Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta returns to Chicago
by Evily Giannopoulos on 17 May 2017
Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta Paul Todd / outsideimages.com
The largest national sailboat racing circuit in the United States, the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta series, returns to Chicago, Ill., for its fourth stop of the season June 9-11. The event is organized by Sailing World and hosted by Chicago Yacht Club.
Hundreds of local and visiting sailors in more than a dozen classes of sailboats will compete for individual trophies and the top prize — an invitation to race in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship Regatta, presented by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands in October.
More than 80 teams are already registered for the Chicago regatta, which marks the unofficial kick-off to sailing season in the region.
The annual three-day event features one-design racing, where teams compete in races against identical boats. Points are accumulated based on finishing position in each race, and the team with the fewest total points at the conclusion of the regatta wins its class. For competitors in the regatta’s handicap classes (PHRF and ORR), time allowances are used to score boats of varying sizes and designs.
Regatta organizers then calculate an overall winner based on the strongest individual finish in the most competitive class. The overall winner earns a berth in the championship regatta, held Oct. 22-29 in the British Virgin Islands. In addition to winners from each of the five NOOD events this year, interested sailors can charter and compete against the overall winners at the championship.
The Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta is a spectator-friendly event. Races can be seen from private yachts along the racecourses on Lake Michigan. Race start times are dependent on wind and weather, but racing is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. each day.
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