the place,” said Keane. “We knew everyone was going to be up and down, so we wanted to make sure we’d be consistent and just sacrifice the first and seconds to makes sure we had top finishes.”

“With the tide as strong as it was it really played a factor on the starting line, and we saw boats clustering and we avoided them in order to be able to get away, use our speed, have a lane, and tack when we wanted to tack.”

In the first of two races on the day Savasana finished ninth, its highest finish in the six-race series, which preserved their lead with one more to go. In the last race, sailed in shifty 10-25-knot westerly in the shadow of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, they did all they could to avoid high-risk situations. Their final result was a sixth, which gave them an 8-point victory over Doug Strebel’s Black River Racing, from Kemah, Texas.

“We felt really fast downwind,” said Keane, whose crew included Olympic 49er sailors Thomas Barrows and Joe Morris, and Ron Weed. “The key in the they type conditions we had today is sensing when to step up and put the boat an plane. That was key and I think we were doing better than anyone else, especially in the second race.”  As overall winner of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Annapolis, Keane and his crew have earned a berth at the NOOD Championship in the British Virgin Islands in October, which will be sailed in 44-foot charter boats provided by Sunsail.

Behind Keane’s SAVASANA and Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING, the balance of the top five in the J/70 class was Martie Kullman on TOUCH2PLAY in third, Bryan Cameron on B-SQUARED in fourth and Allan Terhune on OCHO CINCO in fifth (aboard were current J/22 and J/24 World Champions and J/70 Key West winners)!


The next NOOD Regatta will be in Seattle, WA on May 16-18, which will include the NORTH Rally Race. After making its debut at the San Diego NOOD, this one day, random leg, PHRF-scored race is geared for new-to-racing sailors, families, custom boats that don’t fit within the One Design concept of the NOODs as well as the avid racer that only has one free day.

Scuttlebutt is such a fan of the Seattle NOOD North Rally Race that the first five people to contact us will have their $55 entry fee paid for them. Be sure to enter by May 9 as the $25 late fee is not part of this offer. Entry includes the Saturday party and two drink tickets.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.    For more Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information

CATAPULT Eclipses San Diego NOODs

(San Diego, CA)- The 2014 Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD saw absolutely perfect conditions for the one-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/105s and J/120s. Sunny skies, high 70‘s and breezes in the 10-15 knot range were around all weekend. The 17 boat J/70 fleet was the largest one-design fleet at the NOOD regatta, followed by the J/105s with fourteen.

The event began on Thursday for many of the J/70 sailors, as North Sails hosted an on-the-water clinic and took video during practice. The unique thing about the J/70 class is that it has a healthy mix of both amateur and professional sailors. The Pros have been great at helping the fleet really figure out how to sail the J/70, which has resulted in very close sailing. Thursday’s clinic had the J/70’s out sparring and working on boat handling, starting, and boat speed. On both Thursday and Friday, North Sails hosted a debrief after racing with Vince Brun, Chris Snow & Chuck Allen, along with videos and photos once again done by the pros at North Sails.

Friday came and the first day of racing saw light early morning breezes quickly fade as a strong sea breeze set in. Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT (from Minnetonka, MN), with local Coronado expert Willem Van Waay aboard, quickly jumped to a lead in the event with a strong 3-2-1 for the day. In a close second place, newcomer to the fleet, Joe Markee from San Diego YC, had his daughter Mandy and son-in-law Bill Hardesty, on board OHANA for their first J/70 race!

The conditions throughout the weekend were near perfect for sailing, with the trend of strong sea-breezes filling every day. The shifty South Bay made it possible to recover from mistakes and the fleet saw extremely close racing. There were multiple races where there were 5-7 boats literally overlapping at the finish, making it challenging for the race committee and very close racing throughout the fleet. In the end, the top five for the event were CATAPULT, followed by OHANA in second, Tom Garrett’s SLOOP JOHN B in third, Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO 60 fourth and the DFZ duo of Eric Kownacki and Tom Jenkins taking fifth.

The J/70 fleet in Southern CA has been growing rapidly in the past three months. There is an active group of fourteen local J/70’s with many more boats on the way. The fleet has a great list of planned High Point events which include: King Harbor Race Week, Yachting Cup, Long Beach Race Week, Fiesta Cup, Ahmanson Regatta, and J/Fest in San Diego.

Sailing alongside the J/70s in South Bay were the J/24s with a showing of seven good teams.  It didn’t take long for past J/24 NOOD Champion, Susan Taylor on TAKE FIVE, to get back into the swing of things and feel comfortable in the lead, winning four of six races to take home the crown.  Finishing second was James Barney’s CRITTER followed by John Cianciarulo’s ABOUT TIME in third.

A dominating final day of sailing in the J/105 class earned Gary Mozer and crew aboard CURRENT OBSESSION 2 the prestigious Overall Winner title at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta San Diego. The Beverly Hills-based skipper made tactful decisions in the breezy conditions on San Diego Bay to claim top honors. As overall winner, Mozer and crew received an invitation to the Caribbean to sail against fellow NOOD Overall Winners.  After the first four races, Rick Goebel’s SANITY was tied for the lead with CO2 at nine points by virtue of having posted a 6-1-1-1 scoreline. However, ending the regatta with a 4-3 dropped SANITY into second place.  The tag-team of Tom Hurlburt & Chuck Driscoll on BLOW BOAT sailed a solid, consistent series to capture third.  They were followed by Jim Dorsey on WINGS and Steve & Lucy Howell’s BLINK!, fourth & fifth, respectively.  Watch the Sailing World video of Gary Mozer- the Overall Winner here.

The “big dogs” in the J/120 class had close racing with the top three teams, in particular, playing the children’s game of “chutes & ladders” just about every race.  One bad start, a blown tack, a lousy spinnaker take-down, all lead to catastrophic consequences in this tightly packed fleet.  In six races, four different teams won races and five boats had top three finishes!  Surviving the roller-coaster ride best was John Laun’s team on CAPER, taking their class by just 4 pts.  Mike Hatch’s J/ALMIGHTY rattled off a 2-2-1 in the last three races to climb quickly into second overall.  On the flip-side of J/ALMIGHTY’s rapid ascent was John Snook’s JIM dropping into third.  Fourth was Chuck Nichols CC RIDER and fifth was Gary Winton’s SHENANIGANS.

Finally, this year's San Diego NOOD also featured a one-day North Sails Rally Race.  On Saturday, March 15, Joe Dagostino, the owner of the San Diego YC-based J/105 VIGGEN (below left), hopped aboard to go sail the first-ever North Sails Rally Race, a one-day, random-leg, PHRF-scored race.  In the end, they enjoyed a fantastic day on the water and became the well-deserved winners with his friend Tom Fisher!
 

Also, new to the 2014 NOOD season is the “Local Boat of the Day” award presented by North Sails.  Designed to recognize a skipper who exemplifies superior local knowledge of the course as well as precise execution during their races, San Diego YC J/105 sailor Rick Goebel (above right), epitomized those characteristics on SANITY, also in the J/105 class, claiming this weekend’s distinction.   Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes (http://www.timwilkes.com) and Paul Todd (Outsideimages.com)  For more Sperry Top Sider San Diego NOOD sailing information

San Diego NOOD Preview

(San Diego, CA)- The next installment of Sailing World’s NOOD Regattas will be taking place this weekend in San Diego from March 14th to 16th.  In addition to the one-design and handicap classes, a new “event” has been added into the mix, the “North Sails Rally Race” that takes place on Saturday only.  J/Sailors will be a significant component in the regatta, with forty-four teams participating in the large one-design classes of J/24s, J/70s, J/105s, and J/120s. J/Crews will once again be the “life of the party” at San Diego’s NOOD, as 44 “J’s” of 114 boats (39% of the fleet) will have over 250 crew members socializing around the expansive decks and lawns at San Diego YC.

The J/70s have the largest fleet in the regatta with sixteen teams hoping to grab one of the qualifying spots for the J/70 Worlds in Newport, RI this September.  There are several wily veterans mixed in with a host of new teams just starting their J/70 circuits this year.  Amongst the veterans, you have Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT crew from Wayzata YC in Minnesota, Eric Kownacki & Tom Jenkins on DFZ, Dan Gribble/ Kurt Weise on GO-RILLA, Jeff Brown from the host San Diego YC, Craig Tallman on JAYA, Bennet Greenwald on PERSEVERANCE and Karl Pomeroy on ZERO TO 60.  Amongst the fleet newcomers in the regatta are several talented teams from other classes that have hopped into 70’s for more fun in the sun!  Santa Barbara YC’s Scott Deardorff is campaigning CAKE this year (already entered in the J/70 North Americans in Rochester, NY), Beverly Burr is skippering CHICK BOAT from Westlake YC, Patrick Toole is driving ECLIPSE (another Santa Barbarian team that are also J/24 North American Champions!), Dave Vieregg is leading SOGGY DOLLAR, Scott Grealish from Portland, OR is skippering SPLASH and top J/105 sailor Rich Bergmann is sailing ZUNI BEAR.   For more Sperry Top Sider San Diego NOOD sailing information

Sperry Top-sider St Pete NOOD Preview

(St Petersburg, FL)- The 2014 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta series kicks off in sunny St. Petersburg, FL from February 14th to 17th. The fleet of 123 boats is dominated by J/Teams, representing 38% of the participants.  Of the forty-five J’s sailing there are twelve J/24s and twenty-eight J/70s racing one-design, while there are a half-dozen J’s sailing PHRF handicap classes.

The J/70 fleet, now in its second year at St. Pete, boasts the most entries and it’s a J/70 World Championship qualifier for the fleet.  Competitors will duke it out for two open spots for the Worlds in Newport, RI, in September 2014.

For Todd Fedyszyn, St. Petersburg YC’s youth sailing director and head coach, this year’s event will be a change of pace. Having previously raced J/24s at the NOOD, a parent of one of his team member’s offered to loan him a J/70 for the weekend. “It’ll be our first regatta,” says Fedyszyn, “so hopefully we can be competitive with the top of the pack if all goes well.”

The top of the pack, says Fedyszyn, includes many who are participating in the Quantum J/70 Winter Series at Davis Island YC. “Jud Smith on AFRICA was really fast last month at the first Winter Series regatta,” notes Fedyszyn. “He was almost unbeatable. I think Marty Kullman on TOUCH 2 PLAY will also be one of the top guys. People will always keep their eye on Heather Gregg-Earl and Joe Bardenheier on MUSE. Patrick Wilson had a good first Winter Series event as well sailing STAMPEDE. Mark Ploch’s SUGAR DADDY team is another crew who’s been spending a lot of time on the boat and should be in the front of pack. There are four or five who are going to jump out, who seem to have an extra gear.” Defending St. Pete NOOD J/70 champion Joel Ronning, on CATAPULT, will be also be back, along with Don & Tom Finkle on JUNIOR, Jim Cunningham on LIFTED, Kerry Klingler on MENACE, and Will Welles on RASCAL.  For more Sperry Top-sider St Pete NOOD sailing information.

J/Teams Sail Frenetic San Diego NOOD!

J/70s Challenge Shifty Winds
(San Diego, CA)- The second stop for the eight event Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta circuit was in San Diego, CA on March 15th to 17th weekend. The feast or famine tradition for this event prevailed, where strong conditions in past events were set aside this year for light and spotty winds. Three race courses hosted 101 boats competing in 12 one design classes. A total of 38 J/Teams participated, accounting for over one-third (37%) of the fleet!

According to Benjamin Miller, SailFlow.com Meteorologist, spring in San Diego can be quite dynamic. The passage of winter storm systems continues but these winter storms become less frequent and less potent as the month of March progresses. Meanwhile, the North Pacific High begins to rebuild, resulting in some modest WNW breezes, too. However, despite all great and wonderful prognostications, such was not the case!

On the opening day, the fog lifted to deliver great conditions for racing for the J/Teams for the duration of the afternoon.  But, the light winds and significant shifts tested the patience of sailors in all fleets.  By the end of the regatta, it was self-evident the weather was putting a premium on good starts and conservative strategies.

Emerging from the heat of battle amongst the rock-star laden J/70 fleet was Bennet Greenwald, sailing a consistent series on PERSEVERANCE to win the emerging 10-boat J/70 class, scoring a 2-3-1-4-2-4 for 16 pts.  On-board with Bennet was fellow San Diegan and Star/ Etchells 22 World Champion Vince Brun.  Next in line grabbing an early lead on the first day but succumbing to a deep finish on the second day was champion sailor David Ullman sailing USA 32 to a 1-1-4-7-4-3 tally to snag second by one point!  Recent St Petersburg NOOD winner, Joel Ronning, sailed his brand new midnight blue/black CATAPULT to a great series, improving just about every race to collect a 3-5-5-2-5-1 for 21 points to grab the third spot on the podium.  Aside from the usual sailing rock stars, the NOOD Regatta also attracted a couple other notable celebrities in the field, including national talk radio host and author Dr Laura Schlessinger.  She sailed her new J/70 called VENGEANCE to a credible fourth place for her first outing!  Like Joel, she too improved virtually every race to win the top J/70 scoreline on the last day, counting an 8-4-3-5-3-2 for 25 pts!  You go girl!!  Rounding out the top five was Karl Pomeroy sailing with Scuttlebutt Newsletter editor Craig Leweck on their boat- ZERO TO 60.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com  For more Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD Regatta sailing information

J/70 CATAPULT Wins St Pete

Brown Takes J/24 Class & Overall NOOD Title
(St Petersburg, FL)- It’s hard to remember a class that has hit the ground running faster than the J/70 class. Amateur sailors from a variety of other classes are scrambling to get in and get good, while representatives from every sailmaker are investing a lot of time and effort to get the early jump on sail design, rig tune, and boat-handling techniques.

None of this will diminish the importance or satisfaction gained from a regatta win, but it does add another layer of intrigue to any J/70 regatta in 2013. Who won is as important has how they did it.  The Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta was the NOOD debut for the J/70 class, and it did so in style with 20 boats signed up to sail.

Unseasonably cool conditions dominated the 16th edition of the Sperry Top-Sider St. Pete NOOD. But with the cool weather came breeze, and sailors generally prefer wind and cool weather to balmy temps and glassy seas. Those who braved the wind chill on Tampa Bay Friday through Sunday were rewarded with near perfect racing conditions, which enabled the race officials to run up to 11 races for each of the nine classes.

The biggest class was the fledgling J/70 class, with 20 entries. As the J/24 did when it debuted the late 1970s, the J/70 is attracting a lot of interest in its first full year of one-design racing. Joel Ronning, of Minneapolis, MN sailed his brand new boat, CATAPULT with Willem Van Waay and Jeremy Wilmot and a St Pete YC Sailing Center Opti sailor to win the J/70 class by 20 points with a 1-4-4-1-1-2-1-6-2-2 record.  It wasn't easy as the CATAPULT team was challenged by several boats over the course of the regatta, but a combination of incredibly shifty conditions, OCS's and misjudged boat-handling (shrimping and broaches) in the 15-25 kt breezes encountered on Saturday's and Sunday's racing practically eliminated CATAPULT's principal competition.  Nipping at their heels the entire regatta was the team of Will Welles (Newport, RO) and Ethan Bixby (local sailor from St Pete) sailing RASCAL, winning two races, but having to recover from an OCS in a critical race meant the RASCAL boys had to settle for a 3-6-3-5-3-1-8-10-4-1 scoreline for a total of 44 pts to take second overall.  Just behind them in third overall was MENACE, on-board were past J/22 and J/80 World Champions sailing as a team, Kerry Klingler (Larchmont, NY) and Terry Flynn (Houston, TX), sailing their best series to date and compiling a 6-19-2-7-4-8-3-4-1-4 tally for 58 points.

Behind the top three was a real battle for the balance of the top five.  In the hunt were the teams of LIFTED (Jim Cunningham- Tiburon, CA), USA 171 (Peter Vessella- San Francisco, CA), MUSE (Heather Gregg-Earl & Joe Bardenheier- Boston, MA), JUNGLELAND (Chris & Carolyn Groobey- Annapolis, MD), SURGE (Jeff Perini) and USA 69 (Joe Colling- Bath, OH).  With all six teams within ten points of one another going into the last day, anything could happen to settle the score for the top five.  In the end, Jeff Perini's team sailed well in the final day's extremely shifty winds filled with enormous puffs and holes to beat out the others to secure 4th overall.  Fifth went to Jim Cunningham's LIFTED team, beating out USA 171 by 3 pts and MUSE by 4 pts!  It was fun, close racing overall with lots of reports of J/70s hitting 15-16+ knots in the windy, wavy conditions!

St. Pete local Robby Brown dominated the 15-boat J/24 class winning seven of 11 races. By virtue of the impressive win over some top competition, Brown, whose boat USA 799 first touched water 35 years ago, was selected as the overall winner for the regatta. That honor includes a trip to the British Virgin Islands in November, where Brown and his crew will get a chance to battle for national bragging rights  against the overall winners from the other five Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regattas.

Robby Brown (seen here second from the left) and the crew of the J/24 USA 799 celebrate their overall win in the 2013 Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta. This is Brown's second time winning the overall honors, but after being unable to go to the Caribbean the first time he is determined to make it to the BVI in November for the NOOD Championships.

Robby commented about his win, "A huge thanks to everyone aboard Team 799 this past weekend! Seen here rounding first with our complete North inventory. A fantastic job by all. Despite Travis Odenbach and Team Honey Badger's attempt to cripple our trimmer on Saturday night, our team performed at top speed all weekend. We were honored to be chosen the Overall event winner for the second time and will definitely represent Tampa Bay in the Virgin Islands for the Championships this November. A HUGE thanks to Nate Vilardebo, Stephanie Karidas, Karen Regan (the future wife) and Matt, our newly discovered secret weapon. Thanks to the event organizers for an outstanding regatta, and we were absolutely blessed with some superb sailing conditions on Tampa Bay all weekend!"    Sailing World's Stu Streuli Interviewed Robby Brown, please see it here.   For more J/70 and J/24 Sperry Topsider NOOD St Petersburg Regatta sailing information

St Petersburg NOOD Preview

Hot J/70 Debut, Strong J/24 Fleet Sailing
(St Petersburg, Florida)- Riding the tail-feathers of the J/24 Midwinters will be the Sperry Topsider St Petersburg NOOD Regatta hosted by St Petersburg YC.  As one of Florida's leading yacht clubs, StPYC has a reputation for not only being a fabulous host but also one of those famously gentile clubs that simply knows how to take care of their sailors and run a great regatta.  Famous for being the starting point of the SORC (Southern Ocean Racing Circuit), sailors from around the world would belly-up to the bar and admire the gorgeous full-hull tank-testing scale models of 12 meters that hung from the ceiling-- amongst the sailing heroes casting admiring glances were Ted Turner on the Carter 39 MUNEQUITA; Dennis Conner on the many Peterson-designed WILLIWAWs; as well as Tommie Blackaller (bless his heart) on Good Lord knows what, but certainly and most infamously with Tommie Dreyfus on YOUR CHEATIN HEART! Their ghosts are still there for those offshore sailing history buffs as well as the gorgeous 12 meter and other wooden models-- who can name them!?

For the J/Tribe, it looks like there will be two good fleets of boats in both J/24s and J/70s.  For the former, they're the "veterans" and have a tradition of supporting local sailing for a long time.  For the latter, they're the "new kids on the block", the J/70 is debuting for what appears to be the largest fleet in the regatta with over seventeen entries!

Amongst the J/24s will be Todd and Genoa Fedyszyn sailing SPOONY TACTICS.  If you recall, the Fedyszyn's received their boat as a wedding present from her parents. "It's a good boat," said Genoa. "It might not be pretty, but it's fast." Both Todd and Genoa coach sailing for St. Petersburg YC's junior program; they spend most weekends attending the sailing aspirations of others.  One regatta they never miss is the St Pete NOOD. "With our schedules, this is the one event we set aside in advance," said Todd. "We look forward to it every year."  They will have tough competition from David Ogden, J/24 sailor extraordinaire from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, ONT, Canada and from local ring-leader Robby Brown from across the Bay at Davis Island YC.

As for the J/70s, the experience at Key West proved one thing only, the class is on a steep learning curve, acknowledged even by the winner Tim Healy and those like Brian Keane on SAVASANA who were vying for class honors.  With ten boats from the Midwinters and seven new boats showing up, the class will continue a dramatic ascent up that learning curve.  With additional participation from a number of Midwest boats from the Great Lakes (IL, MI, OH) the event promises to break even more new ground for performance.  Chief amongst the leaders may be teams on the fast-track at Key West, including J/24 and J/80 champion sailors like Kerry Klingler on MENACE; Mark Ploch/ Mike Bruno on SUGAR DADDY; Joe Colling on USA 69; Brandon Flack on TORQEEDO; Peter Vessella on USA 171 and Heather Gregg-Earl on her gorgeous, sublime MUSE.   For more Sperry Topsider St Petersburg NOOD Sailing Information.