On the NOOD Tour

The Great Lakes venue of Chicago has been shortlisted as a potential venue for the 35th America’s Cup, but Cup or no Cup, the town remains a great sailing city for the weekend warriors. If you need any proof, just ask the 158 boats that hit Lake Michigan to participate in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta on June 6-8.

Among the 15 classes, Steve Knoop and crew aboard Bella were deemed the event’s Overall Winner based on their performance in the highly-competitive J/105 Class. With the prize comes a charter aboard a Jeanneau 44i courtesy of Sunsail, and an invitation to compete in the NOOD Caribbean Championship this fall.

The Tartan 10 is a Great Lakes staple and was 28 boats strong at the Chicago NOOD. “The class has been around forever, and though the numbers are lower than past years, the fact that the T-10 class had the most entries proves this fleet has amazing staying power,” noted local knowledge expert Perry Lewis.

With the Tartan 10 North Americans sailing out of Chicago Yacht Club August 7-10, there’s no doubt some of the teams were using the NOOD event as a tune up. Congratulations to the T-10 team onboard Lightning who won the North Sails Local Boat of the Day award on Saturday.

Chicago has played host to the NOOD Regatta for over 25 years and has traditionally included a distance race in the schedule. Newly named the North Sails Rally Race, this year’s PHRF-scored event played host to 33 boats competing on Saturday in the final Rally Race of the 2014 NOOD season.

We at Scuttlebutt are big fans of this fun, accessible style of racing. It’s the perfect opportunity for people who might not have three days to dedicate to sailing, or those who want to enjoy time on the water with their family. We’re looking forward to seeing the Rally Race grow next year.

Speaking of fun… we’re not sure how this relates to sailing, but the après sailing highlight on Saturday night was a mechanical bull. The party theme was “country” and the bull (plus a few rum drinks) provided lots of laughs and entertainment for the participants. North Sails’ Regattas Services expert Andreas Josenhans theorized, “I guess if you can stay on that bull you can stay on a sailboat?”

Luckily for the bull riders, this venue more than lived up to its nickname on Sunday. The “Windy City” delivered high winds combined with high swell forcing the race committee to call racing off for the day. From what we heard around CYC, all the more reason to start the awards ceremony early and enjoy the day!

Not everybody stayed ashore, as a video posted by Todd Jones demonstrates. “When racing was cancelled due to high winds, we went out for a practice (on the J/70). We entertained the sailors on shore with a high speed run.” Click here to view.

Click here for full report on the Chicago NOOD.

The final stop of the six event 2014 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta tour is Marblehead July 24-27. Click here for details.