The 2019 Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta series will take place this weekend, June 7-9, at the Chicago Yacht Club. The race launches Lake Michigan’s racing season with more than 130 teams and 13 fleets.
Many participants are excited to hit the water after the long winter. John Heaton, from Wilmette, Illinois, who’s in the J/70 fleet, was one of the first Chicago-area sailors to buy the J/70 model after its release in 2012.
“We always use the NOOD as a way to keep learning the boat,” Heaton says. “There’s so many good sailors in the fleet that you have to keep pushing yourself.”
Each event on the NOOD Regatta circuit offers individual class winners the chance to win a berth in the NOOD Caribbean Championship in the British Virgin Islands in late October.
Amy Cermak from Racine, Wisconsin, a sailor who has raced in 30 of the 31 Chicago NOOD Regattas, earned her the Caribbean Championship berth last year.
“There are so many clubs up and down Lake Michigan and all around the Midwest with strong local racing, but the NOOD really teaches you how to sail,” Cermak says. “It’s a great opportunity to race against the best sailors in the country. All the sponsors and the yacht clubs do a great job of hosting. It’s a top-shelf event.”
Following the Chicago race, the series continues in Marblehead, Massachusetts on July 25-28, and ends at the NOOD Caribbean Championship October 27 through November 1.
To learn more about the NOOD races, visit sailingworld.com/nood-regattas.
Photo by Paul Todd
