Marblehead NOOD Thursday
MARBLEHEAD, Mass.-BREAKING NEWS! Jud Smith is leading the Etchells fleet at the Lands’ End NOOD Regatta at Marblehead Race Week. OK, so maybe that bit of news isn’t the revelation of the summer. Smith, a local sailmaker and the current class North American champion, is usually found at the head of any Etchells fleet he races in. Today, he had a pair of seconds and a first in three races. But he is trailed closely by Bruce Golison and Steve Flam in second, with seven points, and Wade Edwards in third, with eight. Both Golison/Flam and Edwards won individual races today. The Etchells class was one of five that kicked off the 116th edition of Marblehead Race Week-which is now a part of the Lands’ End NOOD Regatta circuit. Other classes hitting the water to sail in perfect conditions in an ENE breeze that stayed between 9 and 12 knots included the Rhodes 19 fleet, the 12-boat IOD class, and the Corinthian and Town Classes. Tomorrow those five will be joined by another five classes tomorrow and then two more on Sunday. A total of nearly 200 boats are signed up for the regatta. The Rhodes 19 is perennially one of the biggest, and most competitive, classes at the Lands’ End Marblehead NOOD, and this year is no exception. With 36 boats signed up the Rhodes are tied with the Sonars for the biggest class. After three races, the top four boats are separated by four points. Michael Carpenter and BJ Mansfield didn’t win a race, but they also didn’t finish worse than fourth and are winning with nine points. Two points behind is Willam Heffernan, with Ken Cormier in third and last year’s champ, Kim Pandapas, in fourth. Franny Charles and Bill Widnall’s Javelin is winning the IOD class with two firsts and a third. Kenneth Drewry’s Small Hotel was second in all three races and trails by a point. The Town Class is being led by Arthur O’Neill’s Frolic, who has a first and a second in two races. Brian Jacob’s Riposo was the only Corinthian Class boat to sail together and, as a result, has a healthy lead in that six-boat group. Racing in the Lands’ End Marblehead NOOD will continue through Sunday.
