Stormy, Windy Annapolis NOOD Regatta!

J/80 MORE GOSTOSA Wins Overall Award!
(Annapolis, MD)- After inclement weather on Friday prevented racing, the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta kicked into full gear on Saturday as 220 teams in 17 classes battled the elements on the Chesapeake Bay.  Then, blessed with a powerful front moving across the region, the fleet enjoyed partly sunny skies, 51 F temperatures, and westerly breezes blowing 12 to 32 kts plus on Sunday to close out the regatta— fresh to frightening conditions for many!

While the NOOD Regatta series has been a springtime fixture in Annapolis for nearly 20 years, it is the first time the regatta had a single brand completely dominate the event. Amazingly, 158 J/crews registered (72% of the fleet!) to contest for many coveted prizes; the eight J/classes represented include J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/30s J/35s, J/105s, J/111s, and a J/42 in the PHRF North Sails Rally class.

“The weekend was pretty wild,” said Conor Hayes, skipper of the J/80 MORE GOSTOSA and Overall Winner of the regatta. “Yesterday was great breeze, really shifty, and today was off the hook. Breeze on the whole time.”

Organizers select the overall winner based on the weekend’s most competitive fleet, and Hayes said the conditions made for exciting challenges on the water for the J/80s. The Gilford, N.H., native attributed his success to the quick, precise maneuvering of his crew, which included his father Kevin Hayes, cousin Dan Jolda and friend Graham Philpot.

“We’ve been together for years and years, which was huge today. That’s the difference-maker when you’re sailing in big conditions, where you have no margin of error for mistakes. Sometimes you have to throw pretty risky maneuvers in, but I was not at all concerned because the crew work was on point all day.”

As the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD’s overall winner, team More Gostosa will compete in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship Regatta, presented by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands in October.

While Hayes has never been a winning skipper at a NOOD Regatta, the weekend proved successful for a couple of previous Overall Winners. The 2016 Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD champion, Terry Flynn, once again won the J/22 class.

In the J/70 class, Bruce Golison followed up his win at the 2016 Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD with another first-place finish. Still new to the class, this event was the Midlife Crisis crew’s opportunity to make strides in the direction of future championships.

“We were able to qualify here for the 2018 Worlds, and that was important to us,” said Golison. “It was a good regatta and a good learning experience, and kept us going on our way to what we want to accomplish.”

Behind Flynn in the J/22 class was Zeke Horowitz’s UNCLE FLUFFY taking the silver with 24 pts, third was Jake Doyle’s USA 789 taking a tie-breaker over Vic Snyder/ Kevin Doyle’s MO’MONEY at 30 pts each.  Closing out the top five was JR Maxwell’s SCOOBY.

While Golison took a well-deserved win in the J/70 class, he was challenged hard by the consistent crew on SAVASANA, skippered by Brian Keane.  On the last day, Keane’s crew closed with a 5-1 to take the silver.  Third was Martie Kullman’s NEW WAVE with 29 pts, fourth Will Welles’ SCAMP with 34 pts and fifth Allan Terhune’s DAZZLER with 35 pts (note- they crushed the last day with a 1-2 tally to rocket up the leaderboard!).

In the J/70 Corinthians class, winning their first ever event was Jay Greenfield’s PINCH & ROLL.  Second were class veterans Heather Gregg & Joe Bardenheier’s MUSE, followed by Todd Hiller’s LEADING EDGE in third, Peter Bowe’s TEA DANCE SNAKE in fourth and Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY in fifth place.

Winning the J/24 class was Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET with essentially straight firsts!  Just behind them in a virtual tie-breaker was Peter Rich’s BUXTON taking second with 12 pts and Pete Kassal’s SPACEMAN SPIFF securing the bronze with 13 pts.  Rounding out the top five was Allan Vanderheyden’s WHO-WA in 4th and Jim Bonham’s SISU in 5th position.

The massive fourteen-boat J/30 class saw a spoiler blow up the traditional top of the leaderboard.  Doug & Amy Stryker’s TOTALED MAYHEM won the class on a tie-breaker over past Annapolis NOOD winner, Steve Buzbee’s BLUE MEANIE.  Taking third was Bob Rutsch’s BEPOP, fourth was Sumner Parker’s BLUEJACKET and fifth was Bruce Irvin’s SHAMROCK.

The overall regatta winner came out of the tightly fought J/80 class that has 20 boats on the starting line.  Behind Hayes’ MORE GOSTOSA was John White’s USA 1162 in 2nd, Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS in 3rd, David Andril’s VAYU in 4th and Vince Kalish’s WHITE LIGHTNIN’ in 5th place.

In the “Big Boat” division over on course 4, it was a wet, wild, and shifty course to sail.  Sadly, only three races were completed on Saturday and none on Sunday since the Race Committee could not figure out how to secure the race course marks in 15-32 kts winds!  Bummer.  Nevertheless, in the J/35s, a familiar face won- Jim Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel’s AUNT JEAN won with just 4 pts, followed by Roger Lant’s ABIENTOT in second, Chuck Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN in third, Bruce Artman’s T-BONE in 4th, and Ben Travis/ Scott Steele’s B-ZING in 5th place.

The healthy, highly competitive seventeen-boat J/105 class saw a Canadian team top the standings- Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE from the Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, Ontario.  Second was local hero Andrew Kennedy’s BAT IV, followed by the Lewis/Salvesen duo on MIRAGE in third, Hugh Bethell’s JESTER in 4th and Arthur Libby & Tom Carter’s DOGHOUSE in 5th place.

The J/111s saw a “whitewash” take place, with Peter Wagner’s SKELETON KEY win with straight bullets. Second was local hotshot, Martie Roesch’s VELOCITY crew, taking the silver.  Third was Long Island Sound rock-star, Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO, closely followed by Jeff Davis’ SHAMROCK in 4th and Jim Connelly’s SLUSH FUND in 5th place. Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com.  For more Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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