Courtesy of US Sailing
"St. Petersburg, FL - While most of the country is preparing for a winter storm this week, over 1,500 sailors are headed to Florida for the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta, in St. Petersburg, FL, sanctioned by US SAILING. Scheduled for February 16-18 at host St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the regatta’s organizers are preparing for 200 teams spread across 19 one design classes. Daily racing will take place on Tampa Bay under the guidance of Principal Race Officer (PRO) Peter “Luigi” Reggio, who also is known as the PRO for the America’s Cup. The 2006 defending overall champion, John Storck (Huntington, NY), will return to J/80 class competition with his Rumor. The largest class is the Melges 24 with 40 boats set to compete. The J/109 class will be an interesting fleet to keep track of with five of the seven boats coming straight from Key West Race Week. Five of the six entries in the Tripp 26 class are returning from 2006, including class champion McMillan/Melville (Pensacola, FL) on Joe Cool.
It's 7:30 in the morning and I'm getting ready to head over to the Sailing Center to get my spot situated. This is the first major sailing event that I have attended as a quad and I'm really looking to it. Stay tuned for a whole boatload of pix!
