JOHN POLLARD XCELLENT WINS 2004 ANNAPOLIS NOOD

The scene was set for 14 Melges 24s at the second US ranking event of the year, in Annapolis poised for it's largest NOOD regatta ever. Sailing on the open water near Thomas point meant less Annapolis port traffic to deal with and, certainly kept us out of the way of the 80 J22's.

Friday saw near perfect race conditions with steady breezes from the south ranging from 10 to 20knts, the race committee worked hard to get in three races. John Pollard and his "Xcellent" UK team got off to a great start with a second place finish and two firsts, showing great speed with their new Kevlar sails. Bob Dockery took the other bullet of the day to trail by 2 points, with Joe Woods also from the UK, in "Silver" landing a solid third. The breeze kicked in for the downwind ride home and the Melges 24s showed the other fleets how to get back to the dock quickly.

Day two saw much of the same conditions with a little more bend in the wind and tide consideration. "Carloan.com" sailed by Travis Weisleder took the first bullet of the day in a very close race, with John Pollard and Bob Dockery in second and third respectively. Pollard again took the next two races to mirror the first days results but, behind him Weisleder in "Carloan.com" and Dan Cameron sailing "Hummer" were certainly giving them a run for their money. Travis experienced some gear failure in the third race of the day that put paid to him finishing the last race. Once again the two British boats were split by Bob Dockery of Florida, with Ryan Hamm of Charleston showing good speed to round out the top four. So, with 6 races sailed and seven scheduled that meant everyone could enjoy the parties and bars of Annapolis, although not too much, as with no discards everything was still left to sail for.

Sunday morning arrived with overcast skies and a stiff breeze from the south, definitely typical British conditions. As the race committee prepared the course the sky cleared and the winds eased to get the fleets underway. A individual recall in the fleet left Bob Dockery and Neil Sullivan having to return to the line while the rest of the fleet got underway, the two British boats showing the way upwind followed by John Raymont, Travis Weisleder and Bill Blank all closely battling it out for third. The downwind leg saw perfect planing conditions for the Melges. The second upwind leg had the two British boats comfortably ahead and Neil Sullivan chasing the pack behind. On the way downwind the second group battled and it ended up with John Pollard taking his fifth bullet of the regatta followed by Joe Woods, John Raymont and Neil Sullivan. The final results had John Pollard with a comfortable win from Joe Woods second and Bob Dockery third, placing John at the lead of the US rankings after the second event, next on the calendar is the US Nationals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Full results:

1 GBR 573 Xcellent (Pollard) 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 9.00

2 GBR 548 Silver (Woods) 3, 2, 3, 7, 4, 3, 2, 24.00

3 USA 549 Barracuda (Dockery) 1, 3, 2, 3, 5, 4, 9, 27.00

4 USA 419 When Pigs Fly (Hamm) 4, 4, 5, 11, 6, 5, 7, 42.00

5 USA 416 Carloan.com (Weisleder) 5, 6, 15, 1, 2, 8, 6, 43.00

6 USA 380 Pumba (Sullivan) 7, 8, 4, 4, 9, 9, 4, 45.00

7 USA 32 (Blank) 6, 7, 8, 5, 10, 11, 5, 52.00

8 USA 78 No Tourism (Raymont) 15, 12, 6, 8, 8, 7, 3, 59.00

9 USA 43 Hummer (O'Donnell) 15, 5, 15, 6, 3, 2, 15, 61.00

10 USA 514 Adrenaline (Samel / Royer) 8, 10, 7, 12, 11, 10, 8, 66.00

11 USA 371 Wireless (Fairchild) 10, 11, 9, 10, 7, 6, 15, 68.00

12 USA 92 Thief of the Wind (Golden) 9, 9, 15, 9, 12, 12, 15, 81.00

13 USA 91 Totally Irresponsible (Matera) 11, 13, 15, 13, 13, 15, 15, 95.00

14 USA 22 Varmint Cong (Steele) 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 105.00

For more information on the 2004 Annapolis NOOD www.sailingworld.com.

*

For more information about the 2004 Annapolis NOOD Regatta, contact Bill Blank, Melges 24 Class NOOD Coordinator on email at Bblank@tsm1.com ,or by phone (703) 904-1130.

For USMCA Class Communications, contact Joy Dunigan, USMCA Press Officer, 122 West Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401, USA; Phone (912) 236-5341 or on email at joy.dunigan@melges24.com.

Visit the US Melges 24 Class Association National Web site at www.melges24.com/usmca or check out the latest in international Melges 24 Class news at www.melges24.com .