Rivalries at Chicago NOOD

Chicago, IL (June 8, 2019) – After a fog cancellation on the first day of racing for the 2019 Helly Hansen Chicago NOOD Regatta, racers returned to the water with ideal conditions today.

The PHRF 52 fleet, with four professionally-crewed grand-prix boats, battled on Lake Michigan two miles east of Navy Pier. Doug Devos (Macatawa, MI) won the day on his boat, Windquest, with 7 points. Racing was highly competitive, however, with Bob Hughes’ Heartbreaker and Phillip O’Niel III’s Natalie J ending the day tied with 9 points apiece, 2 points behind the leader.

“The race committee did a great job getting four races in after none yesterday,” says Windquest tactician Morgan Larson. “Everybody was aggressive on the first race, with a couple boats over the starting line early, so there was lots of action.”

With the NOOD Regatta marking the first major event of the season for the local TP52s, crews had plenty of learning moments on the racecourse. “We had some trouble hoisting our headsail at the first leeward mark,” says Heartbreaker mainsail trimmer Matt Reynolds. “Mistakes are an absolute killer in this fleet, so the goal for tomorrow is to limit errors and get back to work. We have good boat speed, so all we have to do is put a few good races together.”

Doug Devos and Robert Hughes (Ada, MI) share a rivalry from their days in the 1D35 class. Racing against each other in the TP52 fleet this weekend has both owners gunning for the win. “The racing is so close that we’re just trying to get better as a team,” says Larson. “This is the same squad we are racing to Mackinac Island with, so we are just trying to get better as a team. Bob [Hughes] is solid and his guys are sharp, so tomorrow won’t be easy.”

In the J/70s, Buddy Crib (Jupiter, FL) steered his boat, Victory, to the top of the leaderboard in the 18-boat fleet. “We were trying hard, that’s for sure,” says Crib. “There was more lump than breeze, and for us Floridians, it was cold out there.”

The J/70 is one of the most competitive one-design classes in the world, often featuring the “who’s who” of the professional sailing ranks. For Crib, bringing on world champion crew Victor Diaz de Leon as mainsail trimmer, Bar Batzer as jib trimmer, and Patrick Powell as bowman had his team sailing fast through the challenging Chicago sea-state.

“We had four good starts, which put us in a position to sail our own race,” says Crib. “Consistency is key in a fleet this size, so we were being conservative tactically. We focused on keeping the boat powered up through the waves, which was challenging.” With the top four boats separated by 3 points, the J/70 fleet title is up for grabs heading into the final day.

Each Saturday of the Helly Hansen NOOD Regattas features a single-day distance race sponsored by North Sails. Greg Miarecki (Chicago, IL) won the ORR Division 1 in his Ericson 35, Providence. “It’s great for teams that don’t like to do the buoy racing or can’t afford to take three days off of work to go sailing,” says Mariecki. “We always have a great turnout because the format allows for better participation.”

With the rally race starting two miles east of Chicago, racers navigated government marks as 19 boats of various shapes and sizes sailed for top honors. “It was a challenging day,” says Miarecki. “We had variable conditions with a shifty breeze, so things got interesting out there. We caught a good wind shift on the downwind leg and passed a bunch of boats. From there we just tried to sail in clear wind and go fast.”

In the J/109 fleet, 10 boats completed four races. Doug Evans (Whitefish Bay, WI) and Jim Murray (Lake Bluff, IL) finished the day tied for first with 15 points each. “Keeping the boat moving was the name of the game today,” says Murray. We had good breeze with lumpy seas, so keeping the rig loose and the boat powered up helped us with our boatspeed.”

With the J/109 fleet sharing the same course at the Tartan10s, finding clear wind and going to the correct side of the racecourse was key to success. “It’s great having 10 boats on the J/109 starting line here at the NOOD,” says Murray. “Participation in the fleet is at an all-time high, which is great because the fleet has been pushing hard to have out-of-town teams come down for this event. Time Out came down from Milwaukee, so it’s great having them here with our local fleet.”

With lighter winds forecast for tomorrow, racing will remain tight heading into the final day of competition.

Preliminary Results, Top-Three in Each Class

J/70 (One Design – 18 Boats)
1. Victory, Buddy Cribb , USA – 3 -2 -3 -2 ; 10
2. Surge, Ryan McKillen , USA – 7 -3 -1 -1 ; 12
3. USA 167, James Prenergast , USA – 2 -1 -6 -4 ; 13

J/88 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Dutch, John & Jordan Leahey , USA – 1 -1 -1 -4 ; 7
2. Exile, Andy & Sarah Graff , USA – 2 -3 -2 -1 ; 8
3. Windsong, Tim Wade , USA – 3 -2 -3 -2 ; 10

Farr 40 (One Design – 4 Boats)
1. Hot Lips, J C Whitford , USA – 3 -1 -1 -1 ; 6
2. Eagles Wings, John Gottwald , USA – 1 -2 -2 -3 ; 8
3. Inferno, Philip Dowd , USA – 2 -4 -3 -2 ; 11

RS 21 (One Design – 5 Boats)
1. USA 2, Jody Lutz/ Alex Southon , USA – 1 -2 -3 -1 ; 7
2. RS21#5, Atsushi Nishizaka , JPN – 3 -1 -2 -4 ; 10
3. Rhumb Jungle, Kurt Korte , USA – 4 -4 -1 -3 ; 12

DragonForce 65 (One Design – 19 Boats)
1. hal 9000, Val Smith , USA – 1 -9 -2 -1 -6 -2 ; 21
2. 585, Taylor Canfield , USA – 3 -2 -3 -5 -2 -8 ; 23
3. MsDirected, Bart Heimlich , USA – 6 -1 -9 -3 -5 -1 ; 25

North Sails Rally – ORR (Sat Only) – Offshore Racing 2 (ORR – 7 Boats)
1. Skye, Jeff & Jane Hoswell , USA – 1 ; 1
2. Paradigm Shift, Dave Dickerson , USA – 2 ; 2
3. Badge, Daniel Koules , USA – 3 ; 3

North Sails Rally – ORR (Sat Only) – Offshore Racing 1 (ORR – 9 Boats)
1. Providence, Jerry & Greg Miarecki , USA – 1 ; 1
2. Night Train, Brian Morgan , USA – 2 ; 2
3. Aegir, Jason Shilson , USA – 3 ; 3

North Sails Rally – ORR (Sat Only) – Cruising (ORR – 3 Boats)
1. Broderi, Robert Kolar , USA – 1 ; 1
2. Mise en Place, Paul Thompson , USA – 2 ; 2
3. Endeavour, Matthew Gallagher , USA – 4 ; 4

North Sails Rally – PHRF (Sat Only) – Offshore Racing (PHRF_ToT – 10 Boats)
1. Defiance, team defiance smirl , USA – 1 ; 1
2. Jahazi, Frank Giampoli , USA – 2 ; 2
3. Ob La Di!, Rick Reed , USA – 3 ; 3

J/111 (One Design – 8 Boats)
1. Shamrock, Jeffrey Davis , USA – 2 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. Warlock, Tom Dickson , USA – 4 -5 -2 -2 ; 13
3. Kashmir, Michael/Steve Mayer/Henderson , USA – 1 -2 -3 -9 ; 15

Beneteau First 40.7 (One Design – 9 Boats)
1. Mojo, Gary Powell/ Scot Ruhlander , USA – 2 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. Das Boot, Jay Muller , USA – 1 -7 -4 -2 ; 14
3. Turning Point, David Hardy , USA – 3 -5 -3 -3 ; 14

PHRF 1 (3 Days) (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. Eagle, Shawn/Jerry O’Neill , USA – 2 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. Heartbreaker, Eric Oesterle , USA – 3 -3 -2 -2 ; 10
3. Dire Wolf, Jeffrey (Dewey) Janicek , USA – 1 -2 -6 -3 ; 12

PHRF 2 (3 Days) (PHRF_ToT – 10 Boats)
1. NoMaTa, Daniel Leslie , USA – 1 -3 -1 -2 ; 7
2. Archimedes III, Joe Hummel , USA – 2 -2 -7 -1 ; 12
3. Painkiller 5, Alice Martin , USA – 5 -1 -3.5 -9 ; 18.5

PHRF 52 (3 Days) (PHRF_ToT – 4 Boats)
1. Windquest, Doug DeVos , USA – 1 -3 -2 -1 ; 7
2. Heartbreaker, Robert and Laura Hughes , USA – 4 -2 -1 -2 ; 9
3. Natalie J, Philip and Sharon O’Niel III , USA – 2 -1 -3 -3 ; 9

NOOD information – Event details – Results – Facebook

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2019 NOOD Event Schedule
February 15-17 – St. Petersburg, FL
March 15-19 – San Diego, CA
May 3-5 – Annapolis, MD
June 7-9 – Chicago, IL
July 25-28 – Marblehead, MA

Caribbean NOOD Championship
October 27-November 1
British Virgin Islands

Source: Michael Hanson