They came from 23 states, Canada, and a handful of European cities to race sailboats on Tampa Bay.

The Sailing World National Offshore One-design (NOOD) Regatta, which raced east of downtown St. Petersburg Feb. 18-20 with more than 120 boats, brought together a healthy mix of pros, top amateurs, and regional club racers for three days of competition in 11 one-design classes. Also thrown into the mix was one class of "level racing." Those boats ranged in length and performance from an SR 25 to the Pearson Flyer but the PHRF ratings were discarded, and the teams raced boat-for-boat.

The gang's all here at the St. Pete NOOD
Doran Cushing photos  

Now in its third year in St. Petersburg, the NOOD was hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club with title sponsorship by Sailing World. The St. Pete NOOD course format was changed for 2000 in response to requests from the sailors.

Principal race officer Tom Farquhar of St. Petersburg said, "We'll be using two windward/leeward courses this year. The competitors were interested in simple, easy to understand courses, so we said let's give it to them."

To help keep the different fleets separated on the race courses, the starts of each fleet were independent of the previous starting sequence rather than using a predetermined interval. With leeward marks set to windward of the starting line, there was an occasional traffic problem for the upwind boats, but the starting sequence system generally was given a positive nod by the racers.

The race committee also provided "unofficial" courtesy information on the VHF, alerting the sailors to upcoming sound signals and flags and hailing OCS boats, then letting the over-early boats know when they had cleared the foul.

Among the dozen fleets were eight defending champions from the 1999 St. Petersburg NOOD. Also competing in the Sonar class were six teams of disabled sailors from the U.S., Europe and Canada, who used the event as a tune-up for upcoming qualifying events for the 2000 Disabled Olympics in Sydney, Australia, later this year. The largest class for the second year in a row is the J/24s with 26 boats on the starting line

Speed Racer (right) leads Zero Gravity and takes honors in the Henderson 30 fleet.

Racing was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. each morning with two separate courses set up east of The Pier on Tampa Bay. As in each of the past two years, the sailors had a mix of sailing conditions - some light air races, some shifty conditions, and two days when racing was delayed for three to four hours waiting for wind.

The closing race Sunday had to put a grin on most of the racers' faces as it brought steady breeze in the mid-teens with not much in the way of waves or current to deal with...a fitting close to a testy regatta.

Testing the patience of both the 500-plus racers and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club race committee, the wind on Tampa Bay was absent in the middle of day one and did not materialize until well after noon on the second day. Only one team was undefeated at the close of racing on day two.

Martin Kald of East Elmhurst, NY, kept his J/80 Monster Lady well ahead in the nine-boat fleet while posting three consecutive wins Saturday to go along with two wins on opening day. "Good starts, playing the shifts, and making sure we have a clear lane...that's what we've been doing," Kald said. Citing a preference for breezier conditions than the eight to 12 knots which have prevailed during the first two days of the regatta, Kald said, "This type of racing is very trying. When it's light, it is tough. We prefer a lot more wind when the boat starts surfing."

Kald, a legal analyst by trade, said he has been sailing for five years and began racing just three years ago. "I have two really good guys as my core crew," he said.

Referring to the decision by race officials to keep the boats at the dock until the wind filled in, Bill Rogner of Punta Gorda said, "I think it was a smart thing to do. People don't want to have to go out and bake or possibly get hurt. The race committee is doing a great job."

With sailmaker Ethan Bixby at the helm, Rogner's team also did a great job, dominating the Melges 24 fleet with six bullets in eight races. Rogner, who owns a barber shop in Punta Gorda, was the defending champion in the Melges 24 fleet.

Paul Baehr of Montreal, Canada, echoed Rogner's positive views about the race management and said he enjoyed the regatta venue both on and off the water.

"You come all this way and you don't want them to throw in the towel too early. We don't mind waiting for the wind." He added, "Sailing right off of the town is fantastic, and we can walk from our hotel rooms down to the boat. This place is great for sailing."

The top spot in many of the 12 classes was not decided until the final gun Sunday. The Sarasota-based Henderson 30 Speed Racer - owned by the Liebel brothers Scott, Steve, and Chris - trailed the New York-based Henderson Zero Gravity by a point as they battled on the starting line in the closing race. Speed Racer admittedly fouled Zero Gravity in the pre-start (and later exonerated the foul with penalty turns) but Zero Gravity hit the stern of Speed Racer just after the foul and was later DSQd for failing to avoid the collision.

Racing Sonars for the first time in a major regatta, Christian Obenshain of St. Petersburg teamed up with two of his collegiate sailing buddies to take a narrow win in the 12-boat class which included a number of top international teams' of disabled sailors. Obehshain, who grew up sailing on Tampa Bay and competed for the Old Dominion intercollegiate sailing team, edged Brian MacDonald's Canadian team by two points after eight races.

"Squeeze speed out of the boat, and minimize mistakes...that's what my college coach taught me," Obenshain said. "Have fun, sail fast, and minimize mistakes."

Peter Bream's Tarheel mixes it up in the J/24 Class and goes home the winner.

Obenshain gave credit to his tactician and long time friend, Mitchell Rodgers of St. Petersburg, for keeping them in a winning position for the regatta. Rodgers was a teammate of Obenshain at Old Dominion and they added another local sailor, Steve Lippencott, to the crew for this event.

Also winning his class in the final race was Richard Karran of Apollo Beach, who skippered his Wavelength 24 Mal de Mer to the first overall spot with a two-point margin over Karl deHam of Seabrook, TX.

"It was crew work...no doubt about it," Karren said about the close finishes. "All of the Wavelength 24s are sailed really well."

Karran said this win was even more satisfying after finishing third at the event last year after losing a three-way tie-breaker for first.

"We got our redemption this year," Karran said.

Other class winners included Bill Embree of St. Petersburg, the defending champ in the SR 21 class, Gene Hinkel of St. Petersburg, a repeat winner in the Ultimate 20 class, and Paul Anderson of Urbanna, VA, who led the J/29 class for the second year in a row. Also winning their classes were Peter Bream of Jacksonville, who defended his title in the J/24 class, Bill Buckles of Lorain, OH, in the Level 130 class, Michael Elliot of Lorain, MI, in the S2 7.9 class, Dan Phelps of Annapolis, MD in Viper 640s, and Martin Kald of East Elmhurst, NY, in J/80s. Kald lost only one of the eight races, finishing third in the seventh race.

The St. Petersburg stopoff of the nationwide Sailing World NOOD series is one of nine locations coast to coast and border to border which host this popular format. The series moves to San Diego, CA, March 17-19 and closes out the season September 22-24 in Houston, TX, after stops in Annapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Larchmont, NY.