(Chicago, IL)- The final day of the Chicago Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta greeted sailors with gorgeous weather and consistent 5-10 knot wind, setting the stage for a full day of racing on Lake Michigan. The sailors could not have been luckier. For the third straight day, the crews had been enjoying unseasonably fabulous sailing weather. If you recall, last year's event was punctuated by a epic front spitting massive thunderbolts, squalls, hail, horizontal rain and pouring "cats & dogs"!
Enjoying the wonderful sailing was none other than the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by Dr. George Miz, Pete Dreher and Mark Hatfield. With a 1-5-6-1-3-1-2-4 record for 23 points, they won their first major J/111 regatta on a tie-breaker over Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, with a record of 4-4-3-3-2-3-1-3 also for 23 pts. With a half-dozen entries, the J/111 class had very competitive fleet racing one another, as evidenced by very close scores. With two races to go in the eight race series, it was anyone's guess as to what the podium would look like when the spray cleared on the race course. Past NODO Regatta winner, KASHMIR sailed by Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer, finished only 1 pt out of first place! KASHMIR's 5-3-4-2-1-5-3-1 for 24 pts was good enough for the bronze. Fourth place just 1 pt back was Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL with a 2-2-1-4-5-2-4-5 for 25 pts; a strong start but slow close on the last day meant they finished just out of the money. Win-Place or Show in the last race sealed the deal for the top three!
For the J/105s, this year again saw one team simply dominate the regatta, with some new faces on the top of the heap. Blane Shea and crew on STRIKING started off strong and never let up on their classmates. STRIKING knocked out a striking scorecard of four 1sts, two 2nds and two 5ths to win with 18 pts, four pts clear of Tom and Gyt Petkus' VYTIS-- a past regatta winner. Third was Clark Pellett's team on SEALARK scoring two 1sts, four 4ths, a 3rd and 6th to finish with 27 pts to grab third place. Like their J/111 brothers, the 105s also saw the last spot on the podium come down to the final race. In this case John Weglarz's crew must've had the inmates already running THE ASYLUM as their last three races of a 4-3-7 sunk their chances for a bronze, finishing just 2 pts back from 3rd overall.
In the J/109s, the top three also had a tough three-way battle for the top three. Again, the last two races made all the difference as some teams stepped up to the plate and "closed the deal" while others faded a bit and tumbled down the standings. In the end, Dave Gustman's team on NORTHSTAR won the battles and the war, scoring a 3-2-1-2-2-2-6-3 for 21 pts to win class. Second was Don Meyer's CERTAINLY with a 1-7-5-3-1-3-4-2 scoreline for 26 pts and 2nd place. Just missing second by one point was Kevin Saedi's MOMENTUS, finishing third while collecting three 1sts along with a 2-3-6-6-7 for 27 pts.
In ORR3, Mitch Padnos' new J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON sailed a very strong regatta to finish 2nd overall with a 2-5-2-3-2-1-3-1 tally for 19 pts. Mitch's new J/122 replaces his J/124 which he raced for years in the Chicago-Mackinac Race. The new SUFFICIENT REASON was previously SKYE, which has won the Chicago-Mackinac in Class and Overall three times, once as a fully-crewed boat and twice as the overall Double-handed Class winner. For
more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information 
(Chicago, IL)- Wind, waves, and sunshine greeted competitors at the
first day of racing at the Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD Regatta. This
past weekend the Chicago Yacht Club hosted the annual NOOD regatta. The
wind was up on Friday, lightning a bit heavy on Saturday morning and
the wind finally came in for the races on Sunday. The RC's PRO and team
were able to get in 9 races in total, with 7 boats on the line for the
J/111s. The J one-design classes on the other courses had similar
experiences, with great breezes and good competition.
For
the J/111 fleet, despite what the final cumulative score reflected, the
Chicago NOOD's featured incredibly close racing all the way until the
final day with 5 boats separated by only 7 points going into Sunday-- it
was any one's regatta to win. With 4 separate boats scoring a first in
at least one race and a consistent shuffling in the standings at the end
of each day it goes to show how competitive J/111 Fleet 1 can be. The
starting line and mark roundings were very interesting places to be
every race and it forced every boat to sail with focus. One bad
spinnaker hoist or douse had the potential to set a boat back 3 or 4
spots. On Saturday afternoon's last race, 5 out of the 7 boats were
called over early, however 2 of those were still able to place 2nd and
3rd. The wind was as shifty as ever on Lake Michigan and was the cause
for some exciting comebacks. It was a fantastic regatta where the J/111
really got to display all of its glory. In fact, every downwind leg on
Friday's races was an amazing show for all on the course with 4-5 ft
waves offering up fantastic surfing opportunities. The trio of
Brummel/Henderson/Mayer on KASHMIR took first overall, followed by
William Smith's WOOTON from Bay Harbor YC in second, Steve Dabrowski's
NIGHTHAWK in third, Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL fourth and Rich Witzel's
ROWDY fifth. Sailing Photo Credit- Tim Wilkes.com For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information
