More than 1,000 sailors from throughout the United States set sail last weekend to race in the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta series in San Diego. As it turns out, however, the overall winner didn’t have to travel far to win the regatta along San Diego Bay. After taking first place in the J/105 fleet — the largest boat class of the event with 18 vessels — Doug and Pam Werner were named the overall winners. The San Diego couple co-skippered the Javelin to four first-place finishes and a second-place finish to end the regatta with six points — a 14-point differential from the next-closest competitors, Dennis and Sharon Case, who were the 2009 San Diego NOOD champions. As the overall winners in San Diego, the Werners are invited to participate in the NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands in November to compete aboard Sunsail 39s against the overall winners from each of the eight other stops along the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD regatta series. In addition to the Werners, the San Diego NOOD regatta crowned 19 other fleet champions this weekend, including six other San Diego sailors. All fleet winners were awarded with trophies. The Sperry Top-Sider NOOD regatta will now sail on to its next stop in the series at Annapolis, Md., from April 29-May 2. Other venues for 2010 include St. Petersburg, Fla., Seattle, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Marblehead, Mass. and Larchmont, N.Y. Created by Sailing World in 1988, the NOODs attract nearly 2,000 boats and more than 30,000 competitors and spectators annually. Each event in the series features multiple days of sailboat racing for one-design models from 20 to 70 feet in length. In addition to local sailors, sailing’s top stars — including America’s Cup and Olympic champions — are well-represented at the NOODs. Competitive sailors rate the NOODs as the top national event in each region of the country. For more information, visit www.sailingworld.com.