Shifty Northerly Wind Tests Sailors

Racers at the Sailing World St. Petersburg NOOD regatta, a three-day regatta presented by Mount Gay Rum that concluded yesterday on Tampa Bay, came prepared.

Each of the 162 teams–traveling from 20 states, Canada, England, and Ireland–managed a long list of logistics just to get to the starting line of this national sailing circuit. But when they arrived, Tampa Bay gave them conditions that are hard to prepare for: days of shifty, northerly winds that give luck a heavy weight in any racer’s formula for success.

For Tampa sailor Mike Carroll, fortune swung his way on the final day of the series, bringing a windshift that became this crew’s express ride to a win in the last race.
With local racer John Jennings onboard, Carroll and his crew on Henderson 30 New Wave were in third place in the last race when the shift came through. “We saw the other boats auto-tack, so we tacked, laid the finish, and won. . . Today was really flukey and we just picked the right shifts: the old adage that every squirrel finds a nut definitely applied,” said Carroll.

This three-day regatta, hosted February 15-17 by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, was sailed in a range of conditions: from Friday’s sun and little wind; to a stiff and shifty 15- to 20-knot northerly on Saturday; to Sunday’s tamer northerlies, at 10 to 12 knots.

A total of 13 classes competed, and four classes used this event to determine their 2002 Midwinter Championships. The St. Petersburg NOOD regatta kicks off the nine-event National Offshore One-Design racing circuit organized by Sailing World magazine.

Doug Fisher of Sarasota was crowned the Melges 24 Midwinter Champion and the Hall Spars & Rigging Boat of the Day when he won the largest class in the regatta, the 31-boat Melges 24 class, by a gargantuan points margin of 26.5 points.
Fisher has only sailed a Melges 24 for five months–but he vows he’s been learning the tricks of the boat ever since. Local Olympic medallist Morgan Reeser, who sailed as part of the crew, helped strengthen the crew’s braintrust.
“Between Morgan and I, we’ve been finding a few new gears,” said Fisher. “When we’re sailing my way and start feeling slow, we switch to his way. And when his way feels slow, we switch back. It works pretty well.”

For Bob Shingler of Flowery Branch, Georgia, the St. Pete NOOD brought many firsts to this Olson 30 racer. This regatta was the first time this Lake Lanier sailor raced his boat in saltwater; and it was the first time he raced one-design in a fleet of identical Olson 30s, a class that is largely active on the U.S. West Coast class. Still, Shingler won this class to add one more first to his list: his first Midwinter Championship win in this fleet of 30-footers.

A fleet of Corsair trimarans joined this event for the first time in Tampa Bay. St. Petersburg sailor Doran Cushing won the Corsair class with his crew on Tri Southwinds by a two-point margin.

Two young Sarasota racers helped Tampa Bay’s Charlie Clifton capture the Midwinter title in the SR Max class. Racing with Clifton were Dan Wiedenhoft (age 16) and Dalton Tebo (age 12). This crew took their class title with a comfortable 9 points to spare. But according to Wiedenhoft, their success had more to do with preparation than with luck.

“We’d been practicing every weekend we could before the regatta, and we really had our teamwork down. We all knew how to do our jobs, and didn’t have to worry about anyone on the boat,” said Wiedenhoft.

The NOOD regattas are a nine-event racing circuit organized by Sailing World magazine of Newport (R.I.). The St. Petersburg NOOD was presented by Mount Gay Rum. Support sponsors who joined the event in St. Petersburg include: Hall Spars & Rigging, High Sierra Sport Company, North Sails, Raymarine, Samuel Adams and The Boston Beer Company, and Sunsail.

The NOOD circuit next travels to San Diego (Calif). The San Diego NOOD will be hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club, March 15-17.

Corsair			Points
1 Doran Cushing	St. Petersburg	Tri Southwinds	20
2 Robert Remmers	Buda	Breaking Wind	22
3 Joseph Rome	Cocoplum Beach	Lucky Star	31

Henderson 30			Points
1 Michael Carroll	Tampa	New Wave	11
2 Scott	Steve	Sarasota	24
3 Neil Rattan	West Point	Love Letter	28

Hobie 33			Points
1 Christian Schaumloffel	Virginia Beach	Mirage	20
2 Alex Segev	Hollywood	Predator	27
3 Kenneth Benton	Miami	Bandit	36

J-24			Points
1 Steve Wood	West Kingstown	Tasmanian Devil	25
2 Peter Bream	Jacksonville	Tarheel	27
3 Larry Flinn	Ossining	Clearheader	30

J-29			Points
1 John Esposito	New Rochelle	Hustler	14
2 F. Case Whittemore	Richmond	Patriot	32
3 Jay Tovey	Rochester	The Fish	34

Level 123			Points
1 Ed & Scott Peters	Apollo Beach	Tigress	13
2 Valeri Safiullin	Ft. Lauderdale	Breeze	18
3 J World Racing Team Red	Annapolis	Plain White Boat	22

Melges 24	Midwinter Championships		Points
1 Doug Fisher	Sarasota	Polywog	12
2 Doug Kessler	Marietta	Liberty 2	38.5
3 Mike Krantz	Flowery Branch	Lamorak	40

Olson 30	Midwinter Championships		Points
1 Bob Shingler	Flowery Branch	Lulu	18
2 Bob Bozeman	St. Petersburg	Twisted Fate	21
3 Mike McGagh	League City	Wild Rover	21

S2 7.9			Points
1 Boston	Grosse Point Woods	Half Baked	14
2 William A. Boston	Point Edward	Frequent Flyer	17
3 Bill Jenkins	Grosse Pointe Park	Crime Scene	23

Sonar			Points
1 Peter Galloway	Wilton	Fast Forward	14
2 Josh Goldman	Westport	Sonar	34
3 Ken Womack	Houston	(none given)	53

SR Max	Midwinter Championships		Points
1 Charlie Clifton	Sarasota	Col. Fletcher Prouty	15
2 Bill Embree	St. Petersburg	Viento	24
3 Brad Kadau	Treasure Island	Changes in L’Attitude	25

Tartan Ten			Points
1 Bill Buckles	Lorain	Liquor Box	14
2 Donald Fritz	Toledo	Full Bore	14
3 Doug Baker	Chicago	Temerity	28

Ultimate 20	Midwinter Championships		Points
1 Kevin Knight	Dublin	KK-Spirit	17
2 Robert Bilthouse	Odessa	Bob Sled	18
3 David Crall	Loveland	Pandemonium	29

Geronimo crossed the TrophÃ©e Jules Verne start line off Ushant at 01:25:16s GMT.

tags

Shifty Northerly Wind Tests Sailors

Post Race Reflections

Subscribe to our Newsletter