(St Petersburg, FL)- The first of the many Sailing World NOOD Regattas
will be starting this weekend in St Petersburg, FL, hosted by the St
Petersburg YC. A record fleet has turned out for the event, fueled in
part by the huge J/70 class. Racing will be taking place from Friday,
February 17th to Sunday, February 19th on Tampa Bay. The weather
forecast looks promising, with light easterlies on Friday, followed by
moderate norwesterlies on Saturday and more lightish southerlies on
Sunday. The event attracts a broad cross-section of sailors in both one-design fleets as well as PHRF fleets. The event is dominated by J/crews from across America, with strong fleets in the J/24 and J/70 one-design classes, as well as a competitive contingent of J/88s, J/29s, and J/105 in the PHRF buoy racing classes. In the PHRF random-leg classes that get to roam around Tampa Bay, there will be a rematch of top teams sailing J/40s and J/42s!
The
J/70 class is out in strength, again, after just completing their
Quantum Winter Series last week at Davis Island YC on Tampa Bay.
Thirty-four teams are headed for the starting line that include a number
of top teams that had sailed in the Quantum Key West Race Week and are
gunning for the J/70 Midwinters the following weekend, as well as the
Bacardi Miami Sailing Week later in March. At the top of that heap is
the 2016 J/70 World Champion, Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT crew from Wayzata
YC in Minnesota. They will be hard pressed by a hell’s kitchen of crews
that are all capable of being at the top of the leaderboard, including
Darby Smith’s AFRICA from Marblehead, MA; Marty Kullman’s NEW WAVE from
the host SPYC; Peter Cunningham’s POWERPLAY RACING from the Cayman
Islands; Robert Willis’ RIP RULLAH from Columbia YC; Brian Keane’s
SAVASANA from Beverly YC in Buzzards Bay, MA; and Rich Lehmann’s WIND
CZAR from Little Traverse YC in Harbor Springs, MI. Of note for the
J/70s are the very talented HELLY HANSEN Junior Crew led by Blair
McCarthy from St Petersburg YC. 
In
the PHRF race course, it promises to be a significant “dust-up” between
top J/88 crews and J/cruising crews. In PHRF 1, three J/88s are
sailing, all at the top of their game. Those crews include Iris Vogel’s
DEVIATION from Huguenot YC in New Rochelle, NY; Tod Patton’s BLONDIE 2
from Milwaukee YC and Northbrook, IL; and Mike Bruno’s WINGS from
American YC in Rye, NY. They will be up against two J/105s, Jody
Abrams’ ARIEL from SPYC and George Cussins’ FIRE & ICE from Apollo
Beach, FL. Sailing in PHRF 2 are perhaps two of the fastest PHRF boats
on Tampa Bay, Ray Mannix’s J/29 SEMPER FI from Largo, FL and the St
Pete Sailing Association and the trio aboard the J/29 MEATIER (Brian
Davies, Brian Kennalley, and Ed Mui from Chicago Corinthian YC in
Chicago, IL). The NORTH SAILS Race Rally fleet sees Jeff Russo’s J/40 INTREPID taking on Roger Gatewood’s J/42 SHAZAAM for class and line honors all weekend long! Both crews hail from the famous Davis Island YC across Tampa Bay.
While
the racing on the water promises to be epic, perhaps the roughest and
toughest test of sailing skills make take place ashore! This year marks
the inaugural HELLY HANSEN Gutter Boat Regatta at the NOOD. Meet on
the race track at 1900 hrs Saturday night at the post-race party to keep
the competition alive.Grab your “gutter boat racing kit” Thursday evening at registration, first come first serve. Take a few minutes between Registration and Saturday's party to build your winning catamaran! Foilers?? Maybe. Each kit contains a sail, trimaran frame, two pieces of balsa wood, a mast, and four screws. You may want to bring some more materials to set yours apart from the rest. The winning boat will go home with a sweet Helly Hansen trolley bag! Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ OutsideImages.com. For more Helly Hansen St Petersburg NOOD Regatta sailing information. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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