Racing got underway today at the Larchmont NOOD, hosted by Larchmont YC under bright sunny skies and a 10-knot breeze out of the SSW. One hundred thirty boats are competing in 14 one-design classes over the next three days at this western Long Island Sound venue.
Five of those one-design classes are holding championships at this years Larchmont NOOD. The J/80 class is holding their East Coast Championships, the J/27s, J/92s, and Henderson 30s classes are all competing for their North American Championships, while the Soverel 33 class is holding their class Nationals.
The Soverel 33 class had the strongest showing among those classes vieing for class titles with 11 boats at the start. Soverel 33 class president Bill Adikes, who comes from nearby New Rochelle, is racing his boat Saucy Girl in the event said, Im happy to see the turnout, we havent had this many boats since the old Newport NOOD regattas some 14 years ago. The strong turnout did not deter 1999 Soverel 33 National Champ, Erik Will and his BushWhacker team from Sodus Bay, N.Y. from collecting 3 straight wins to open the regatta in style. I had a starting strategy and the crew executed it flawlessly, said Will, a tool and die worker from upstate New York. Besides its my 53rd birthday and the guys worked real hard to give me a birthday present. BushWhacker leads local favorite and 3 time Soverel 33 National Champion, Iris Vogels Deviation, by 4 points.
J/27 skipper Peter Johnson also had a good day on the water recording two wins and a second onboard his boat Piglet. We had good boatspeed and clean air, said Johnson from Buffalo, N.Y. We just started traveling with the boat and this is my first out of town regatta, so I was very happy with the way it went. My brother talked me into buying the boat this year so hed have somebody to beat up on in our 12-boat Wednesday night fleet on Lake Erie. Piglet holds a 4-point advantage over Edward Tillinghasts Aeropagus going into the second day.
Michael Lagues Flash, leads the 10 boat J/80 fleet with five points over Rick Lyalls Storm. Tony Da Lias Zero Gravity and Mike Carrolls New Wave are tied for the lead in the 5 boat Henderson 30 class. While in the J/92 class which had only 3 boats, John Raymonds Quixote recorded three wins to pull into the early lead over Jeff Brittons Killer Puppy. Raymond who hails from Columbia, South Carolina said, We came a long way for not many boats. A couple of guys dropped out at the last minute, but were having a good time just the same.
While the turnout for the J/92 class was disappointing, J Boats dominate the makeup of the regatta and one of the two race circles was made up entirely of 7 different J Boat designs with the biggest class the 23 boat J/105 fleet. The Larchmont NOOD, presented by Farmers Insurance and Mount Gay Rum continues tomorrow with more favorable weather predicted from the high pressure dominating the NorthEast.
