{"id":69731,"date":"2021-07-25T22:36:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T02:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=69731"},"modified":"2023-05-06T23:00:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T03:00:19","slug":"widnalls-javelin-wins-iods-and-coveted-cressy-trophy-at-marblehead-nood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/regatta-series\/widnalls-javelin-wins-iods-and-coveted-cressy-trophy-at-marblehead-nood\/","title":{"rendered":"Widnall\u2019s Javelin Wins IODs and Coveted Cressy Trophy at Marblehead NOOD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n After three days of sun and spectacular summer sailing, the weather turned on the final day with races abandoned and the fleet sent back to harbor.<\/span>\n \u00a9Paul Todd\/OUTSIDEIMAGES.COM<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n


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FINAL RESULTS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scores of Saturday remained, and with that, Bill Widnall\u2019s crew on the International One-Design Javelin<\/i> emerged as the top boat of the class\u2019s tiebreaker and keeper of the Norman Cressy Trophy, awarded to the winner of the most competitive fleet of the Marblehead NOOD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a runaway win,\u201d said Widnall. \u201cGoing into today, any of the top-four boats could have won. It was contestable until the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lead changed three times over the first three days because the fleet is very competitive,\u201d he added. \u201cFor Marblehead there is reasonably strong current, but it\u2019s pretty uniform as far out as we were. In terms of pre-race prep, we always look at the weather and the geographic distribution of the wind across the entire race area. That got us into trouble in the first race of the regatta because we thought the wind would be stronger closer to Boston, but for the first windward leg it was the exact opposite. That was our sixth. But overall, the weekend\u2019s strategy was to get a darn good start and be mindful of the shifts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IODs shared the same race circle as the Etchells and J\/105 fleets and today the J\/105s were the only class to start a race before it was abandoned when a squall swept across the course. Charlie Garrard\u2019s team on Merlin<\/i> had started perfectly and were well ahead on the first leg before the race was called off, but five wins in six races over the previous two days was plenty to secure the win over Ric Dexter and the team on Brouhaha<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ted Hardenbergh and his teammates on Natasha<\/i> were also hoping to get in more races as they enjoy sailing the classic and deep-keeled Etchells in strong winds, but in the end, they too had plenty of margin\u201410 points over Michael Jobin\u2019s Magic Dragon\u2014to win the nine-boat class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the regatta\u2019s \u201cHalfway Rock Line\u201d with the event\u2019s sportier fleets\u2014Rhodes 19s, J\/70s and Viper 640s\u2014no races were started and reports of broken boats and parts were reason enough for the race committee to call it quits. Kim and Kristina Pandapas, on the Rhodes 19 Mo Betta, <\/i>were plenty happy to go ashore and preserve their boat. As one of the lighter crews in the fleet, however, they excelled over three previous days of light-air conditions to claim the top-spot by 5 points over Joe Fava and Elise Nash\u2019s Dinner Out<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had good starts that put us in positions to sail our own races,\u201d Kim Pandapas said, \u201cand that kept feeding on itself. This ended up being a light regatta and that is one of our strengths. It\u2019s about sailing fast and keeping the boat moving in those conditions. Kristina and I have been sailing together for a long time and because of our crew weight and my propensity to sail a bit higher than others we were able to get away clean at times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Patrick Andreasen and Tim Guy’s J\/70 Jumper took the opportunity of cancellation to go for a tear.<\/span>\n \u00a9Paul Todd\/OUTSIDEIMAGES.COM<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The 89-year-old lapstrake Town-class dinghies, icons of the Marblehead racing scene and reputed to be the fastest growing local one-design class, had 14 boats racing this weekend and after three days, Berit Solstad\u2019s Lille Venn<\/i> emerged as the top boat, by a mere point, and Solstad says she was happy to not race in the strong winds for fear of breaking a spar or having to bail water all day long. The lighter conditions they enjoyed in the opening days of the regatta suited them and the Town class best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harnessing the wind with new sails, Solstad and her nephew Tor did not win a single race, but top-five finishes were enough to eke out a win. \u201cOn Thursday and Friday our boat was moving really well, but on Saturday our boatspeed wasn\u2019t as good,\u201d said Solstad. \u201cI think that\u2019s because there were some really strong currents, something I\u2019d never seen before here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the regatta\u2019s busy \u201cTinker\u2019s Line\u201d racecourse, local ace and National Sailing Hall of Famer, Jud Smith, won the J\/70 fleet again (as well as the J\/70 Northeast Championship), thanks to a string of race wins on Friday (they won four of six races altogether), but the standout J\/70 performance was that of the top Corinthian team led by longtime boat partners Jim Raisides and Charlie Pendelton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With their teammates on Bad Hombres<\/i>, Raisides and Pendelton sailed one of their best regattas ever, capped with a race win on Saturday. The outstanding performance in a fleet deep with talented and professional sailors put them second behind Smith in the overall standings, but first in the Corinthian-scored subdivision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Marblehead 2021 Caribbean Challengers, Jake Bradt, Chris Zaleski and Marek Zaleski, the top Viper 640 team.<\/span>\n \u00a9Paul Todd\/OUTSIDEIMAGES.COM<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

On the same race circle, Marek Zaleski\u2019s team on the Viper 640 Team Z <\/i>won its division by 4 points, which put them in the running for the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta\u2019s championship in the British Virgin Islands in October and when they were selected as the regatta\u2019s overall winner and BVI Challenger, Zaleski said he was keen to go and represent the Viper fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were just saying the other day that our wives were starting to complain about us sailing too much,\u201d Zaleski said, \u201cand this is the perfect reward that I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be happy to have us win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailing with Zaleski was his father Chris and longtime sailing friend, Jake Bradt. They\u2019re new to the Viper 640, Zaleski says, having bought the boat about a year ago as they intend to race the class\u2019s North American Championship in Norton, Connecticut, in early October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a class I\u2019ve always wanted to get into,\u201d Zaleski says, \u201cand I\u2019ve always wanted to race something with my dad and Jake. We saved up some money and bought the boat and we\u2019ve been hitting every regatta we can to get familiar with the boat and learn how to get it around the course, focusing on boat handling and what makes the boat go fast. It\u2019s been a big learning experience for us, and while we were a bit slow upwind, we made some big advances with every race. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about for us right now: learning the boat, the trim and the tuning before the North Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Easton and his teammates on Momma\u2019s Boys<\/i> were the top team of the four-boat RS21 fleet, which consisted of several youth teams using the regatta for the upcoming Sears Cup Trophy (the national youth keelboat championship), and on the Laser circle, which only completed one day\u2019s races on Saturday, Bill Rothwell won by a single point having won four races and carrying an OCS in his scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAILY VIDEO HIGHLIGHT REELS<\/p>\n\n\n\n