PHOTO BY PAUL TODD/OUTSIDE IMAGES
Sailors get ready to start racing in the second day of Marblehead Race Week. The regatta got off to a slow start due to light winds, but once it got going, it quickly picked up steam.
MARBLEHEAD – Lights winds and a slow start didn’t stymie the action at the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta at Marblehead Race Week Friday.
When the wind finally picked up from the northeast, it was full steam ahead for all 120 crews in eight of 10 classes that are competing this weekend.
Local team Shred edged out the competition in the popular J-70 class, a highly competitive group that travels to every NOOD Regatta. Included is a boat of five local teens who were selected as the first-ever junior crew at Marblehead Race Week.
On the crew, which finished 12th place out of of 28 teams, was Alan McKinnon, 19, team coach; Remi Hutchins, 19; Rowan Byrne, 17; Lilia Hutchins, 15; and Eli Hammett, 13.
For the J-105 class, the largest boats in the regatta, the late start meant time for only one race, but the 14-boat fleet made it a competitive one. Team Air Express of Beverly came out in first and earned the honor of flying the Wilmington Trust (the primary sponsor of the race) Leader Spinnaker today.
The Etchells were also able to fit in a single race, and a Marblehead team led the way. Destiny owner Tomas Hornos was surprised that the atypical northeastern wind didn’t affect his go-to strategy for sailing in the bay.
“Typically, the sea breeze comes from the south, usually from the southeast,” Hornos said. “And when it comes from the southeast, you go left. Oddly enough, even though the wind came from the northeast, it still paid to go offshore.”
The final two classes – Laser and Laser Radial – join the regatta today to complete the largest Race Week fleet in years. This is the only of five national stops in this year’s series that includes dedicated races for Lasers, and this year the massive Laser fleet outnumbers the normally dominant Rhodes 19s for the first time.
After the final races Sunday, regatta organizers will determine an overall winner based on the strongest finish in the most competitive class. That team will be invited to compete in the 2016 Helly Hansen NOOD Championship Regatta on Oct. 23-28 in the British Virgin Islands.