TEAM LIEBEL WINS ST. PETERSBURG NOOD ON FINAL RACE SHOOTOUT WITH TEAM TOMMY BAHAMA

Eric Hood reports direct from the race course of the 2003 St Petersburg NOOD - Nineteen Melges 24 teams made it to this year’s annual event. I believe it was the sixteenth or seventeenth event hosted by great sponsors and of course our primary sponsor Sailing World magazine.

The weather was great for the practice day and the three days of racing. There were some long delays on day two but a great PRO and team from St. Petersburg Yacht Club pulled it all together. All six races scheduled were held in this large two course multi-class regatta. Windward / Leeward courses were the order of the day each day. Four of the races were 5 legs and two were 3 legs. The six Henderson 30s and the nineteen Melges 24s had a windward mark set much further upwind to stretch things out for the sport boats.

We saw some new teams here sailing their first event and we also had one brand new boat which I delivered to Tom and Mary Ellen Carter of Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. One thing that was neat was how the St. Petersburg Yacht Club let us park the Melges Van in the limited space parking area so the Melges 24s could have easy access to information and parts if needed. Many thanks to SPYC for doing this.

Race 1 saw some good racing and a few confusing moments. Team Tommy Bahama led the first three legs of this race but got a little confused and sailed right by the 2nd windward mark to a finish line set for some other classes. This opened the door for four other teams to make it a very tight 5 boat shootout for first. The rest of the fleet was close behind in this light medium wind. In the end Team Liebel with Doug Fisher had the lead but then they sailed by the finish line thinking they were still going upwind to the old area where the finish line had been moved. SPYC did all the right things with course change and maybe just the first race jitters confused some of us. In the end Team Tommy Bahama won with Ryan Hamm of Charleston sailing his newly purchased M24 to a second. John Hyatt of Ft. Meyers finished third. Kilroy sailed by Jeff Jones sailed well and finished fourth and Dean Bell of Tampa finished fifth.

Race 2 saw team Liebel on USA 62 turn it on and went on to win with a solid victory. Laine Pardey of Sarasota had a great race finishing second on Panic Pending. Ryan Hamm put together another solid race finishing 3rd. Team Tommy Bahama finished fourth. Jeffery Marks had his best race of the series sailing Premature Acceleration from Dunedin to a fifth. Jeffery actually sailed a very consistent the first four races but had two tough last races in this regatta. At the end of day 1 and two races on the board Ryan Hamm and Team Tommy Bahama were tied for first.

Race 3 was one of the most competitive and exciting races with lead changes from several boats. The wind was up and very steady with small shifts. Boat speed was a premium. This for sure was one of the best and fun races we had. Chris Schoendorf, David Happ and Team TAZ from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin won this race after passing two of the fastest boats at this event Team Liebel who finished second and Team Tommy Bahama who finished third. Dean Bell put together another good race on Sled Slayer finishing fourth. King Purton on Mellow Yellow had their best race of the series with a fifth.

Race 4 started off with an aggressive start from the group and Team Tommy Bahama over the line. Team Liebel took advantage of their leeward end start and quick tack on the first shift. They led this race bell to bell. This was another medium air race with good fun sailing. Scott Baker of Slidell, La. sailing USA 200 Nobody’s Girl had his best race of the series finishing second in this race. Tom and Mary Ellen Carter sailing their brand new boat USA 559 had one of their two series best third place finishes this race.

Now going into race 5 Team Liebel had the lead by a couple of points over Team Tommy Bahama. Team Taz who won race 3 sailed a great race and was leading till the last beat. The wind had shown a left phase the first two beats which Team Taz and Team Liebel took on the final beat. This opened the door for Team Tommy Bahama to get to the right for what appeared to be some small dark clouds moving in from the right. In the end Tommy Bahama just got by Team Taz to win the race and Team Liebel made a great comeback from an OCS to finish third in this race. Fourth went to Lainie Pardey on USA 82 and fifth to Steve Jones on Sick Puppy from Silver Point, Tn..

Race 6 was setup to be a shootout for the two teams tied for first, Team Liebel and Team Tommy Bahama. Good matches were also in the making for the final other positions. Team Tommy Bahama led the group off the leeward end of the starting line in this windy shortened 3 leg race. About two-thirds the way up the beat Tommy Bahama had about a 4-5 boat length lead over Team Liebel then got into trouble with an approaching J/29 coming downwind on the course while on starboard. Team Bahama stalled their boat trying to squeak by the J/29 to windward and that was enough for Team Liebel to take control of the race. Tom and Mary Ellen Carter factored into this race by squeaking into the weather mark just ahead of Team Bahama giving the safety cushion Team Liebel needed to stretch it out. In the end Team Liebel won the race with Team Tommy Bahama finishing second . Tom and Mary Ellen Carter finished third, Lainie Pardy fourth and Jeff Jones fifth.

All in all it was a fantastic regatta, great parties. Many thanks to Pioneer for bringing in the Plasma t.v.s to SPYC for the America’s Cup and thanks again of course to both St. Petersburg Yacht Club and Sailing World for hosting a great event. Click Here for full results. That is all for now. It was fun. Add it to your calendar for next year.

Eric Hood
Team Tommy Bahama USA 544

Melges Performance Sailboat