Please select your home edition
Edition
RS Sailing 2021 - LEADERBOARD

2021 Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta San Diego - Overall

by Laura Muma / Sailing World 22 Mar 2021 16:47 NZDT March 19-21, 2021
2021 Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta San Diego © Mark Albertazzi

Etchells sailor Argyle Campbell won the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta overall title today in San Diego, winning his fleet by a narrow margin and being selected among the regatta's other class winners to represent San Diego at the NOOD Caribbean Championship in the British Virgin Islands in October.

Campbell (Newport Beach, Calif.) previously won the overall title in 2017 in his first NOOD sailing the Etchells class. This year, he returned with crewmembers Jesse Kirkland, Chuck Easton and Alex Curtiss to top the 19-boat fleet.

"It was a great weekend out on the ocean," said Curtiss, trimmer on Rock On. "We did a good job of seeing the landmines [windless areas] on the course, and positioning ourselves on the good side. Our motto was to keep it groovy and keep a good vibe going so good things could happen.

"It would be an amazing chance to go down to the BVIs and represent our fleet."

Pete Melvin, onboard his new F18 Covid 18, mastered the South Bay's shifty wind conditions to earn the F18 catamaran class win with his 26-year-old son James as crew. "We had a bit of everything throughout the weekend -- from two to 20-plus knots," said Melvin.

The F18s used Friday as an unofficial race day, and Melvin said it was probably the fastest he's ever gone on an F18, which is saying something for the multiple world champion catamaran sailor and F18 boat designer. "James and I were double trapping downwind, which really worked for us especially in the flat water [typically only the crew uses the trapeze downwind]. It was a lot fun; we were really hauling."

Throughout the weekend's full range of conditions, Melvin consistently posted first and second places. He attributes their success to being aware of conditions on the race course. "We had good boatspeed and that always helps, but I think the biggest gains and losses were made on puffs and shifts and going the right way. It definitely wasn't straightforward; we had our good and bad moments."

The best-friend team of Alice Schmid (15) and skipper Samantha Gardner (16) overtook their training partners today to earn first place in the 29er fleet. "We're really excited; it felt so good to have the girls out front," said Schmid.

Over the past year, the local teams of Gardner and Schmid have trained with the other two podium teams, Ian and Noah Nyenhuis (second place), and Alice's younger brother Anton Schmid and Peter Joslin.

Schmid said today's light air and flat-water conditions in the South Bay played to their strengths. "We practiced a lot in those conditions and felt really fast today; we just kind of sailed away from the group."

Their discipline to manage the tricky conditions also paid off. "Our game plan today was to get off the line well and know where we wanted to go," Schmid said. "From there we'd play individual shifts and focus on leading the fleet. We were conservative, but also made sure we went where we wanted to go."

Bill Ramacciotti and Mike Davies J/24 Greenback Boogie also leapfrogged into first place today thanks to two first-place finishes and one second. "We had super close racing all weekend among our fleet," said Ramacciotti. "It was so much fun to see us finishing these races within seconds of each other."

Four of the five J/24s are local to San Diego, and Ramacciotti and Davies have a concerted effort under way to build the class. "We're not big budget programs and our goal is to keep it accessible and get more people out sailing," said Ramacciotti. "We are all weekend warriors so to speak with different years of experience and these boats provide the vehicle to help us all continue learning."

They also agreed that the winning strategy today was picking sides. "Calling the line and committing to one side or another was crucial, Ramacciotti said, "but when you sail in San Diego with shifty winds, it really comes down to boatspeed and crew work."

With the conclusion of the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta San Diego, the series moves to St. Petersburg, Florida, in April, then onto Annapolis in May, Chicago in June and Marblehead in July.

For more information on the NOOD events, visit www.sailingworld.com/helly-hansen-nood-regattas.

For comprehensive results, visit yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=13225.

Related Articles

All smiles among first finishers of the AEGEAN 600
The fastest teams crossed the finish line today at Cape Sounion As the fastest teams crossed the finish line today at Cape Sounion and made their way to the harbour at Olympic Marine, there were exhausted smiles all around. Posted on 10 Jul
British Classic Week day 4
It was a classic Solent day in Cowes for the OneSails inshore race It was a classic Solent day in Cowes for day 4 of British Classic Week with hot temperatures, sunshine and no breeze in the morning before the sea breeze kicked in from the west and it was time to go racing. Posted on 10 Jul
iQFOiL Worlds a Aarhus day 5
Finalists locked in for new Medal Series format With the sea breeze stubbornly refusing to make an appearance, Day 5 of the iQFOiL World Championship turned into a long waiting game both ashore and on the water. Posted on 10 Jul
Jazz Turner Video Interview
How she Faced Everything And Rose during Project FEAR I travelled to Brighton Marina to catch up with Jazz, talking about her own sailing, the challenges she faced during the circumnavigation, how the money raised will be used, and a glimpse of her future projects! Posted on 10 Jul
America's Cup: Luna Rossa to sail for Naples club.
Italian Challenger Luna Rossa will contest the next America's Cup as the team of a Naples club. Italian Challenger Luna Rossa will contest its seventh America's Cup as the team of the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia of Naples, as club that is new to the America's Cup. Posted on 10 Jul
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 3
Big breeze in the morning, calm in the afternoon The third day of racing at the 2025 Moth World Championship kicked off early, with the first warning signal for the Blue fleet scheduled for 8:30 AM. Due to strong northerly winds, however, the fleet's departure was postponed to 9:00. Posted on 10 Jul
Introducing the Micro Gateway from Cyclops Marine
Live load data, simplified - smaller, smarter, even more connected At Cyclops Marine, we're driven by the pursuit of precision, performance, and progress. As the marine industry continues to embrace digital transformation, our technology is evolving rapidly. Posted on 10 Jul
Everything to know about The Ocean Race Europe
One month to go to the race start in Kiel One month out from the start of the 2025 edition of The Ocean Race Europe seven mixed-gender crews made up of sailors from across 13 nations are in the throes of their final preparations for the Race start in Kiel, Germany. Posted on 10 Jul
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez preview
An exceptional fleet of grand classics are preparing An exceptional fleet of grand classics led by the legendary three-masted schooner Atlantic, a strong showing from the Wally yachts among the numerous Maxis, and the arrival of the new Magic Carpet e are all signs... Posted on 10 Jul
Transpac Onboard Episode 5
Zeroing in on the finish We check back in with Stan Honey, navigator of 88-foot Lucky, on the heels of a 24-hour 380-mile run. Posted on 10 Jul
Vetus-Maxwell 2021 v2 FOOTERTNI Pindar SW Ads_728x90px-6 BOTTOMZhik 2024 December