Viper 640
The Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta, the largest national sailboat racing circuit in the United States, kicked off its second stop of the year today in San Diego, California. More than 100 teams are competing in 12 classes throughout the weekend for the series’ top prize — a trip to the British Virgin Islands to compete in the Helly Hansen NOOD Championship Regatta, hosted by Sunsail.
Jeff Janov of Malibu, California, took a slightly different approach to filling out his team for the three-day regatta in San Diego: he enlisted his two young sons, 10-year-old Jordan and Grant, 13. Having them onboard, he says, made all the difference in the team’s outstanding opening day performance in the 24-boat fleet, which found them tied for first with Bruce Golison’s Alamitos-based squad on Midlife Crisis.
“It was a good day,” says Jordan, understated. “Victor [Diaz de Leon, the boat’s professional tactician] liked the pin-end starts because he thought there would be more wind on the left.”
Diaz de Leon’s strategy turned out to be the winning theme of the day: the left side of the San Diego Bay racecourse was the place where the biggest gains were to be found, contrary to what the locals typically expect. “It should have been more of a right-side day,” said local expert Chris Snow. “But what ultimately happened was not usual. Because the wind didn’t shift as far right as you’d expect it to, I think it sort of went up and over the higher buildings on Coronado and got a little light in the right corner because of that.”
There was more wind in the upper-left corner of the racecourse, therefore, and the J/70 fleet’s top teams took full advantage of it, as did Alex Steele, skipper of the top Viper 640 Last Call, who won the first two races and finished second in the third. Steele, it’s worth noting, was sailing one crew member short, which should have been a disadvantage in the day’s 10- to 15-knot winds. “With only the two of us, we were really quick downwind,” says Steele. “So we just had to be able to stay in touch upwind and make our gains on the downwinds.”
Also racing on the San Diego Bay racecourse were the Ultimate 20 sailors, led in the standings at the end of the day by Mark Allen’s team on Junta from Salt Lake City, Utah. A trio of Bucaneer 18 dinghies, as well two International 14’s, enjoyed ideal flat-water sailing. For International 14 skipper Cameron Puckey and Brad Ruetenik, each of which had last-minute crew cancellations, it was an opportunity to sail together in the exciting, high-performance two-person dinghy. “It was an awesome day to be out there,” says Reutenik. “It was a good chance to sail on Cameron’s boat.”
Day one race results, including the top three finishers in each class, are listed below:
Ultimate 20 (One Design – 7 Boats) 1. Junta, Ultimate 20, Mark Allen , Salt Lake City, UT, USA, 1 -2 -2 ; 5 2. Ultimate Antics, Ultimate 20, Bob Comstock , Fresno, CA, USA, 3 -1 -3 ; 7 3. Juiced!, Ultimate 20, Jim Ulatowski , Denver, CO, USA, 5 -4 -1 ; 10
Bucaneer 18 (One Design – 4 Boats) 1. Wonder, Buccaneer 18, Matt Davis , Phoenix, AZ, USA, 1 -2 -1 ; 4 2. Easy, Buccaneer 18, Chuck Williams , Yuma, AZ, USA, 2 -1 -2 ; 5 3. Rainie’s Day, Buccaneer 18, Michael Parker , Chandler, AZ, USA, 5 -5 -5 ; 15
J 70 (One Design – 24 Boats) 1. Midlife Crisis, J 70, Bruce Golison , Rossmoor, CA, USA, 1 -1 -8 ; 10 2. Minor Threat, J 70, Jeff Janov , Malibu, CA, USA, 5 -3 -2 ; 10 3. Zumbale, J 70, Luis Barrios , Mexico, CDMX, MEX, 2 -8 -1 ; 11
Viper 640 (One Design – 10 Boats) 1. Last Call, Viper 640, Alex Steele , Costa Mesa, CA, USA, 1 -1 -2 ; 4 2. Cobra, Viper 640, Tim Carter , Harbor City, CA, USA, 2 -4 -1 ; 7 3. Breakaway, Viper 640, Eric Chadwick , Pasadena, CA, USA, 5 -3 -3 ; 11
I 14 (One Design – 5 Boats) 1. Mind Your Step, International 14, Cameron Puckey , Cardiff, CA, USA, 1 -1 -1 ; 3 2. Cheeky-Bastard/ Science Project/ Got Wave *Ohs, International 14, Aidan Mobley , Playa del Rey, CA, USA, 2 -2 -2 ; 6 3. Astragulus, International 14, Brad Ruetenik , Encinitas, Ca, USA, 6 -6 -6 ; 18
Full race results for day one of the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in San Diego are available Cumulative Results.
Golison cross
International 14
J/70s on Parade
Viper bite
