Please select your home edition
Edition
Sydney Boat Show 2025 - Apply to Exhibit

Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta – Final

by Dana Paxton, Media Pro Int'l on 30 Apr 2007
Overall Winner, Millennium Falcon at Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Annapolis SW
Sometimes it’s worth the wait and today’s brilliant weather conditions in Annapolis proved just that. With 10-15 steady knots of wind and bright sunshine, competitors at the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta were treated to a final day of perfect conditions after enduring two days of postponed racing.

Paul Van Ravensway (Annapolis, Md.) on Millennium Falcon was named the regatta’s overall winner among the 270 boats entered and received a Sunsail charter during the 2007 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta Championship, in the British Virgin Islands, where he will compete against the overall winners from each stop on the nine-regatta Sperry Top-Sider NOOD circuit. Van Ravensway and his Millennium Falcon finished a mere 2 points over Tony Parker (Annapolis, Md.) on Bangor Packet to win the 16-boat J/24 class.

All NOOD sailors who made a donation of $50 or more received an exclusively-designed Sailing for Miracles burgee donated by Sperry Top-Sider and Sailing World. At the end of the regatta, the 1200 competitors raised $3,495 on behalf of Sailing for Miracles and its partner, the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital.

With four races completed yesterday and only two races to try and break the tie in the Etchells class, Rob Hitchcock (Dorchester, Mass.) and Raymond Harrington (Bomoseen, Vt.) needed every ounce of luck and skill for both races. After Harrington finished 6th in the first race, he fell behind Hitchcock by three points in the 17-boat class. Things went his way in the last race; he finished in second place and Hitchcock slipped back to seventh place to give Harrington the class win. Joseph Bainton (Stamford, Conn.) put the pressure on the rest of the top five boats, finishing fourth in the first race, and then winning the last to take third overall.

Last year’s overall champion, Greg Fisher (Annapolis, Md.) repeated his winning ways and won the 37-boat J/22 class over Pete McChesney (Annapolis, Md.) by three points. Going into the last race, both boats were tied.

'We were lucky that was a good time to get a good start and unfortunately for Petey he didn’t get a good start, said Fisher. 'We were able to watch where he was and sit on him, control the situation a bit. I think we were very fortunate we didn’t have bad breaks or get hung out on one side.'

Yesterday’s class leader Devils Play, owned by Bill Abbott (Lakewood, Ohio), struggled in today’s gusty conditions and slipped to 7th overall.

In Division 2, John Stefancik (Severna Park, Md.) won both of today’s races and swept the 6-boat S2 9.1 class on his Hurricane Kelley. The top two boats in the Cal 25 class continued to duke it out among themselves today with Jimmy Praley (Annapolis, Md.) on Upchuck winning by tie-breaker with Timoth Bloomfield (Sherwood Forest, Md.) on White Cap.

Excitement continued in the S2 7.9 class where after the first race, Bob Fleck’s (Alexandria, Va.) Horizon led David Flechsig’s (Port Charlotte, Fla.) Rooster Tail by one point even though Fleck won the race. Horizon won the last race giving it the class overall win.

As in most of the classes, the top two Melges 24s were tied for the lead going into today. In the end, it came down to the final race. Chris Larson (Annapolis, Md.), sailing on Panic Attack, described the day.

'After first race yesterday, when we had a 5th, we thought we might’ve blown the regatta,' he said. 'But things turned around for us and we were tied coming into today. Everything went well for us. It was tricky and shifty. Into the last race, we had a two-point lead on Gill and 3-4 points on everyone else, so as long as we kept a boat between us, we’d be ok. It was looking close on the second upwind leg. We were in light air and chop, and Gill was in a 30-degree lefty. At the top mark they caught up to us. On the downwind finish, Madro (Jeff Madrigali, tactician) rounded behind us and we ended up staying in front. He tried to stretch it out, taking more chances. Luckily for us it didn’t work out for him. We finished 150-200 meters in front of them.'

Panic Attack will compete in the class’s world championship to be held next week.

There were no changes in the 14-boat J/30 class. Big Kahuna, owned by Larry Christy (Annapolis, Md.), placed second in both races, but combined that with his two wins yesterday to take the class win by two points over Smiles, owned by John McArthur (Stratford, Conn.). Grealy Putnam’s (Annapolis, Md.) Better Mousetrap finished in third.

With only one race on the board after yesterday, the J/105 class turned in two races today. Peter Schellie’s (Annapolis) Freedom did well in the last race, finishing third, and won the 45-boat class over Marty Hublitz’s (McLean, Va.) Veloce.

In a tremendous comeback, Jim Richardson (Boston, Mass.) and his Barking Mad won both races to move up to second overall in the nine-boat Mumm 30 class. After recovering from a premature start that left him in 7th overall, they excelled in the strong 15-knot wind to win both races and finish second overall one point behind Black Seal, owned by Kevin Young (Windmere, Ohio).

In the Melges 32 class – racing for its East Coast Championship – Michael Carroll and Martin Kullman’s (Tampa, Fla.) New Wave turned in a consistent day with a 2-1 and finished first overall, just three points ahead of Ramrod, owned by Rodrick Jabin (Annapolis, Md.).

In third palce in the 13-boat class was Star, owned by Jeff Ecklund (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

The Melges 24 Underdog, owned by Peter Wenzler (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.), was selected as the Sperry Top-Sider Boat of the Day and each crew member will receive a pair of performance Sperry Top-Sider shoes.

Agate Day 3 – Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta - April 29, 2007, Day 3 of 3

Final top 3 in each class, full results online at www.sailingworld.com

Division 1

Etchells class – 17 boats, 6 races
1. USA1076, Raymond Harrington, Bomoseen, Vt., 3-3-2-4-6-2, 20
2. no name, Rob Hitchcock, Dorchester, Mass., 2-2-7-1-3-7, 22
3. Joseph Bainton, Stamford, Ct., 1-5-8-9-4-1, 28

J/22 class – 37 boats, 5 races
1. Leading Edge, Greg Fisher, Annapolis, Md., 5-8-7-7-2, 29
2. Palmer Legal, Peter McChesney, Annapolis, Md., 20-5-1-1-5, 32
3. Mo’Money, Kevin Doyle, Kenmore, N.Y., 17-3-2-10-6, 38

J/24 class – 16 boats, 5 races
1. Millennium Falcon, Paul Van Ravenswaay, Annapolis, Md., 1-3-2-2-6, 14 points
2. Bangor Packet, Tony Parker, Washington, D.C., 2-7-3-3-1, 16
3. WIP, Mark Hillman, Annapolis, Md., 7-4-1-1-4, 17

Division 2

Alberg 30 class – 9 boats, 4 races
1. Argo, T.C. Williams, Arnold, Md., 2-1-2-2, 7
2. Infinity, Charles Currier, Annapolis, Md., 3-5-1-1-, 10
3. Skybird, Rolph Townshend, Severna Park, Md., 5-2-3-4, 14

Cal 25 class – 11 boats, 4 races
2. Upchuck, Jimmy Praley, Annapolis, Md., 1-4-2-1, 8
1. White Cap, Timothy J. Bloomfield, Sherwood Forest, Md., 4-1-1-2, 8
3. Fahrvergnugen, Charlie Husar, Annapolis, Md., 2-3-4-5, 14

Catalina 27 class – 8 boats, 4 races
1. Jolly Mon, Julian Richards, Annapolis, Md., 2-1-2-1, 6
2. Four Little Ducks, Mike Walsh, Pasadena, Md., 1-2-1-4, 8
3. Bowmovement, Martin Casey, Virginia Beach, Va., 4-4-3-2, 13

S2 7.9 class – 9 boats, 5 races
1. Horizon, Bob Fleck, Alexandria, Va., 5-1-1-1-1, 9
2. Rooster Tail, David Flechsig, Port Charlotte, Fla., 1-2-3-3-2, 11
3. Kaboom, Kent Picknell, Crestwood, Ky., 2-5-2-6-5, 20

S2 9.1 class – 6 boats, 5 races
1. Hurricane Kelley, John Stefancik, Severna Park, Md., 1-1-3-1-1, 7
2. Still a Gorilla, Gordon & John Latrobe, Baltimore, Md., 2-4-1-3-2, 12
3. Fast Company, J. Barry Moss, Bethesda, Md., 4-2-2-2-3, 13

Division 3

C&C 99 class – 6 boats, 4 races
1. Bzing, Ken Karsten, Annapolis, Md., 1-2-1-2, 6
2. All in, Scott Dodge, Annapolis, Md., 2-1-3-3, 9
3. Whistling Gopher, Mikie Titgemeyer, Annapolis, Md., 4-4-2-1, 11

J/29 class – 8 boats, 4 races
1. Rhumb Punch, John Edwards, California, Md., 4-1-2-1, 8
2. Seefe
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 350Allen Dynamic 40 FooterB&G Zeus SR AUS

Related Articles

Finn World Masters in Medemblik day 3
Pieter-Jan Postma continues to lead after 5 races Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands, continues to dominate the Finn World Masters in Medemblik, The Netherlands, after a fifth race was sailed on Wednesday in a north-westerly breeze building from 8-12 knots during the afternoon.
Posted on 18 Jun
24th Argentario Sailing Week day 0
Historic boats from 9 nations have gathered in Porto Santo Stefano Historic boats have gathered in Porto Santo Stefano to take on the 24th edition of the prestigious Argentario Sailing Week, organised by the Yacht Club Santo Stefano with the tangible support of the Monte Argentario Municipal Council.
Posted on 18 Jun
29th Superyacht Cup Palma fleet is ready to go
Crews are now able to size-up the competition in their respective classes The owners, captains and crews of the spectacular array of yachts gathered for the 29th edition of the Superyacht Cup Palma are making their final preparations ahead of the start of racing next Thursday.
Posted on 18 Jun
Swan One Design Worlds kicks off
Practice race and opening ceremony in Costa Smeralda The crystal waters of the Costa Smeralda once again set the stage for one of the most anticipated events in the international racing calendar: the 2025 Swan One Design Worlds, hosted by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in collaboration with ClubSwan Racing.
Posted on 18 Jun
Class40 top guns enter Rolex Fastnet Race
One of the most successful genre of offshore race boat ever Now 20+ years old, the Class40 has proved itself one of the most successful genre of offshore race boat ever.
Posted on 18 Jun
Finn World Masters in Medemblik Day 2
Pieter-Jan Postma leads after the second day of racing in The Netherlands Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands, is leading the fleet of 307 Finns from 27 countries after everyone sailed two more races at the 2025 Finn World Masters in Medemblik. France's Laurent Hay is second with Germany's Fabian Lemmel in third.
Posted on 17 Jun
World Sailing launches the World Sailing Academy
A new online learning platform for the global sailing community World Sailing officially launched the World Sailing Academy, an innovative new online learning platform designed to provide comprehensive educational resources and training to sailors, coaches, officials, administrators, and the global sailing community.
Posted on 17 Jun
Sailing and the summer solstice
Celebrating sailing and the longest day of the year If you love long evenings and early mornings, this is one of the best times of the whole year, as the summer solstice (Friday, June 20) and the entire rich expanse of summer are about to burst into bloom.
Posted on 17 Jun
New Caledonia Groupama Race update
Rushour crew safely back in Noumea after capsize The boat was located and it was identified as capsized. All crew members were accounted for. Crew were transferred in the larger aircraft at Koumac and arrived back at Noumea at about 4pm local time.
Posted on 17 Jun
Video Review: The Amazing Cure 55
Composite Construction meets Cruising Convenience It was two years ago at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show that I talked to Dave Biggar about his ideas and plans for the Cure 55. At the 2025 show I got to step on board the yacht and see how his ideas became reality.
Posted on 17 Jun