A J/Festival of J/24s, 80s, 105 and 120s
(San Diego, CA)- Starting this weekend, the Sperry Topsider NOOD Regatta in San Diego expects to have some good winds and weather. There's a strong turnout of J's, particularly the J/120 and J/105 classes, including the J/24s and the J/80s, making up most of the biggest fleets at this years' STNR-SD.
As the largest fleet in the regatta, the seventeen boat J/105 fleet has attracted a good out-of-town contingent, including teams from Chicago, Blane Shea on TEAM STRIKING and Clark Pellett on J-OK. The local California contingent will be strong as always, including John Howell on BLINK!, Don Poppe on the champion ROCK & ROLL from Santa Barbara, past champions Dennis and Sharon Case on WINGS and Rich Bergman on ZUNI BEAR. There's no telling with this fleet how the results will pan out but, as in past San Diego NOODs, it often comes down to the last race!
The J/120 fleet has a strong turnout with eight very competitive boats. Sure to be in the hunt for class honors will be past champions Chuck Nichols on CC RIDER, John Laun's CAPER, Peter Zarcades MELTEMI and perhaps even Jed Olenick on DOCTOR NO.
Showing great resilience, the local J/24s gang are showing up in force with an excellent fleet of twelves J/24s showing up to vie for top dog in SoCal. Hard to handicap this group, but certainly amongst the leaders will be current North American Champion Pat Toole on 3 BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara, past National/ NA Champion Chris Snow on BOGUS (one of North Sails top one-design leaders) and past NOOD Champion Susan Taylor on TAKE FIVE. It should be quite a fight amongst these three boats for the top three.
Finally, the J/80s have showed up in force as well. Talk about out-of-towners, the long-distance award must surely go to Nizar Abuzeni sailing ARROW from St. Paul, MN and the St. Croix Sailing Club (USVI). Past NOOD Champion Curt Johnson sailed AVET will be a contender as most likely will be John Steen on UNDERDOG, Kurt Wiese on 1316 and Mark Hunter on IN-APPROPRIATE. For more Sperry Topsider NOOD Regatta- San Diego sailing information.