The S2 7.9 fleet gets off the line during the 2008 Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta.
More than 1,000 sailors and nearly 200 boats will descend upon Tampa Bay for the 12th straight year as the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta series returns to St. Petersburg for three days of competitive sailboat racing, Feb. 13-15, 2009. The NOOD regatta series is considered one of the most respected sailing regatta circuits and is the largest in North America.
St. Petersburg will serve as the first stop of the nine-event NOOD regatta series and the event will be hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. The 12th annual event will host an estimated 200 boats within 16 various fleets for the three-day-long series race on Tampa Bay. Race courses for the St. Petersburg NOOD will be windward/leeward.
Last year, the 2008 St. Petersburg NOOD had 183 boats in 16 boat classes. Among the boats with crews hailing from around the globe, St. Petersburg local Robbie Brown claimed the overall win on his hometown waters. Brown is expected to return to the St. Petersburg NOOD in 2009.
The overall winner in St. Petersburg will be invited to participate in the 2009 NOOD Regatta Championships in the British Virgin Islands in November to compete aboard Sunsail 39s against the overall winners from each stop in the NOOD regatta series.
Following St. Petersburg, the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta series will sail on to San Diego, Calif., on March 20-22, 2009. Additional venues for 2009 include Annapolis, Md., Seattle, Wash., Detroit, Mich., Chicago, Ill., Marblehead, Mass., Larchmont, N.Y., and Houston, Texas.
