Sun and shifty breeze on Saturday were an improvement on Friday’s hail and rain for the 275 boats at the 2002 Chicago Sailing World NOOD Regatta sailing on Lake Michigan against the backdrop of the city’s skyline. The three courses hosted boats ranging from the J-24s and Melges 24s to the Great Lakes 70s. Each area had different conditions. On Circle A, located four miles east of the Chicago Harbor Light, light breezes in the first race dropped to no breeze between races which grew to a 28-knot squall that knocked down much of the fleet in the second race with a 90-degree shift. "We got the knock down, held on, got the kite down, and carried on," said Brian Powers, of Muskegon, Mich., sailing on the Mumm 30 USA 40. "It was one of those where you’re really happy when your crew knows what they’re doing." The mini squall came through as the Santa Cruz 70s were rounding their windward mark set further out than the other six classes on the circle. But the 10 Mumm 30s and many other classes were on their first downwind leg. Spinnakers fell in, hulls rose out of the water, crews held on. Bill Alcott’s Detroit-based Santa Cruz 70 Equation led the eight-boat class with bullets on Friday and in Saturday’s first race. But just before the squall in the second race, the tack pulled out of the jib and a splintering headfoil tore the main. "We dropped out," said disappointed crew member Mark Pinney, of Holland, Mich. Circle B had oscillating and variable breeze in its circle further south of Chicago Harbor.. "We saw zero, 20 knots and one blast of 35," said Sandy Curtiss, of Chicago, who owns the Beneteau 40.5 Rocking Horse. "We had one 70-degree shift but we saw several 40 degree shifts." Rocking Horse won Friday’s race and was second and third in Saturday’s contests before left his overall standing in question. On Circle C, located near Chicago’s lakefront museum complex, the 48-boat Tarten Ten fleet had 30-degree shifts and puffs strong enough for some knockdowns but not like the A boats experienced. "We saw a shift westerly and no wind," said Us Bowman Peter Sherman, of Gurnee, Ill. "Then it raged." Us, owned by Rick Strilky, of Chicago, led the class after the second day, passing the Nuts, sailed by the Backus sisters, in the standings. With a 3-1-5 Saturday, the mostly female crew was in second and credited banging corners with their finishes. Amy Backus said they were happy to be in second after being as deep as 15th in the last race. "Then big breezes came in and we go pretty fast in big breeze."

	Diane Chase
	The crew aboard Melges 24 KILROY holds onto second place after Saturday's races.

"I love the stuff," said Heidi Backus-Riddle, interrupting her sister at the dock. With downwind boats wiping out in the fleets ahead of them, they picked their way through a minefield, she said. Part of the C course excitement was the rescue of S2 7.9 bowman Mike Doyle. The Minnesota man and co-owner of Skyhawk was standing at the boom on the second downwind leg of the second race when a rouge wave caught the stern and pushed the boat into an unintentional gybe. "Human cannonball," said Pete Bergin, the trimmer onboard. "It launched him," said co-owner-driver Jeff Mootz. Sails came down, the boat turned around, other boats dropped sails and tried to pluck him out, and another S2, Assailant, picked him up. "They gave him back. But they tried to trade him for beer," Bergin said. Doyle was wearing an inflatable harness, which filled when he hit the water. He said he always wears it in heavy conditions at home on Lake Minnetonka. "I’ll always wear it on Lake Michigan," he said. After the racing, the fleets docked under mostly sunny skies and looked for results. Some classes were delayed by the 34 protests filed. In the One-Design 35 fleet of 10 boats, Windquest held on to the class lead with a pair of deuces in Saturday’s race. With their bullet from Friday, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Douglas DeVos-owned boat went into the final day with a one-point lead over De-tente. In the Great Lakes 50s fleet, Goblin’s 1-1-3 over two days had owner Lindy Thomas five points ahead of second-place MAJIC. Inferno’s 1-1-4 led the competitive Farr 40 fleet and Team Intermec’s 1-1-3 led the Mumm 30s. PLANXTY, a J-30 owned by Dennis Bartley, of Oak Park, Ill., sailed two perfect days in the PHRF 126-138 division, with five bullets in five races. The J-29 Relentless, owned by Alan Freysinger, of Shorewood, Wisc.,followed two seconds on Friday with three first places on Saturday in the Level 114-123 class. In the S2 7.9s, Mo Regnier’s Half Baked, of Tecumseh, Ontario led by one point after five races over Don and Jean Bergman’s Second Wind, of Holland, Mich. The top two boats in the J-24 class achieved all five first places between them. INTUIT followed a 1-3 on Friday with a 1-2-1 on Saturday, barely ahead of Motorhome with 2-1 on Friday and 2-1-2 on Saturday. Both boats were well ahead of the third place boat, which had 18 points. nood results