Sailors from all over the country came to the San Diego Yacht Club last weekend, March 15 to 18, for the 2007 Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design Regatta series. The event featured 160 boats entered in 14 classes.
The big prize for the weekend was the Boat of the Regatta, awarded to Scot Tempesta and John Rickard in their Flyer Tiger boat named Anarchy, the overall winner. Tempesta will be racing in the British Virgin Islands using a Sunsail charter boat, competing against the winners of the eight other NOOD regattas for the title of 2007 NOOD champion.
The weekend proved to be a great time on the water, with 12- to 17-knot winds on Saturday, March 17. The San Diego Yacht Club hosted the races, with many events for those in attendance both on and off the water.
All three courses “” San Diego Bay, Coronado Roads and the Pacific Ocean “” used preplaced markers, but race lengths varied from 2.5 to 4 miles, depending on wind speed and direction.
“The air can be lighter here in San Diego, although the past two years have been pretty good,” George Brengle, director of marketing for Sailing World Marketing, said. “Although the courses are set up similarly in each city “¦ each regatta ends up a new experience.”
Sailing World magazine has organized the NOOD regattas for 20 years as a way to showcase popular hull designs and keep costs reasonable, attracting up to 2,000 boats throughout the nine-event season. According to the magazine, it’s the most popular series in the United States, while the 20- to 70-foot-long boats give spectators a wide range of viewing options and extremely close racing in each class.
Top competitors such as Olympic athletes and America’s Cup sailors regularly participate in the NOOD Regatta Series, as far east as St. Petersburg, Fla., and Marblehead, Mass., stopping in Chicago and Detroit, and even crossing the border into Toronto, Canada.
Past San Diego entrants have included Dennis Connor, Peter Isler and Vince Brun, among other world-renowned racers, during the 10 years the event has been held locally.
While most of the field in San Diego was from Southern California, many of the racers traveled from across the nation, including Florida, New York, Washington and Rhode Island, to enjoy the milder weather.
Each area of the country has advantages at different times of the year. San Diego’s steady climate is a big attraction, though the wind here can be somewhat less than stellar.
More information is available at the yacht club’s Web site, www.sdyc.org.
For more on the NOOD Regattas, visit www.sailingworld.com