(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. Taking advantage of this
most precious of commodities in the Pacific Northwest was none other
than BABA LOUIE; the J/24 sailed by Pat Dore with Chris Snow, Melanie
Edwards (bow), Ken Monaghan (mast), and Dale Turley (trimmer). BABA
LOUIE not only won their class but also won the entire event overall—
declared as the Overall Seattle NOOD Champions!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. Pat Dore's local team on the J/24 BABA LOUIE, which won four of five races in the 16-boat fleet, was the standout team of the day. "We had a really good day," said Dore's tactician Chris Snow. "It was a great day of sailing. It was a lot of fun, especially to be able to get in that many races. The left side of the course was really favored because the wind accelerates over the headland, so the key was to work that side."
For
the second day of sailing, there was still wind, but just a bit less.
Jerry Diercks, of Seattle, knows how tricky the sailing conditions can
be on Puget Sound, especially when the winds are as light and the
current as strong as it was. Dierck’s J/105 DELIRIUM was tied for first
in its seven-boat class after five races, and in the first race of the
day, they almost took themselves out of contention.“I had one of the worst starts of my life,” said Diercks. “The current was so strong and I jibed away from the line two minutes before the race [which took him down current] instead of tacking like I should have, and in an instant we were 200 yards away from the line and behind the entire fleet before we even started.”
Fortunately for Diercks and his teammates on DELIRIUM, the race committee abandoned the race shortly after the start because a considerable wind shift skewed the racecourse. “With no throw-outs allowed in this regatta, we can’t have another bad race [they’re already carrying a seventh from yesterday],” said Diercks. “With the tie, we need to have two good races tomorrow.”
Sunday’s racing ultimately had to be abandoned for lack of wind after two light air races. However, most sailors were grateful and quite happy with the fact the regatta’s PRO’s pushed hard the first two days to get in some good sailing.
Behind BABA LOUIE in the J/24 class was Harrie Dursch and crew on SELF ABUSE taking second place. This team was closing fast on the boys in front of them going into the final races on Sunday, in fact posting a 2-3-1-2 to get within two points of the overall lead on Sunday. Grabbing third place was past winner Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH with 33 pts. The balance of the top five was Steve Travis on SPARK in fourth with 44 pts and fifth was Brad Miller on HAIR OF THE DOG with 68 pts.
In the J/105s, Diercks’s DELIRIUM crew continued their winning ways and closed with a 1-1-2 to win the regatta with 14 pts. Leading with a 2-1-2 after the first three races was Todd Rickard’s SEAMIST. However, it appears that SEAMIST’s tactician went A.W.O.L., since SEAMIST’s scores of 5-2-6 in the last three races completely torpedoed their grandiose dreams of glory, instead having to settle for silver on the podium. In fact, SEAMIST had to win on a tie-breaker they had sunk so fast. Third was Erik Kristen’s JUBILEE team sailing remarkably consistent all weekend, winning a race and never posting a score over 4th, to finish with 18 pts and tied with SEAMIST!
In the J/80s it was clear the regatta had become a duel between two boats, Bryan Rhodes’s CRAZY IVAN and Bill McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET. After the dust settled at the O.K. Corral in this gunfight, CRAZY IVAN took top honors by winning four of the six races. McKinnon’s SKYE ROCKET took four 2nd place finishes to secure second overall. Third was Lek Dimarucot’s FEARFUL SYMMETRY.
In addition, 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.
Finally, in the North Sails Rally class, a one-day time-on-time PHRF pursuit style race around the bay on Saturday, the J/24 CHALLENGER sailed by Chris Archer took second overall! 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
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