J/80 SKYE ROCKET & J/105 DELIRIUM Win Class
(Seattle, WA)- When Seattle decides to put on a show weather-wise, she
is a gorgeous place: Mountains abound, Puget Sound and Lake Union and
Lake Washington provide ideal racecourses. Sure, it's dark and stormy
here in the deepest months of winter, but in the summer, Seattle simply
can't be beat. Case-in-point- this past weekend's Sperry Topsider NOOD
regatta. While Sunday ended up being a rainy day of sailing (drum roll
for the stereotypes), Friday and Saturday were the stuff of sailing
legend- perfect breeze, more sunshine than most Seattleites know how to
handle, and enough psyched sailors to create a great event.Showcasing three-consecutive days of top-tier sailing in various weather and water conditions, J/24 Skipper Mark Laura and his boat, TUNDRA ROSE, was declared top overall boat at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Seattle. As a reward for mastering the Puget Sound race course, Laura and crew won an invitation to compete in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands at the end of the season to compete aboard Sunsail 44S against the other overall winners in the 2012 series.
What
may have earned Mark's team the top-billing for the regatta was the
fact that the top four teams all finished within three points of one
another after seven closely fought races. Mark's team started off with a
bomber race- a 9th- but managed to rattle off a string of four 3rds and
two 5ths to win by only 1 pt with no first places-- that's
consistency! Tied for second were PEARL and TREMENDOUS SLOUCH-
accounting for three 1sts in the event. Winning the tie-break with two
of those 1sts was TUNDRA ROSE sailed by Mike Johnson's team on PEARL,
their 3-1-3-7-11-6-1 for 32 pts was enough to secure second place.
Third was Scott Milne on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH, sailing to a 2-7-1-10-2-8-2
for 32 pts to snatch third overall. Fourth was SELF ABUSE (Harry
Dursch) and fifth was R.Y.L.A.H. (John Mason).
The
J/80 class had a tight, four boat fleet with well-sailed boats. Just
about all the boats won a race, indicative of how close the racing was
overall. And, there were no runaway winners. Fun racing. In the end,
it was Bill McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET that won with just 19 pts. Second
was HEART ATTACK sailed by Joel Shapiro with 21 pts and third was David
Schutte on TAJ MAJAL with 23 pts.
The
J/105s also had good teams returning from last year and it was clear
that a trio of boats were having a heckuva regatta. Like their J/80
counterparts, in this case five races were won by different boats over
nine races-- a pretty equitable distribution. Making fewer mistakes
than most was Jerry Diercks' DELIRIUM, amassing a 1-4-6-1-2-2-3-3-3-3
for 25 pts. The fun-loving "Italians" aboard Lorenzo Migliorini's
ALLEGRO VIVACE were leading after six races but maybe had too much fun
on Saturday night? In the end, their record of 4-5-2-2-1-1-1-7-4 for 27
pts fell just short of snagging gold, having to settle for silver on
the podium. Third was Doug Schenk's FREE BOWL OF SOUP with a
2-1-5-6-5-3-4-1-2 for 29 points, nearly overtaking their friends on the
VIVACE. Fourth was Jim Geros' LAST TANGO and fifth was Erik Kristen's
JUBILEE. Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes. For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information
