Jamie Holley Awarded Overall Title at Marblehead NOOD

Marblehead, MA (July 26, 2015) – More than 130 boats in nine classes competed in the final day of racing at the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in Marblehead. The four-day event wrapped up with Jamie Holley and his crew aboard, Manikiki, winning the class title for the Rhodes 19 fleet, as well as the regatta’s overall title.

The win secures his team a berth at the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Championship, hosted by Sunsail, in the British Virgin Islands in October.

The 33-boat class shifted around each day with each race being won by different boats. Ultimately, Manikiki won with 60 points from 11 races, followed by Ripple, skippered by Ken Cormier and Stevel Dalton, in second with 60 points and McLovin in third place, skippered by Jeff Shoreman and Dave Reynolds with 64 points.

Holley beat out Cormier in an overall points tie, decided by the fact that Holley finished first in more of the weekend’s races. “It was a very tough week of sailing,” said Holley. “We were only one of two fleets that had to sail all four days. We were 12 points down coming into the last day of sailing, and we pulled through.”

He added, “There was everything from light air and flat water, to heavy air and high seas. I want to say it takes consistency to win, but we weren’t very consistent. There were at times five boats wide round the mark, and sometimes other factors.

With a little bit of luck and good boat speed, winning was in Holley’s favor. When asked what his favorite part of race week was, Jamie answered “my family.” “The best part of race week in Marblehead is that I get to sail with my family. My wife crewed the first few days, and then my son did the last.”

Fred deNapoli’s Allegro Semplicita, the J/105 class winner, took home the black Wilmington Trust Leader Spinnaker. The “leader spinnaker” was given to the winning boat of each day, and switched owners a few times over the regatta. Ultimately, the overall class winner took it home for good. In second place was mark Marsur’s Two Feathers, followed by Mark Lindquist’s Sterling.

Holley and his team from the Marblehead NOOD will join Ron Buzil’s crew of the Beneteau First 40.7 Vayu, Grant Dumas of St. Petersburg, Fla., and his crew of the Tripp 38 Warrior and John Laun’s Caper crew of San Diego, Calif., along with Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, Terry Hutchinson, winner of the Annapolis NOOD and other victors in the British Virgin Islands to compete in the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Championship hosted by Sunsail. Each overall winning team will be outfitted with new sailing gear, compliments of Helly Hansen.

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